Legacy fundraising still considered acceptable during pandemic
Melanie May | 27 May 2020 | News
Research recently conducted by fastmap and freestyle marketing into the perceived appropriateness of legacy fundraising at this time has revealed that the majority of those asked believe it is acceptable.
To understand whether legacy marketing will upset potential legators during the pandemic, fastmap and Freestyle Marketing surveyed 1,000 people aged 30+ online in April.
They were asked how appropriate it is for charities to promote and ask for gifts in Wills in the current Covid-19 situation, choosing between 1 – 10, where 10 is completely appropriate and 1 is completely inappropriate.
fastmap and freestyle marketing then created two base metrics. Those who consider it strongly appropriate for charities to promote gifts in Wills, which is calculated on the total of those who answered with an 8, 9, or 10, and those who consider it strongly inappropriate for charities to promote gifts in Wills which is calculated on the total of those who answered with a 1, 2, or 3.
The research found that far more deem this strongly appropriate (42%) than strongly inappropriate (13%) and almost 1 in 5 scored a 10 giving the most positive “strongly appropriate” score possible.
To understand audiences more deeply, level of appropriateness was then cross referenced against those who said they were regular donors.
Regular donors said they felt that legacy fundraising is even more appropriate with 57% giving a strongly appropriate score and 7% scoring it strongly inappropriate.
fastmap and freestyle marketing then looked at those who either have already written a charity into their Will or are considering or intending to do so. They found that 58% gave a strong appropriateness score with 6% feeling that legacies are strongly inappropriate.
Commenting on the findings, Rob Cope, Director of Remember A Charity, said:
“Charities need to stay front of mind if they are to be able to continue their vital work. This research shows that fundraisers should continue to remind supporters about the importance of legacy giving, as long as it is done sensitively.”
Alex McDowell, Head of Public Fundraising at RNIB also commented, saying:
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“The gifts kindly included in the wills of our supporters make up a significant proportion of RNIB’s total funding but like many other charities, we’ve ceased elements of our legacy fundraising activity during the pandemic. The research from Fastmap and Freestyle marketing is very helpful because it provides further evidence that the public and the charity’s supporters remain keen to engage with all the ways they can choose to support our work and help deliver our mission.”
A recording of a webinar on the subject as well as the research can be accessed via the fastmap site.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.