Incentivise leaving a legacy, suggests Remember A Charity in legacy manifesto
Howard Lake | 16 April 2015 | News
Remember A Charity, the consortium of charities that encourages people to include charities in their wills, has published a legacy manifesto which invites the government to contribute to a boost in legacy giving.
It is asking the next government to devise and implement a match-funding scheme for charitable gifts in Wills, as a way of both publicising the need to charitable bequests, and offering an incentive to persuade people to do so.
How much?
If the government match-funded the first £2,000 of all legacy gifts, then the annual cost to the Treasury would be around £187 million. Yet the value to charities of any subsequent increase in charitable bequests would likely far outweigh that sum. For example, if the number of estates including a charitable legacy increased from the current rate of 7% to 11%, this would result in a further £1 billion per year for the sector.
The manifesto argues that this would be “an inexpensive way” to create a “significant step-change in legacy giving rates and the capacity and sustainability of the UK’s non-profit sector”.
Alex McDowell, Chair of the consortium, said:
“Incentivising charitable wills for supporters of all levels of wealth would help to socially norm legacy giving. It would also give charities an even greater incentive to promote gifts in wills as a form of donating.”
Advertisement
Legal sector incentives
The manifesto also invites the next government to find appropriate incentives for the legal sector to inform customers of the option of leaving a charitable gift in their will.
Will writing in government communications
Remember A Charity is also encouraging the government to ensure legacy messaging is delivered through government communications such as pensions communications.
You can download the legacy manifesto from Remember A Charity. It is a 2 A4-page PDF.
Photo: election pledges by Pixelbliss on Shutterstock.com
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.