Every donor should be treated equally

One of the areas that we do not specialise in is in Legacy Giving strategy. In true transparency, I've been on a few day courses and done some legacy administration but its not something I would consider myself as expert on. But, what I do know is, I see charity leaders and senior staff not recognising an important perspective...the donor pyramid. See the pyramid below for the explanation. In a nutshell, it's the typical conversation and movement of donors in your charity. The end goal is someone leaving a legacy to you at the end of their lives in celebration of the impact your charity has had on them and their beliefs/identity. However, on the ground I see a very different picture..

My observations are:

- Just because someone is struggling with financial difficulty now, its doesn't mean they will in the future

- Just because someone 'uses' your services, does not mean they will never donate to your services

- Just because someone seems uneducated, does not mean they will not consider their wills in the future

Many times I have seen charities dismiss people from their 'legacy-giving' trends. Legacy income will remain flat at around £3.9m a year until 2027 according to consultancy Legacy Foresight. However, they have predicted we will see around an 11% increase in bequests.

My key piece of advice is treat everyone equally and treat them all as if they will leave you a legacy. Every service-user, every member of the public, every volunteer, every staff member.....simple!