Did you know? I didn’t.

Our Head of Fundraising, Vicky Parker, reflects on what she has learnt about legacy fundraising.  

One of the best things about working in fundraising is that no two days are ever the same and often, full of surprises.

Last week was no exception.

I attended a webinar on a topic most of us choose not to think about, and for good reason. It was about leaving a gift to charity in your will.

I do have a will but only because I realised my children wouldn’t automatically receive everything they should if I didn’t have one and the unthinkable happened. For me it was painless, the advisor was lovely, and it prompted me and my partner to get married to add further protection which to be honest, might not ever have happened otherwise! So, not all bad.

Even though raising funds is my job, it never occurred to me to leave something to charity. I don’t have an abundance of wealth, so it really didn’t come into my thought process at all.

Then last week I joined a webinar. Delivered by a delightful, charismatic, charming man who made the potentially dark topic uplifting and inspiring.

I just did not know how easy it is to make a difference to charity in this way and I think everyone should know.

For example, did you know, all you need to leave a gift in your will is your chosen charities name and number? I didn’t. But now I do.

Did you know the number of people leaving charitable gifts in their will has doubled over the last 30 years?

Did you also know that gifts in wills are one of the most valuable sources of income for many charities? And you don’t have to have lots of cash assets to make a gift in your will.

Here at AVUK, 72% of all our income comes from voluntary donations so these kind of gifts can be a life-line for the children and families we support.

I love being moved to action, so I’m going for it and will be speaking to my will advisor next week.

Why not join me? Add our charity registration number (1095133) and our full charity name (Auditory Verbal UK) to leave us a gift in your will.

For more information visit: https://www.avuk.org/leave-a-gift-in-your-will