The Event

This year we expanded our themes to delve into the bold new era of legacy fundraising in the post-pandemic era. The event focused on resilience and building back after Covid-19, becoming experts at new technologies and creating positive legacy messages amidst changing attitudes to discussing legacy gifts and death.

The 2021 summit looked at legacy giving from five perspectives, allowing attendees to shape their conference experience to their own interests and requirements. These areas were:

• The bold new era of legacy fundraising as charities move out of the Covid era, how does the new era change your legacy fundraising strategy? The challenges of technology, appealing to a younger audience while keeping older ones engaged. How do charities adapt? Bolder campaigns, brave new messages, putting the life back into your campaign. Hear from RNLI, RSPCA, Save The Children, The Stroke Association and many more on how they have adapted.
   
• Building back after Covid – resilience, using and becoming expert at new technology formats, benefitting from virtual events across your team, expanding donor pipelines and working with refreshed charity brands. Have legacy teams reviewed their methods and message over the last 12-18 months and emerged from the crisis stronger and leaner? Or is there still much to be done. We ask leaders in the legacy field how they have built back after Covid19 and what they think the year ahead holds for the legacy fundraising and income for their charity.
   
• Positive legacy messages – use of energetic, powerful images in campaigns, becoming a virtual part of the team, the donor story and the human element, moving away from tired stereotypes and traditional campaign imagery. The new attitude to discussing legacy gifts and death.  After 18 months of pandemic and 24/7 news of death and doom, we look at the latest trend in legacy messages with a move towards positivity, energy and even irreverence.
   
• Digital and virtual legacy fundraising — Digital and virtual legacy fundraising - How technology and better use of data has revolutionised legacy events and donor research. In the last 18 months, some charities have quickly progressed from cautious novices to confident experts in virtual legacy events. We hear from the head of a regional legacy team who has formed a team with her legacy colleagues across other regions to excel in the virtual format and explore how other charities can follow this route when working across a large geographical area with limited team size and reduced marketing resource.