Remember A Charity

If you're a small charity, this could be a great opportunity to bolster your fundraising with match funding this #SmallCharityWeek. The campaign is led by Big Give, Global's Make Some Noise and NCVO. Applications close on 2nd April 2025. Take a look here for more info ⬇️

Do you have new legacy team members? Or perhaps a colleague who wants to understand more about the fundamentals of legacies? 🤓 Our partners The Institute Of Legacy Management have launched an Introduction to Legacies course - designed for anyone new to legacies and seeking a fundamental introduction to the subject. Delivered by Dr Lucy Lowthian, a Legacy Consultant at Legacy Futures, the 3.5 hour course will provide a general overview of the UK legacy market and explore the different types of legacy gifts. Find out more and register here: https://lnkd.in/eWcfNcsg

We’re thrilled to announce the programme and sponsors for our highly anticipated Legacy Festival 2025 🎉 This exclusive event is designed to bring our member charities together to connect, learn and be inspired, and is proudly supported by an impressive line-up of sector partners: 💛 Headline Sponsor: Bequeathed 💛 Co-op Legal Services 💛 Yoyo 💛 Probate.Auction & Resi.Auction 💛 The Saltways 💛 Institute Of Legacy Management The programme offers expert-led presentations and panel discussions, case studies, networking opportunities and more! Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eFgWwwNN

Great news for charities! Probate waiting times in the UK have been cut in half since last June. Alex McDowell, vice-chair of Remember A Charity, a group of around 200 UK charities collaborating to promote charitable gifts in wills, emphasized the importance of an efficient probate service. McDowell stated, "With more individuals choosing to support charitable causes through their wills annually, a streamlined probate process is crucial for sustaining charitable services and financial planning." James Stebbings, chair of the Institute Of Legacy Management, highlighted the significant impact of charitable gifts in wills, noting that the public generously leaves £4 billion to charities each year. The sector is relieved that this crucial income flow has resumed, marking a positive development for charitable organizations.

With just one week to go until our next members' webinar, we're really looking forward to hearing from our guest expert Madeleine Sugden - who'll be sharing share her tips and insights on how our member charities can optimise their websites to encourage legacy giving.  With a website being a charity's primary digital asset, understandably this session is proving extremely popular! And, if you haven't already, there's still time for members to register to join us here: https://lnkd.in/eKvQYQFK

Disputes and Wills – not normally a great combination! But today our first Remember A Charity Campaign Supporter Webinar of 2025 tackled this tricky topic head-on. Kicking off our quarterly webinar series for professional advisers, our guest speakers Amelia Edwards of mfg Solicitors LLP and Stephanie Kerr CTAPS of Irwin Mitchell took us through this crucial topic - exploring both how to prevent disputes when a charity is a beneficiary, and how to resolve issues effectively should they arise. A big thank you to everyone who joined us, in particular our wonderful guest speakers. Just some of the great top tips from the session include the need to: ✍Ensure the Legacy is specific and clear ✍Make sure the reasons for legacy are clear ✍Double check client’s instructions during the meeting ✍Refer to the Deceased’s intentions in your Will file ✍Remember that charities have a duty to maximise the benefit received from the estate ✍Charities should take specialist legal advice at an early stage when dispute arises (as should the Will-drafter if there is potential negligence) ✍Consider ADR where appropriate Check out more tips in the images below, and do share your thoughts in the comments! #LegacyGiving #GiftsInWills #DisputeResolution #ProfessionalAdvisers

Great to see Rachel Steeden from Stewardship talking charitable legacies on air and highlighting how the decision to bring pension wealth into the scope of IHT might influence legacy giving in the future. Tune in and listen to Rachel at the link below 👇 Rachel is one of our wealth adviser committee members - You can find out more about the committee and the role they play here: https://lnkd.in/ee3Y_GJR

ICYMI: We're delighted to share news of our partnership with Lyons Bowe Solicitors 🙌 By partnering with Remember A Charity, Lyons Bowe aims to help charities to continue to connect with more supporters, and in turn grow this vital income stream. As specialists in Wills and probate, property, and family law, this includes making their property and family clients aware of the importance of making a Will at key stages in their life – such as getting married or divorced, and buying or selling property. Thank you Lyons Bowe for your support! Read more about the partnership here: https://lnkd.in/e-BEByaX #legacies #giftsinWills #partnership #legalpartnership

If you're a professional adviser, how do you go about raising the topic of legacy giving with your clients? This was the key focal point for today's meeting of our wealth adviser committee. It may have been an early start, but enthusiasm across the group certainly kept the conversation flowing! Here are 10 key points we discussed for any conversation about legacies and philanthropy (see below). What would you add to the mix? 1. Focus on the client’s values and purpose – what they care about 2. Talk impact (not just the tax benefits) 3. Align giving with the client’s financial plan 4. Support family involvement in giving decisions 5. Understand and engage with charities  6. Respect privacy and confidentiality 7. Offer long-term support 8. Encourage professional collaboration 9. Stay up-to-date with philanthropy trends 10. Be transparent about any costs Thank you to CHARLES STANLEY GROUP PLC and Glenn Baker PhD for hosting us, and to Clare Stirzaker for chairing the group and Sianne Haldane for making it all happen. We heard fascinating insights from Russell Prior, George King IV, Lizzy Steinhart, Tatiana Watson, James Cook and Isabelle Smith. Thank you all. Picture: A quick snap of the Thames on our way to the meeting! #philanthropy #purpose #stewardship #legacygiving #ResponsibleStewardshipOfWealth

Further to changes to the Inheritance Tax framework from April 2027 being announced in last year's Autumn Budget, Remember A Charity recently hosted a roundtable discussion, considering the potential ramifications for legacy giving - A big thank you to our panellists Anaish Yilma-Parmar, Rachel Steeden, Alex McDowell, Tatiana Watson and Ian Bond. After speaking on the panel, Remember A Charity Vice-Chair Alex McDowell shares his reflections on both the challenges and opportunities these changes present in a new blog. Key takeaways include: ✅Freezing of thresholds and introduction of pension wealth will mean more estates qualify for IHT, making the fiscal incentives more relevant to more people ✅IHT is the main reason advisers reference charities ✅Advisors who mention charities write more chartable Wills ❓We don’t yet know how pensions wealth will be implemented ❓We don’t know how the above will affect perceptions/sentiment around legacy giving ❓While tax incentives are important, it would be a risk if fundraisers were to become disproportionately focussed on IHT, which still won't be relevant for the majority of estates. Check out the full blog for more here: https://lnkd.in/etp3Te8V