How to Engage Wealth Advisers and High Net Worth Supporters to Grow Legacy Income

High value legacy fundraising may draw up visions of the most complex Wills, trusts and estates, but it begins with a supporter’s values, ambitions and desire to create lasting impact.

Our recent panel discussion and workshop brought together fundraisers and wealth advisers to build an understanding of how charities can better engage high net worth supporters and the advisers who help shape their philanthropic plans.

One clear message emerged: legacy giving is rarely a standalone decision. It sits at the heart of a unique supporter and client journey, woven into conversations about family, wealth, social impact and the difference supporters want to make in the world.  

Here, we summarise the main themes of the discussion and key learnings.

Collaborate across teams

Legacy fundraising has traditionally been approached quite separately from other fundraising activities and major giving. Whilst this can enable a targeted approach, the risk is that this misses how legacy thinking might emerge in the real world for those with wealth – often arising through conversations about family, the causes they care about, their values.

For supporters, their focus is not on the mode of giving, but how they can achieve their desired impact. This can mean offering a mix of lifetime and legacy giving at key moments in the supporter journey, or even a blended approach. Working collaboratively and sharing insights across legacy and philanthropy teams and providing joined up stewardship can strengthen the supporter experience and create more fundraising opportunities.

Be adviser-ready

Professional advisers are increasingly finding themselves at the centre of conversations about legacy giving, as clients are wanting more support with philanthropic planning. However, not every adviser feels confident or equipped to guide that discussion.

This means a space is opening up for the charity sector to work with and support a broader range of advisers to raise the topic of philanthropy and legacy giving with their clients - this can include tax specialists, wealth managers and philanthropy consultants, alongside private client solicitors. It emphasises the importance of nurturing new and existing relationships with advisers and being ‘adviser-ready’. This might mean packaging up clear information about the charity’s approach to legacies with evidence of impact and future work programmes. But don’t forget too the power of compelling stories and case studies that can bring legacy giving to life.

Personalisation is key

Perhaps the strongest takeaway for fundraisers is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. High value supporters each have different motivations, preferences and expectations, meaning personalised stewardship is crucial. Similarly, advisers aren’t a homogeneous audience, some will already be actively engaging their clients with philanthropy and legacy giving, while others may rarely have approached the topic before.  For both supporters and advisers, listening carefully, understanding desired outcomes and tailoring engagement accordingly are likely to be far more effective than relying on standard pathways alone.

A joined-up approach

 As philanthropy becomes a more established part of wealth planning, charities have an important opportunity to position legacy giving as a natural and powerful way for supporters to create lasting change. This also creates the potential to engage advisers and help them view legacy discussions as a key lever to strengthen and unlock multi-generational client relationships.

Charities that connect legacy giving, major giving and long-term impact will be ideally placed to support high value donors and their advisers. But, as ever, relationships remain key.  The opportunity for charities lies in understanding what drives donors, offering flexible stewardship, a joined-up approach, and deepening adviser relationships.