# Loyalty Day 2024 sees almost 1k people register – plus more sector news snippets - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/12/13/loyalty-day-2024-sees-almost-1k-people-register-plus-more-sector-news-snippets/ - Published: 2024-12-13T09:34:18+00:00 - Author: Melanie May **News in brief from About Loyalty, Free Wills, and Big Give on recent events and milestones. ** #### Loyalty Day 2024 sees almost 1,000 registrants from the UK & beyond From launching a supporter experience strategy to keeping senior leaders on your side, charity experts at British Red Cross, Animals Asia, Breast Cancer Now and Dementia UK shared their advice and insight with hundreds of charity fundraisers at About Loyalty’s [Loyalty Day 2024](https://www.about-loyalty.com/loyalty-day-2024). ## Advertisement The virtual conference focuses on practical actions and real-world examples for improving the experience and growing loyalty in the charity sector such as: * The secret to cross-team collaboration, and how it can help to deliver an amazing experience for supporters. * The first steps for launching a supporter experience strategy – and who to get on board before you start. * What to say to senior leadership when shaping a culture that puts supporters first. * How to unlock repeat giving potential by harnessing the power of active listening. Close to 1,000 people registered for this year’s event, which took place on 21 November. Richard Spencer, Director and About Loyalty, commented: > “More and more people are recognising that the supporter experience is absolutely > critical. We’re delighted to see it become a priority for charities across the > globe, and to help them unlock their full fundraising potential as a result.” **Watch the recording of Loyalty Day 2024: How good is your supporter experience here:** Roger Lawson, Director and Founder at About Loyalty, also added: > “Loyalty is how we talk about the deep, emotional connection that supporters have > with a charity and its cause. From years of research, we’ve proven the link between > high supporter loyalty and increased levels of giving. Loyalty Day is a highlight > of our calendar every year – it’s an opportunity for us to mark the importance > of growing supporter loyalty with hundreds of charity professionals across the > globe, and to share some truly inspiring stories of loyalty in action.” --- #### Free Wills sees over £50mn pledged through its platform in 2024 The online, solicitor-checked service allows people to create their own bespoke, fully legal will, for free, and says that this is already up 14% on 2023, with December still to be factored in. Back in the autumn, [Free Wills](https://www.freewills.co.uk/) celebrated another major milestone in welcoming its 500th official charity partner, while earlier this year, it broke through the 100,000 mark in terms of helping people to write their wills for free, whilst leaving a charitable legacy – benefitting causes with over £150mn. Christensen said: > “There’s no getting away from the fact that right now, charities are struggling > post-Budget with the national insurance rises. Hopefully by partnering with Free > Wills we can help them to raise additional funds to address these fiscal challenges > because there are clearly hundreds of thousands of supporters out there who want > to support these charities. >   > “The power of the major charity brands with their bigger advertising and marketing > budgets will often see smaller charities overlooked when it comes to legacy donations > but that needn’t be the case. Our platform is unique in that it is free for both > the donors and the charities and it is a very simple process – most simple wills > can be completed online with us from the comfort of the sofa in less than 15 minutes.” --- #### Big Give celebrates Christmas Challenge becoming UK’s biggest public fundraising campaign of 2024 Big Give’s [Christmas Challenge](https://donate.biggive.org/christmas-challenge-2024) raised a record-breaking [£44.7 million in one week](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/12/10/2024-big-give-christmas-challenge-raises-record-44-7mn/), marking a 35% increase from last year’s total of £33mn and raising more than both Comic Relief (£38.6mn) and Children in Need (£39.2mn) in 2024. The campaign, which concluded at midday on Tuesday, 10 December, attracted over 119,000 donations from the public. Big Give celebrated its Christmas Challenge becoming the UK’s biggest public fundraising campaign at an event at The Foundling Museum on 11 December, where HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh was the guest of honour. The Duchess attended the event to show support for Big Give and as Patron of two charities that took part in the Christmas Challenge: Wellbeing of Women and Shooting Star Children’s Hospices. Other celebrity guests attending the event included Natalie Imbruglia (Ambassador for Ethiopiaid), Adjoa Andoh (Patron of Tree Aid) and Lemn Sissay (Trustee of The Foundling Museum). James Reed CBE, Chair of the Trustees of Big Give, said: > “We are bowled over to have become the UK’s biggest public fundraiser this year, > having raised £44.7 million in just seven days. >   > “Big Give works according to what I call the ‘three Ds’: we’re digital first, > meaning you can donate to your chosen charity in 15 to 20 seconds on your phone > or laptop; we’re democratising giving by giving people the choice of over 1,250 > different charities to support rather than telling them where their money should > go; and we’re doubling the difference by offering match funding to every public > donation. >   > “We have big ambitions to keep growing Big Give and raise £1 billion by 2030. > With the support of our funding champions, charity partners and the general public, > I’m confident we can get there.” * **[True donor loyalty](https://fundraising.co.uk/2009/02/24/true-donor-loyalty/)**( 24 February 2009) * **[Platform for donating unused loyalty points to scale up following pilot](https://fundraising.co.uk/2019/10/03/platform-for-donating-unused-loyalty-points-scale-up-pilot/)**( 3 October 2019) * **[Investing in supporter experience grows loyalty & retention, study shows](https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/06/13/investing-in-supporter-experience-grows-loyalty-retention-study-shows/)**( 13 June 2022)