New figures from Remember a Charity show that 27 per cent of people who donate money to charity are now prepared to leave a charitable legacy or have already done so.
New tracking data for legacy giving produced by Remember a Charity show that since 27 per cent of donors last year are either preparing to leave a charitable legacy in their will or have already done so, while only 9 per cent of respondents rejected the prospect of making a legacy.
The research, conducted by nfpSynergy on behalf of Remember a Charity, showed that amongst the 1,000 charity donor respondents “awareness of legacies is growing” with just 12 per cent of respondents saying they are “unaware of the option of donating to charity through their will”.
Over 15 per cent of respondents aged 40 or over said they “have written a charity into their will”, while a further 11 per cent said they are “preparing to do so”.
In February, Legacy Foresight figures showed that there was a 5.1 per cent rise in total legacy income for the 12 months to December 2017. The 83 members of Legacy Foresight’s Legacy Monitor received £1.5bn in legacy income for the year, while total bequests were also up, having reached 53,775. This represented a 3.6 per cent increase on the total number of bequests made in 2016.
Rob Cope, director of Remember a Charity, said: “Legacy behaviour and attitudes are really starting to change. While we are likely to see some fluctuation year-on-year, now with nine years of comparable data, we can see a sustained shift in public attitudes towards legacies. This echoes findings from Legacy Foresight and Smee and Ford, showing longer-term growth in the number of gifts in wills and charities benefitting, as well as the amount given.
“Bearing in mind that only 6 per cent of people that die currently leave a legacy, even a small percentage increase can make a big difference in terms of charitable returns.
“It’s an exciting time for the sector, but with more and more charities coming into the marketplace, there is even greater need for organisations to invest in this area of fundraising and ensure they can continue to rely on such a vital income stream.”
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