# People would leave more to charities in wills if ‘nudged’ to do so

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/05/28/people-would-leave-more-charities-wills-if-039nudged039-do-so/
- Published: 2013-05-28T10:48:22+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Three times more Britons would leave a gift to charity in their wills if they were‘
nudged’ to do so by their solicitor, according to results of a trial.

 

The legacy giving trial by the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team showed that
when solicitors or will writers simply mentioned to people that leaving a gift to
charity was an option, the percentage of people who did so rose from just 5% to 
10%. They rose again to 15% when people were also asked if there were any charities
that they were passionate about. An additional £1m of gifts was left to charities
in wills as a result of the trial.

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The trial looked at over 1,000 new wills over six months, was conducted by the Behavioural
Insights Team in partnership with Remember a Charity and The Co-operative Legal 
Services.

 

Remember a Charity’s director Rob Cope believes the increase is due to the fact 
that significant numbers of people are supportive of the idea of leaving a gift 
to charity but far fewer remember to do so when it comes to actually writing their
wills.

 

“We are a very charitable nation, and the idea of leaving a gift to charity appeals
to many people,” he said. “Our latest consumer research shows that nearly half of
people have thought about leaving money to charity in their wills, but only around
7% of people currently leave a gift.

 

“The trial shows that if solicitors simply ask people to consider leaving a gift
then this gap closes significantly. It is clearly a suggestion that people are warm
to and many more include a gift to charity as a direct result.”

 

_Photo: [dominoes nudged](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-65268643/stock-photo-finger-pushing-dominoes-in-a-row-causing-a-chain-reaction.html)
by Mazzzur on Shutterstock.com_

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