So here we have it - the reasons why so many small and medium sized charities miss out on legacies.
Our survey of 52 charities looked at what was stopping them from maximising legacies and found the two main reasons were a) lack of knowledge and understanding of what to do and b) lack of staff capacity to do it. In third place came a lack of strategic focus.
This was slightly surprising, given all the opportunities for training on legacies and the fact that there is so much information available these days. I had also expected the lack of strategic focus to play more of a role.
The lack of capacity is a harder problem to fix, especially when so many charities are struggling to stand still at the moment. Perhaps there is a link here to the third reason (lack of strategic focus)? If legacies were seen as a strategic priority, then maybe the staff capacity would be found, in lieu of other less profitable activities?
The learning from the survey is clear. The sector needs to make legacy education more of a priority and charities themselves need to address the capacity issue, either by reconfiguring their fundraising activities to include legacies or by seeking external support. The legacy opportunity is just too great to do nothing!
The full report on our survey can be read at:
www.wgconsulting.co.uk/news
Wednesday 26 January 2011
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