Name of exhibitor

Heather Weyman, Fundraising and Marketing Manager at Freedom from Torture

Summary / objectives

As legacy income is predicted to grow, and donors (on average) remember more than three charities in their Will – it’s important to get on people’s radar regarding legacies. For us, it’s especially important because Freedom from Torture donors often support other human rights charities too. This means we need to stand out and champion what makes us unique: our fight against torture. 

At Freedom from Torture we have been looking to include legacy messaging more frequently in communications to our supporter base. This appeal was the second mailing we had sent, within a year, to encourage our supporters to leave a gift in their Will.

The mailing needed to provide information on what a legacy is, and how easy it is to do, while also upholding our core values and giving a sense of hope that supporters can make a difference now and in years to come. We wanted this appeal to:

• Uphold our values of compassion and care
• Stand for what we believe in in a world that is becoming even more racist and divided
• Look to the future with hope, not hostility
• Celebrate all we have achieved together in the past 40 years

Our fundraising objective was for supporters to leave a gift in their Will to continue Freedom from Torture’s work both now and in the future. We wanted them to feel motivated to give and to feel part of Freedom from Torture.

But we also wanted supporters to see the appeal in leaving a legacy – it’s easy and anyone can do it to make a difference, regardless of their existing financial situation. The main goal was to get new legacy pledgers, but we also hoped to gain intenders and enquirers which we could then contact with follow up conversations. 

Creator / originator

The Freedom from Torture team worked with freelance copywriter Christopher Nield and freelance art director Steven Swingler to bring our new legacy direct mail appeal to life. 

All data was handled in house, and Propack was employed to fulfil print and production.

Background

During creative development for the first legacy mailing, earlier in the year, we decided to send donors an appeal with a letter written by a current Freedom from Torture legator.

But for this January 2026 appeal, we decided to go back to the in-house framing of our legacy message. We chose an approach that had worked well in the past, focusing on the letter coming from a member of staff, like a Legacy Manager, for example.

We knew that using this approach for the January appeal meant we could include the person’s reasoning for working for Freedom from Torture. But it could also include why Gifts in Wills are so important to us, particularly now, as we’re facing competing rhetoric in society. 

And although the appeal would be designed and managed by the direct marketing team, the Legacy Manager ultimately handles the one-to-one conversations with supporters. 

As such, we decided to have the appeal come from Sabine Nierhoff, our Community, Local Groups, and Legacy Engagement Manager. In this appeal she would be able to detail her personal experience growing up in Germany, as well as her reasons for working at Freedom from Torture today.

Special characteristics

Sabine was born in Germany, at a time where they were taught the phrase ‘Never again’ or ‘Nie wieder’.

At school, Sabine was told to recognise the signs of authoritarianism. And now, as the far-right rises in the UK, she can see these signs everywhere. Sabine’s story is very values-based and resonates particularly well in the current political climate. Therefore, the message of the appeal was strong for the times we are in, appealing to the values of our supporters.

The appeal focused very much on Europe as opposed to Asian and African countries – where the majority of torture survivors come from.  As well as drawing on Sabine’s childhood growing up in post-war Germany and how this shaped her, the appeal drew on parallels from Bosnia and Lord Alf Dubs who fled Nazi Germany via the Kindertransport. 

The design of the pack was purposefully lacking in ‘marketing’ features, with a simple quote from Sabine on the outer pulling on our and our supporters’ values. The letter was also fairly simple and used some imagery from Sabine’s life and travels to bring the supporter closer to her message.

A follow up telemarketing campaign was launched a few months after the pack was posted. These calls were used to enquire as to whether supporters received the pack and would like any further information. 

Results

This appeal generated 117 responses from our donors, which translated into:

• An eight per cent increase in legacy pledgers
• A 150 per cent increase in legacy intenders

The number of enquirers was lower than previous appeals, but due to the higher number of pledgers and intenders this was seen as a positive result, especially as our mailing and telemarketing volumes were much lower for this appeal.

We also received 34 cash donations, totalling £2,117.18, with an average gift of £62.27. We were very pleased with this considering the legacy mailing did not have a donation form and didn’t contain a fundraising ask. 

Merits

We received a lot of positive feedback from this appeal and it resonated well with our supporters. We believe the ‘Never again’ messaging was particularly moving for our target audience, as they may be currently feeling despair at seeing a rise in hatred towards refugees and torture survivors. 

This appeal is a strong reminder to people to stand up for their values. 

Influence / impact

Our legacy appeal prompted communication with many supporters who we didn’t know had intended to leave a gift in their Will or already had done so. 

The appeal was also celebrated by Pally McAlley from Storykind on LinkedIn. He noted how our appeal landed with the right quote at the right time. He said there was ‘not a plea, exclamation mark or roundel in sight, creating intrigue and standout’.

Further information on the charity

Freedom from Torture is a UK-wide charity that supports people who have survived torture to heal, feel safe and strong again. 

We help survivors in their recovery as they heal from trauma, re-establish relationships and trust, and rebuild their lives.

Together with torture survivors, we campaign against torture and for the rights of survivors seeking asylum in the UK.

IMAGES: ©Freedom from Torture and Pally McAlley (via LinkedIn)