New guide helps wealth advisers raise legacy giving
Howard Lake | 31 August 2026 | News
Remember A Charity has published a free good practice guide for wealth advisers, aimed at helping solicitors, private client lawyers and wealth managers bring charitable legacies into conversations about estate planning and long-term wealth.
The guide, Integrating Charitable Legacies into Wealth Planning, was developed with Boon Philanthropy Consultancy and the private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield, with input from a range of industry practitioners.
The size of the opportunity
An estimated £4.4 billion was given to UK charities through gifts in Wills last year, according to the Legacy Giving Report 2026 from Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford. Remember A Charity’s own 2025 research into the high net worth legacy market found that half of UK millionaires have already included a charitable gift in their Will.
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The guide intends to provide support that in the gap between intention and the advice process. Research from the Charities Aid Foundation cited in the guide found that 86 per cent of high net worth individuals donate to charity, and that 93 per cent of those who discussed philanthropy with their adviser found the conversation beneficial. Six in ten said it mattered that their adviser understood philanthropy.
There is a commercial argument too, which is the part most likely to persuade advisers. Economic modelling by Public First suggests that firms which engage clients in conversations about philanthropy could increase client lifetime value by almost 25 per cent over ten years.
What the guide offers
The guide sets out:
- principles for discussing philanthropy
- conversation starters
- and practical tips for building the subject into client relationships.
Its central argument is that advisers do not need to become philanthropy specialists, but are well placed to explore what clients value and to connect them with the right expertise.
Lucinda Frostick, Director of Remember A Charity, said:
“Clients increasingly want their wealth to reflect who they are and the impact they wish to have on the world. This guide has been developed to support advisers in responding to that shift, helping them to feel more confident introducing conversations about philanthropy and legacy giving.”
Clare Stirzaker, Private Wealth Partner at Boodle Hatfield and Chair of Remember A Charity’s Private Client Advisory Committee for Legacy Giving, said she had seen “a marked shift in what clients are looking for from their advisers”, with the traditional, purely technical approach to philanthropy no longer sufficient on its own.
Ahead of Remember A Charity Week
The guide precedes Remember A Charity Week, which runs from 7 to 13 September 2026. Remember A Charity was established in 2000 and is a consortium of around 200 charities working with a network of more than 900 professional advisers. It is part of the Chartered Institute of Fundraising.
For legacy fundraisers, the practical use of the guide is as something to put in front of the advisers they already know. Alongside it, Remember A Charity runs a free Legacy Academy CPD training series for private client advisers, and a Charity Champion resource pack for advisers taking part in the week.
The guide can be downloaded free from the Remember A Charity wealth adviser hub.
- Remember A Charity launches wealth advisor committee (22 November 2024)
- Majority of professional advisors think Inheritance Tax changes will produce more charitable legacies (16 June 2025)
- Remember A Charity Week 2025 focuses on the ‘phenomenal impact’ of legacies (8 September 2025)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.