Become a campaign supporter
Many charities depend on income from gifts in Wills to survive, with some receiving over 70% of their funding from this. Gifts in Wills are worth nearly £2bn to the charity sector annually – more than 20 Red Nose Days. However, while three-quarters of the UK population support a charity in their lifetime, only 7% leave a charitable gift in their Will. Remember A Charity is seeking to increase the incidence of charitable legacies in Wills from 7% to 11%, which could raise an extra £1bn for charity each year.
One reason for this low number of charitable Wills could be that only 31% of professionals who draft Wills always mention the option of including a charitable gift to their clients, resulting in many people being unaware that they can give to charity in this way. We know from our research that when asked, 35% of people say they would happily leave a charitable gift in their Will once they have looked after their family and friends. However, many people do not realise that they can give to charity in this way.
To help raise the profile of this type of charitable giving, Remember A Charity has launched a Campaign Supporter scheme. This is an opportunity for professional advisers to help all charities across the sector and ensure that their clients look after everything that is important to them in their Will.
The scheme, which is aimed at Wills and probate solicitors and other qualified will-writing practitioners, will allow those taking part to use the Remember A Charity logo to indicate to existing and potential clients that they support the Remember A Charity campaign. Any company, partnership or sole practitioner signing up will be called a “Campaign Supporter” and its details will be displayed on Remember A Charity’s website on our find an adviser page. Remember A Charity’s website receives thousands of unique visitors each month and there are online activities throughout the year to drive traffic to the site.
The Supporter Scheme is free to join and all companies, partnerships and sole practitioners signing up will be given a certificate to show their support for the campaign. They will also be able to display the Remember A Charity Campaign Supporter logo on all their marketing materials including their website (with approval from Remember A Charity). We would also ask that this would also include a link to the Remember A Charity website. In addition, firms will receive a copy of Remember A Charity’s Brief Practitioner’s Guide, as well as other supporting materials as appropriate.
All practitioners and instruction takers who work for an organisation that signs up to the campaign (or all practitioners who draft Wills in an organisation) must agree to comply with Remember A Charity’s Practitioner Charter, which is designed to help further Remember A Charity’s aim of increasing the incidence of gifts in Wills. Advisers are free to choose whether they charge a standard or reduced fee to draw up a charitable Will.
