Legacy giving isn’t just for large, established charities. It’s for every organisation, regardless of size or cause. Your supporters deserve the opportunity to love your cause forever – to create impact that extends beyond their lifetime.

We’re standing at a critical moment. 

Over the next two decades, an estimated £68 to 84 trillion will transfer from baby boomers to their heirs and charitable causes, with approximately £18 trillion going to charities [^1]. In the UK, legacy income reached £4.5 billion in 2024 and is forecast to grow to £11 billion by 2050 [^2]. The average legacy gift sits at £65,000 [^3].

This represents an unprecedented opportunity. Yet many organisations approach legacy fundraising with methods that fail to connect with potential pledgers. And the research is clear. Effective legacy content must be structured around the stories of living pledgers themselves.

What neuroscience tells us

Professor Russell James at Texas Tech University has done groundbreaking research using brain scanners to understand legacy giving. He found that when people think about leaving a legacy gift, their brains work differently than with regular giving [^4].

Legacy decisions activate the ‘visualised autobiography’ regions – the parts of our brain we use when thinking about our own life stories and memories. The stronger this activation, the more interested people are in making the gift [^5].

This changes everything. Legacy giving isn’t just an extension of regular giving. It’s fundamentally about the donor’s personal story and their life connection with your cause.

Dr Claire Routley’s research backs this up. When she interviewed people who’d left legacy gifts, she found the same pattern: they all had clear life-story connections with their chosen charities [^6]. Different research methods, same conclusion – legacy giving is about the donor’s story.

Trust is everything in legacy giving

Research by Pamala Wiepking and Wendy Scaife shows that trust in your organisation is essential [^7]. When someone leaves a legacy gift, they can’t control how it’s used. They need complete confidence that your organisation will still exist and will use their contribution well. This trust requirement is far higher than for regular giving.

And that’s why your legacy content matters so much. It builds that trust by showing real supporters explaining why they’ve made this decision.

Finding your pledgers

Your legacy pledgers are already in your community. Research shows that 80 per cent of people who leave legacy gifts have made 15 or more donations during their lifetime [^9]. They’re your monthly donors, regular volunteers, engaged supporters, and event attendees.

Connection to your cause matters more than wealth. People aged 40-50 with existing wills show the highest pledge rates (37 per cent) compared to those over 60 (27 per cent) [^10]. Start these conversations earlier than you think.

Critically, around two-thirds of legacy income comes from people charities didn’t know were planning to leave them a gift. Your content needs to reach beyond just your known prospects.

Why living pledger stories work

Research shows that donor stories are powerful tools in legacy fundraising, yet most charities underuse them. When Russell James and Dr Claire Routley tested donor stories, they found clear evidence: the more stories you share, and the more these stories reflect the viewer’s life, the more likely people are to consider a legacy gift [^11].

Living pledger stories let viewers see themselves in the narrative. When someone watches a film of a living pledger talking about their decision, they can imagine their own circumstances and values in that story.

Our work with CoppaFeel! shows this in action. CoppaFeel! is a breast cancer awareness charity with a young, contemporary brand – not an obvious fit for legacy fundraising. Yet their pledger film, featuring living supporters explaining their connection to the cause, has secured 14 new pledgers with a 50 per cent acquisition rate.

The MS Society project shows another approach. We featured multiple pledgers, each with different motivations – personal experience with MS, commitment to research, community connection. These varied stories showed there are multiple valid pathways to legacy giving.

Our work with Five Talents took a different angle. We featured Richard, a supporter with a development background, discussing his ‘due diligence’ process and investment mindset. This business-oriented framing resonated with the Five Talents donor base, showing that pledger stories can adapt to different organisational cultures.

The investment case for legacy content

Creating professional legacy films typically costs around £5,000, though this can vary based on scope. But you don’t need a huge budget to get started – with just your phone, an ethical approach, and a good story, you can create meaningful content.

When the average legacy gift is £65,000, even a modest investment in content makes sense. Legacy content works over years, not weeks. It builds trust, normalises conversations about gifts in wills, and gives supporters the information they need to take action.

Creating effective legacy content

You can’t just start with video. You must start with conversations. Try these three steps:

1. Talk to your supporters

Ask your supporters – both those who have pledged and those who haven’t – what would motivate someone to leave a gift in their will to your organisation. These conversations reveal the authentic language and concerns that resonate with your community.

2. Find common themes

Look for patterns in what people tell you. These shared perspectives become your content foundation. You’re not imposing external messaging; you’re articulating what your community already understands.

3. Invite storytellers

Ask if people would be comfortable sharing their stories. Many will say yes when approached with respect and genuine interest. You’re creating space for supporters to share what matters to them.

 4. Balance multiple elements

Good legacy content needs:

• Passion and emotional connection
• Rational explanations of why it makes sense
• Clear values that drive the decision
• Personal motivations viewers can relate to

 5. Co-create throughout

Share drafts, gather feedback, ensure participants feel comfortable. This collaborative approach respects participants and produces authentic content.

 6. Prioritise authenticity over polish

Avoid overly slick productions. Authenticity matters more than polish. The Five Talents project showed that supporters respond to straightforward, evidence-based storytelling that reflects their own language, not high-production marketing.

The opportunity ahead

The wealth transfer currently underway is unprecedented. Baby boomers – people born between 1946 and 1964 – are the wealthiest generation in history. As they age and do estate planning, their assets will flow to heirs and charitable causes on a massive scale [^12].

In the UK, baby boomers now make up 21 per cent of all people leaving legacy gifts and will dominate legacy giving by 2035 [^13]. The number of gifts to UK charities is forecast to reach approximately 145,000 annually through 2027 [^14].

More charities are entering this space. Smaller organisations with limited budgets are finding success through digital content and authentic storytelling. Organisations that invest now in building trust and creating good content will be better positioned for this generational shift.

Moving forward

The evidence for structuring legacy content around pledger stories is strong. Neuroscience, psychology, and practical experience all point in the same direction: effective legacy fundraising puts the donor’s life story at the centre.

This means shifting from talking about your organisation to creating space for supporters to explain why your cause matters to them. It means investing in content that may take years to show full returns. It demands respect for participants and commitment to authentic representation.

Charities that embrace this approach – that invest in quality pledger stories, that build trust through transparency, that normalise conversations about legacy giving – will benefit from the greatest wealth transfer in history.

This doesn’t need to be complicated or scary. It just needs to happen. Your supporters deserve the opportunity to create lasting impact. Give them that chance.

To chat with me about legacy video content, please email emma@thesaltways.com

References:

1. Cerulli Associates wealth transfer projections; RBC Wealth Management (2025). “The Great Wealth Transfer and its impact on philanthropy.”
2. Civil Society (2025). “UK legacy income grows to £4.5bn as probate backlog clears”; Legacy Foresight market projections.
3. Legacy Futures (2024). “Legacy bequest numbers grow 7%, according to latest consortium data.”
4. James, R. N., & O’Boyle, M. (2014). “Charitable estate planning as visualized autobiography: An fMRI study of its neural correlates.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(2), 355–373.
5. Ibid
6. Routley, C., & Sargeant, A. (2014). “Leaving a bequest: living on through charitable gifts.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. DOI: 10.1177/0899764014542687
7. Wiepking, P., Scaife, W., & McDonald, K. (2012). “Motives and barriers to bequest giving.” Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 11(1), 56-66.
8. James, R. N. (2024). “Strategies For Receiving More Legacy Gifts in 2024.”
9. Remember a Charity (2023). “Legacies on the rise: tracking study.”
10. James, R. N., & Routley, C. (2016). “We the living: The effects of living and deceased donor stories on charitable bequest giving intentions.” International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 21(2), 109-114.
11. RBC Wealth Management (2025); Comerica (2025). “The Great Wealth Transfer: Essential Steps for Giving Wealth.”
12. Civil Society (2025). “UK legacy income grows to £4.5bn”; Legacy Futures (2025). “Legacy Giving Report.”
13. Legacy Foresight (2024). “Charities’ legacy income forecast to remain at £3.9bn despite increasing gifts.” 

© IMAGES: All courtesy of The Saltways or Canva