promoting legacies

Good idea. I wrote a series of short newsletter items on the subject of legacies when I worked at Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust about ten years ago.

I think it best if you plan to write more than one news item. People leave legacies for a range of reasons and one newsletter item is unlikely to cover them all. Also the drip-drip approach of mentioning legacies repeatedly will help accustom some of your supporters to the idea.

So, some suggested topics or approaches:

* give one or more examples of recent legacies received and how they helped your charity

* if you can, interview supporters who have already pledged to leave a legacy. Why did they do it? How easy was it?

* mention the importance of making a will in terms of looking after loved ones. And of course, you can add it gives people a chance to support their favourite charity into the future...

* mention the occasions when you need to or should update a will - marriage, buying a house, birth of a grandchild etc.

* maybe interview a solicitor to explain the importance and practicalities of drawing up a will/leaving a legacy

* try to time your articles for what are (were?) peak will-writing seasons - the run-up to winter, and early summer before people jet off on holiday

* use the national will making campaigns such as Will Aid as a hook

* after a while, you might even consider a less than serious approach (which might appeal to some supporters), along the lines of inviting people to make the biggest gift they'll ever be able to afford. Unfortunately they won't be around to hand it over in person... Given your concerns over sensitivity, I'd leave this approach to last.

While it's important to be sensitive, it's equally important to realise that many supporters will have considered will-making at some point, so it's certainly not the taboo subject that some fundraisers assume. If anything, you can approach it as if it were arranging insurance or other financial planning - commonsense, if not exactly exciting.

Hope that sparks some ideas.