The Case for Gifts in Wills

There is a movement happening

…And we want to make the most of it.

As charitable leaders look to find long-term, sustainable funding streams, gifts in Wills is critical due to the sheer amount of financial resources it generates for the vital work in charities, and the potential growth of gifts in Wills.

Include a Charity aims to increase gift in Wills revenue for supporter charities to $1 billion a year by 2025.

However this specialist form of fundraising requires vision and commitment.

In an environment where fundraising is hard, money is limited, competition is high and unfortunately there is a focus on immediate funding needs and administration ratios, it’s too easy for gifts in Wills fundraising can get left behind.

Gifts in Wills is a long-term fundraising strategy, and we need to act now.

To make the most of this growing opportunity, we need to be:

talking to the community and our organisations about the impact that a donation in their Will can have
getting the message to those influencers involved in estate planning
advocating on behalf of our beneficiaries on why this revenue stream is so important to the future of Australian charities.

That’s why being part of Include a Charity is the right strategic choice for your organisation.

We are a collaboration of Australian charities – covering a broad spectrum of causes and aspects of our community – with a goal to encourage more people to leave a charitable gift in their Will, increasing the funds invested in the sector and thereby increasing the positive impact we all have on society.

By working together, we can change charitable giving forever so that over time, gifts in Wills become the norm for many rather than just a few.

Include a Charity is a powerful resource for charities to improve the effectiveness of their gifts in Wills marketing, by pooling resources, undertaking world-first research projects, increasing efficiencies and saving money.

So how can Include a Charity help your organisation?

We can help you understand and implement best practice

One of our goals at Include a Charity is to help you share the best practices and stories with other organisations in the sector, provide you with research and data to build those business cases – and help you to help us realise our vision of $1 billion in gifts in Wills revenue by 2025.

As an Include a Charity campaign supporter you get access to best practice training, webinars, and a direct line to the best gifts in Wills fundraisers in the country. These events provide networking opportunities to connect with like-minded fundraisers.

A high-profile campaign that promotes individual charities and provides you opportunities to talk to your supporters

We spend time talking to those people who really make the difference – the donors and the general community.

Together, we will reinforce the message and education on why a charitable bequest is one a way to make a mark and leave a lasting and positive legacy.

Our PR and digital advertising campaigns focus on telling stories about gifts in Wills, how this benefits the community and gives opportunity for supporters to be ‘name checked’ and build their profile.

All supporters feature on our home page and have their own dedicated page in the Find a Charity section which includes a link to their website, images and video content, key information and contact details.

Participation in Include a Charity Week

Our annual Include a Charity Week provides the perfect opportunity for supporter charities to promote gifts in Wills internally with stakeholders and externally to its community.

We provide you with resources such as a marketing and communications toolkit with logos, key messaging, suggested social media copy and branded marketing materials.

Your organisation also gets the opportunity to take part in national and state PR activities in both general community and the legal trade press.

A contact point for gifts in Wills enquiries and the public

Our job is to spread the message of charitable gifts in Wills to the giving public – we are a generous nation, but many do not understand they can leave a gift in their Will and the impact it can have.

Include a Charity can speak with one voice on behalf of our supporters, enabling the campaigns of our supporter charities.

Partnerships with estate planning professionals

We invest time and energy into speaking with influencers, those solicitors, estate planners, financial managers and trustees, who are involved in the Wills process. We provide them with information about how just asking a client if they would like to include a charity in their Will leads to a sixfold increase of a bequest being created.

Imagine the difference those gifts would make to our communities!

We also liaise with government to demonstrate the huge benefit increasing this revenue stream could make and advocate for support where possible.

Access to excellent and comprehensive research

With more than 100 charities on board, we are able to conduct research with our campaign supporters and share learnings from the broader group.

We work alongside key research partners and look to invest in innovative opportunities that help you increase your gifts in Wills revenue.

We also invite leading international speakers to work with our supporters to assist their campaign development.

If you need more information, please get in touch – we love talking about gifts in Wills!