Small, local charities have advantages when it comes to legacy marketing that larger charities do not. They are known within their local communities and have existing personal connections that can be leveraged. Legacy marketing for small charities does not need to be expensive; it can utilize local volunteers and resources to create low-cost materials like posters and brochures. Effective legacy marketing communicates the charity's impact and how gifts of any size in wills can help, using stories of real people and clear language. It should engage existing donors and supporters through multiple communication channels on an ongoing basis.

1. Something old, something new,
something borrowed,
something blue:
Legacy Marketing ideas
Graham Richards
Freelance Legacy Fundraiser

2. We can’t afford to do that!
That’s just for the big charities
What the major charities do:
National & Regional Newspaper ads
TV, Radio and Cinema ads
Posters & Hoardings
Direct Marketing
Face to Face legacy fundraisers
Events & Visits

3. Large campaigns = large costs!
Advertising design, printing and display costs
Staff costs
Media costs
No one expects small, local charities to
engage at this level

4. However: for all charities
the potential is great!
With charitable bequests in 16% of all Wills
That means 84% are still to be tapped
Around 88% of charity supporters have
already made a Will
We need to be asking if they’ve included us?
And tell them it’s easy to add a codicil if they
haven’t!

5. The key point I want to make
today is that:
Small is Bountiful!
Small, local charities have real
advantages
Legacy marketing doesn’t have to
cost the earth
Local knowledge is a valuable
commodity to be utilised
Local charities have local resources

6. The local scene:
Advantages:
You’re known personally by many people
Local people have personal experience of your
services
You have useful local contacts and networks
There’s a strong - local - human interest
Money raised locally is being spent locally,
benefiting local people

7. The local scene:
Small can be very cost effective:
Using those local links
Gifts in kind (i.e. free design for advertising?)
Special rates (i.e. printing) might be possible
Places to promote through (shops & services)
Publications to advertise in (local papers, community
magazines, etc) Ask if they have any free space and
provide them with print-ready artwork to drop in.
Utilising local services (i.e. postal round robins)
Using your own volunteers as part of the process

8. The local scene:
Use your local knowledge to target your
audiences more specifically:
Where is the most privately owned housing?
Where are the tenant-purchased ex-council houses?
What local companies do you have links with?
What warm contacts do your staff & trustees know?
Where and how are your staff working closely with
local people and local organisations?
Who are local celeb’s that have experienced your
services and who might endorse you?

9. Legacy Marketing: the basic
message
What is it we are trying to get across?
It’s all about the need
The benefits that can be brought about
How ordinary individuals can help meet this
Gifts in Wills, big or small, make a difference
Two examples that will help us understand
this:

10. A reclusive pensioner who lived a life of a pauper has left £6 million to a
children’s hospice in his Will. Ex-surveyor, Jack Witham lived alone
above a garage in a flat he stuffed with bargains he found at car
boot sales. Mrs Susanne Fry, a friend of Jack’s said, “If you saw
him, you wouldn’t think he had two ha’pennies to rub together.”
His gift will enable Naomi House Children’s Hospice, near Winchester,
to build a new centre for seriously ill teenagers. “It’s a complete bolt
out of the blue. We knew nothing about it until we received a letter
from his executors,” said Hospice Manager, Ray Kipling.
The enormous donation – the biggest the hospice has ever received –
was particularly surprising, because the reclusive old man was
unknown to them. Mrs Fry said Mr Witham wanted to help young
people and opted for Naomi House when he saw the good work
they were doing. Mr Kipling added: “It has allowed us to do
something brilliant. We shall be naming the new centre “Jack’s
Place”.”

11. A small parish in Wakefield Diocese, who struggled to pay their Parish
Share, faced a crisis when their ancient boiler suddenly blew up at
the end of a service one Sunday morning. The cost of a new one
was beyond what they could afford and pay their Parish Share at the
same time. They went public about the problem, using their
monthly newsletter and the local press to get the message out.
A few weeks later a local solicitor contacted them, to say they would be
receiving several thousand pounds from a local lady’s Will. She was
not a member of the parish church and not known to the parish
priest. It turned out that the solicitor was an executor of her Will and
she had left a discretionary legacy, one where the Executors are left
to decide where the money shall go. Having read of the local
church’s need, the solicitor put them forward as one of the
recipients.
As a result, they not only got a new boiler fitted, they were able to carry
out other much-needed repairs at the same time.

12. So, let’s get marketing!
How can you effectively market your
legacy need?
Let’s start with
Using existing channels of communication
1.
And then
Developing new ways of communicating
2.

13. Legacy Marketing:
using your Newsletter
Your Newsletter:
Goes to majority of your supporters
It costs nothing to advertise your need in it
It’s regular (drip, drip technique)
Can go into more depth (features, articles)
Can feature existing supporters (powerful
message to readers, i.e. “they’re one of us”)
Promote special initiatives “Make a Will Week”

14. Legacy Marketing:
using your Newsletter
Your Newsletter – a few Do’s & Dont’s:
Your newsletter is good publicity for legacies if…
It gives a balanced picture of your work, so…
Ensure it has a mix of operational, general & F/R news
Don’t over-use fundraising (many do and you can’t find the
work of the charity in them!)
Tell real stories about real people (even if you have to
change names, keep it real)
LEGACIES MUST FEATURE IN EVERY ISSUE!

15. Legacy Marketing:
using talks to local groups
Talks to local groups
A great opportunity for legacy marketing
Audiences are usually the right age group!
Talk passionately about the charity and its wonderful
work
Let them know what it all costs
Tell them how you raise the money
ALWAYS END TALKING ABOUT LEGACIES
Invite them for a visit and tour if possible
Train your volunteers to give talks for you

16. Legacy Marketing:
using your legacy administration
Legacy administration
Small charities often have one person doing it all
Marketing and administration of legacies
Be relational with executors, especially if Next of Kin
Write personal letters – not general templates
Always be sensitive to their needs and circumstances
Thank them every time something comes in – you could
even telephone them!
When it’s over, invite them in to see where the bequest will
be spent
Offer to write a short obituary online or in your newsletter
They could be your next legacy benefactor!

17. Legacy Marketing:
using your existing donors
Your donors:
Already “warm” to you – a real advantage
Many have personal experience of you
Age profile – have you got their age data?
Use of small scale, personal DM? (Get your CEO or
Chair of Trustees to write personally)
Use of focus groups to inform you and them about
legacies (and attitudes towards them)
Use of market research – ask w/o asking!

18. Legacy Marketing: using your
existing volunteers
Use your volunteers to:
Give talks
Help with legacy promotion
Deliver posters
Be a source of simple legacy information
Write articles for your newsletter
They will need training, materials and support
for this
Don’t over-build the role: i.e. they’re not
specialists

19. Legacy Marketing:
developing new ways
Posters:
Produced in-house or outsourced
DTP makes this easy to do in-house and cheap
You might only need a small scale campaign
Print just what you need
See if there’s a local advertising design Co
Would they do it as in-kind support?
Point out the kudos it could give them
What about a local art & design college?
Offer a cash prize to best designs?

20. Legacy Marketing:
developing new ways
Posters – targeting your audience:
Use public places where over 50’s hang out…e.g.:
Libraries (may have round robin service)
GP’s surgeries (may have a round robin service)
Dentists
Opticians
Osteopaths/chiropractors
Solicitors offices
Clubs (bowls, dancing, social, etc)
Your own charity shops
Supermarket notice boards (Morrison’s Cafes: very popular
with senior citizens!)

21. Legacy Marketing:
developing new ways
Posters:
Use A4 size (good for small notice boards)
Use A3 or larger in your own charity shops
Think BIG as well
Hoardings at cheap periods (i.e. after New Year)
Transport – buses, bus stops, stations (might get a free
deal!)
Corporate supporters may display posters too
Offices, factories, shops
A few poster examples…

28. Legacy Marketing:
using legacy brochures
Remember: 88% of charity supporters have
made a Will
So don’t write brochures saying how important it is to
make a Will
You ought to be saying, “Have you included a gift in
your Will for us and do you know how simple it is to
add a change to your Will?”
Avoid waffle about “helping us to plan ahead for the
future” – legacy income is not predictable!
Ask yourself: Do we need a legacy brochure?

29. Marketing: legacy brochures
If you do have one, do talk about:
The great work your charity does
What it achieves / how it helps people
How legacies can make remarkable things possible
The sort of sums that can achieve great things (both
small and large)
“You can do this or make this possible”
Your charity’s performance: successes,
professionalism and future longevity
Include plenty of Passion!

30. Marketing legacies
In all your publicity use:
Simple words and terms
E.g. “a gift in your Will” not legacy or bequest
Other people’s words and real stories
Good use of images says it better than words
Passion again and again and again!
Links to your website where you can expand your
information, etc
Clever touches (e.g. St Gemma’s Blue Plaques)

36. What other novel ways could be
utilised?
Beermats – once tried by Greenpeace, Australia
FilPots – the replacement for the pub ashtray
A unique form of advertising on a 6-sided cardboard
container that sits on pub tables, in restaurants
80% of pubs approached now take them
Give one to your local solicitors for their waiting area
Car window stickers
Cheap to produce
Insert into newsletters
Longevity and public visibility = brand reinforcement

37. What will it cost?
It could be cheaper than you think!
Posters are cheap to produce and display
Try to use B&W images and text
Print in-house on a laser printer
Use other people’s mailing services to circulate
materials
Brochures will cost money to design (if not done
in-house) and print
See if a corporate sponsor will pay
Don’t produce something that looks amateur

38. What will it cost?
£1,000 pa is not a great amount, especially if it
eventually brings in £1m+! The ROI is 1:1000,
enough to make any Trustee smile!
You’d be amazed what you can achieve with quite
modest sums if you plan it carefully
Special promotions can cost extra
E.g. £350 for two aluminium blue plaques
E.g. £800 for 4 hoarding posters x 2 weeks
Try to get special deals - £5k for £50k+ rental
However, restrict special promo’s to keep a
healthy impact and costs down

39. Remember: Small is bountiful!
You don’t have to be big to be effective and you
might just have the edge over larger charities by
being small and local
It’s all about creativity, innovation, quality, good
use of local knowledge, networks, data and
resources, as well as the ability to pester people
to give you something for nothing!
And anyway, isn’t that what fundraisers do?

40. Thank you
Graham Richards
Freelance Fundraiser
graham@freelancefundraiser.co.uk
Web: www.freelancefundraiser.co.uk