{"id":2605,"date":"2022-09-04T16:54:44","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T14:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legacygiving.eu\/?p=2605"},"modified":"2022-10-18T17:40:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-18T15:40:48","slug":"everthing-you-need-to-know-about-free-will-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legacygiving.eu\/en\/everthing-you-need-to-know-about-free-will-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you need to know about free will services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free will services are big in the UK. For many British charities, the offer to write a will for free and include a charitable gift is an important tool in their legacy fundraising mix. However, in continental Europe, the situation is quite different. In most countries, charitable free will services not exist or are still in their infancy. Dylan Burke<\/a> from Guardian Angel<\/a> shares his knowledge and learning in this guest blog.<\/p>\n

What are free will services?<\/strong>
\nIn the UK, more charities than ever before are offering free will writing services to their supporters, staff, volunteers, and the wider network of people connected with their work.
\nWhat are \u2018free\u2019 will writing services? In England, we have a saying: \u201cthere’s no such thing as a free lunch.\u201d – so how are these services \u2018free\u2019? Essentially, charities cover the costs with will writers and solicitors for their supporters to write their will. Whilst you might not have heard of it, it\u2019s not a new thing – Cancer Research UK has offered a free will writing service for about 40 years.<\/p>\n

Why do charities use them?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s all about legacy income. The hope is that by offering a free will – something that most people know they should<\/em> have in place, but might not have got round to doing yet – people are more likely to then use this service (as it\u2019s free) and they might also include a gift in their will to that charity.
\nFor example, if the will costs a charity \u00a3100 to write, the supporter might leave 1% of their estate – which in the UK currently equates to \u00a32800.
\nLegacies in the UK are consistently the highest performing type of income – at approx. 25:1 ROI – so it\u2019s a big priority for many charities. Legacy income, year on year, is also hitting record numbers in Great Britain too – last year, it was c. \u00a34.3bn – and is only forecast to keep going up.
\nIn short, more people are leaving gifts, of high average values, to more charities. So by offering this service for free, the hope is more people will write their will and pledge to leave a legacy too.
\nHowever, for some charities – e.g. those that help people with cancer – having a free service to offer can be of huge practical help.
\nOthers see it as simply a nice thing to be able to offer people, especially when money is tight. Whilst supporters might be asset-rich (i.e. own houses, stocks and shares, investments), they might also be cash poor (i.e. not having a huge amount of disposable\u00a0income).<\/p>\n

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The split between the two main types of charitable gifts left in wills in the UK and their average value<\/em><\/p>\n

What are the learnings from the last 5 years?<\/strong>
\nThe pandemic has changed so much in such a short period of time. However, in the legacy world, there have been 2 massive changes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Far more use of digital communications and outreach<\/li>\n
  2. The emergence of online will writing<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Charities had to adapt as quickly as the rest of the world. Communications switched to digital where possible, and as most solicitors\u2019 offices were closed, thousands of people in the UK looked to online will writing as a solution.
    \nDifferent countries have different laws on will writing – but here, a will written online is legal and for some people offers a quick, easy, and useful alternative to the more traditional way of doing things.
    \nIt\u2019s now a really common way to write your will, with companies such as ourselves (    Guardian Angel<\/em><\/a>), Farewill<\/em><\/a> and Make A Will Online<\/em><\/a> to name just a few.
    \nWith the boom in more digitally-focused legacy fundraising (email & social media is cheaper than direct mailings) you can reach more people at lower cost and with online will writing services (which are usually cheaper than when written face-to-face), there are now more charities than ever before promoting both legacy campaigns and free will services as a part of them.<\/p>\n

    Looking back – what works, why?<\/strong>
    \nWe\u2019ve been working with nearly 200 charities for a few years now and there have been some key take-aways:<\/p>\n