As a recent case shows, encouraging legacies from service users can be a minefield, says Claire Routley.

You may have seen the recent article about Wood Green Animal Shelter’s decision to put down a dog belonging to a donor who had made a generous bequest to the charity. Given my complete lack of veterinary knowledge, I won’t try and comment on whether the charity made the right decision in this case.   

However, the story I think highlights an important issue which affects many charities: that of the legacy left by a donor in exchange for a service provided.

We know that saying "thank you" to a charity for its support is an important motivation in legacy giving, but, in reality, proactively promoting legacies to service users can be a minefield for charities. Concerns can range from legal worries about a will being challenged, to ethical issues about exploiting people in a vulnerable situation, to staff anxieties about making a legacy ‘ask’.

I would argue that, done sensitively, ethically and well, legacy fundraising amongst service users can bring benefits both to charity and donor. The financial benefits to a charity are obvious, but what about the benefits to the donor?

'Give now, pay later'

Most obviously, and most practically, legacy giving is a way in which a service user who wants to support a charity might ‘give now, pay later’. For someone with concerns over day-to-day income, but who might own assets such as a house, this form of giving might be particularly appropriate.

Legacy giving may also have other, more subtle, psychological benefits. Being able to pay a charity back for support given through a legacy might help some service users maintain a sense of independence, and a sense of themselves as being able to make a difference to the world around them - despite whatever difficulties have motivated them to seek support from a charity.   

Finally, leaving a legacy can provide the giver with a sense of symbolic immortality through the knowledge that they will continue to make an impact on the world after their death. For some, this may even help to lessen the anxiety they feel about their own mortality.

Communicating legacy messages to service users won’t be appropriate for every charity. I'd encourage those who believe it is appropriate to consider the ethical issues, the channels they use, and the messages that they communicate very carefully. Approached well, encouraging service users to leave a legacy to charity can both enable more people to be helped in the future, and provide a psychological boost to the giver – and isn’t that what good fundraising is all about?