How to use video as one of the most powerful tools in your legacy programme
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In this guest blog, Emma Bracegirdle, Founder of The Saltways, explores how video can strengthen legacy fundraising programmes and shares practical guidance on how to use it.
You already know the case for legacy fundraising. You know the income figures, the demographic opportunity, and why the intergenerational transfer of wealth makes this one of the most important moments in the sector's history to be investing in legacy programmes. What you might be less certain about is how video fits into all of that. Which formats actually work, how to approach contributors ethically, and how to get compelling content without a huge budget or a film crew.
Video has a specific and powerful role to play in legacy fundraising programmes. Here's how to use it well.
Start before you pick up a camera
Before you think about story types or kit, there's a more important question to consider - what would actually inspire someone to leave a gift in their Will to your organisation specifically? Not charities in general, not the cause in the abstract, but to your specific charity.
The most useful way to find out is to ask. Talk to your trustees, your staff, your volunteers. Then take it outward - speak with existing pledgers if you have them, long-term supporters, people who've been with you for years. Ask them directly why they think someone would consider leaving a gift in their Will to your charity. What comes back from those conversations becomes your raw messaging material, and it will inform every creative decision that follows.
The pledger story is your most powerful format
From our experience and wider sector research, living pledger stories outperform other legacy content. The reason is simple: the viewer can see themselves in the person on screen. It doesn't feel abstract or distant; it feels like a decision that people like them have made.
The key is to resist the temptation to make it about the gift itself. Focus on the person, who they are, what your cause means to them, the life experience that brought them to you. When you get that balance right, you create something that functions as a mirror for potential pledgers. Our work with CoppaFeel is a good example of this: a film that focuses on values, connection and personal motivation, which has now achieved a 50% acquisition rate for new pledgers.
Don't overlook internal communications
Before your organisation can inspire external audiences to think about legacy giving, everyone internally needs to feel genuinely comfortable talking about it. The vox pop format works well here: short clips of staff from different teams saying in their own words why legacy gifts matter to the work they do. When a community nurse or a researcher says, "I can only do my job because of gifts in Wills," that lands very differently than the same message coming from the fundraising director. This kind of content is future-proofed, endlessly reusable, and works just as well for new starter induction as it does for always-on supporter communications.
Practical barriers matter too
A warm, accessible Q&A with a solicitor filmed conversationally, not as a lecture can do a huge amount to demystify the process for supporters who feel the whole thing is complicated or legally daunting. Think of it as the content that bridges the gap between someone feeling inspired to give and picking up the phone. Here's an example of this.
Ethical practice is not optional
Across all these formats, the ethical approach to working with contributors is what holds everything together. It changes the quality of what you create as well as being the right thing to do. Before filming, be completely transparent about the process and how footage will be used. During filming, collaborate rather than extract. After filming, give contributors real final sign-off, not a courtesy review, but genuine control. And before launch, check in again, because circumstances change and something that felt fine to share at the time of filming may feel very different months later.
The people who share their legacy stories with you are trusting you with something that matters enormously to them. Every decision you make should reflect that.
Watch the full webinar
If you’d like to revisit the ‘Legacy Storytelling’ session or share it with colleagues, members can watch the webinar recording on-demand and access the slides here.
About the author
Emma Bracegirdle is a charity professional with over 15 years of experience in the sector. She has worked in charities of all sizes, focusing on fundraising and communications. Emma founded The Saltways 5 years ago to help charities to create effective and ethical content. She is passionate about ethical storytelling and supporting co-created charity content.