Taking a Legacy First Approach

How can you talk about legacy fundraising if you haven't got a fully developed Legacy Fundraising or even Individual Giving strategy in place?

Easy peasy!

In fact, starting from scratch (or reinvigorating legacy messages that may have fallen by the wayside while other income streams have been developed) is arguably a great place to be. You have a fairly blank canvas and moderate expectations.

But it is important to make a statement that you gratefully accept gifts in Wills, regardless of how many or how few you have historically had. So that you have one of the key building blocks in place. As well as a team fully prepped on what they need to know...

Legacy Fundraising is special, and it is an inclusive ask, one that non-fundraisers can embrace and talk about if you provide the right messages and confidence around them.

A Legacy First approach is even more relevant today as research has shown that those who cannot commit to giving cash now, are relieved to get their affairs in order and if they include a charitable gift to your cause, they can become significant donors in their lifetime.

It's all about unlocking potential and offering another channel of support.

We very much suggest you have a Will writing offer in place and this doesn't need to have a huge (or in some cases any) price tag in place and if you'd like to hear more, then we're workshopping the Pillars of Legacy Potential in Manchester on 29th November 2022.

Come and join us!

https://www.keepaceconsults.com/event-details/legacy-fundraising-workshop

Training Up

How do you train someone who doesn't think they need training?

But they really do...

Communication across teams can be a challenge at the best of times.

Since the rise of remote working, heightened hybrid arrangements and full on flexible hours, creating a culture of community and cross departmental conversations has become increasingly tough.

There are benefits to how we have adapted. Huge ones.

I for one do not miss sitting in traffic for hours at a time at the start and end of a day.

I'm also more productive, in lots of regards. Although learning to switch off and down tools is another challenge altogether.

But the ability to share what you are doing and having a sense of everyone pulling in the same direction has suffered as a result of many of us being little islands of industry in our own home.

So, as well as empowering teams to fundraise and have conversations about needing to generate income to sustain what we do...there is an increasing appetite for in-person sessions to bring teams together and re-connect and catch-up.

How do you justify bringing service delivery professionals out of the field?

Or how do you convince decision makers and Trustees that training will help everyone feel better and work more effectively as a result?

By making sure that any team-away day is enriching, inspiring and well worth the effort and any training adds value.

How do you obtain sign off for such seemingly extravagant external support?

Build buy in with some Trustee and Senior stakeholder involvement right from the start, so that they have been trained themselves to understand the need to demystify fundraising and how it truly works.

Of course, this is something we are delighted to support you to do...

Championing Admin

It's not glamorous. It's not exciting (to everyone). It is incredibly important.

Good fundraisers collect information, contact details, preferences and ideally...reasons for support.

Excellent fundraisers input this date, consistently and methodically into a lovely CRM (yes, I know, there are still plenty of spreadsheets out there too).

Stella fundraising teams frequently review their data and are informed about who is engaged, where they are geographically and philanthropically AND use this information to inform future fundraising and reflect on past performance of appeals/campaigns.

Mighty databases can be overwhelming and unwieldy unless you are a data whizz and analysis takes time.

That's why Keepace can do a health check for you and streamline processes at the same time. A basic admin overview...

Legacy administration is another sport. It requires a lot more than sending out thank you letters and recording that you did so. It covers more than processing and needs expert knowledge and understanding. It also should not be brushed aside or left to be something that you respond to, incoming correspondence only.

A legendary legacy administrator will be proactive, professional, planned in their approach and on top of caseloads with the ability to accrue and forecast pipelines.

They will know how expensive solicitors fees should be and can query estate summaries that don't look correct.

Normal fundraising administration is important, Legacy administration is essential to have in place. Luckily, we can help with both as well as supporting teams in transition.

Now that summer is over (I'm sorry, it really is) and everyone is back to all guns blazing...Don't let all your efforts slip because of inefficiencies in your admin.