Estates between £1m and £3m deliver a ‘disproportionately high share of gifts in wills’ according to new research which suggests the value of charitable bequests in Wills from such estates could be as much as £1.3bn.
New research suggests a direct correlation between legacy gifting and wealth. Just 6% of estates under £100,000 include a charitable gift. This rises to 29% of estates over £5 million. The research suggests this peaks in the middle; estates worth £1-3m contribute a larger share of their wealth than any other group accounting for 27% of total estate wealth and delivering 33% of all charitable bequests. Higher value estates worth £3m+ hold 23% of assets but contribute 12% of total charitable bequest value.
The causes supported also shift with wealth according to the research, with high-value estates tending to support education, culture, and heritage while less affluent estates more often support animal charities, hospices, and medical research.
The research has been conducted by Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford who acknowledge potential flaws in the data around the type of gifts depending on estate value. For example, wealthier donors prefer cash gifts, while smaller estates favour residuary gifts – which tend to be more generous. This may suggest high-net-worth donors are giving via foundations, trusts, or donor-advised funds, say Smee and Ford, which fall outside of their datasets.
The statistics have been drawn from a collaboration between the two organisations which has resulted in the launch of a new online platform to track legacy gifting across sectors, bequest types, and value bands. Legacy Navigator also including benchmarking tools to compare charity performance income and market share, and provides market insight into legator demographics, probate trends, and high-value gift impact
Ashley Rowthorn, CEO of Legacy Futures explained the launch comes at a ‘critical moment for the sector’ with the so-called ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ – over £5.5tn of assets expected to pass between generations in the coming decades – set to see legacy income forecasted to exceed £10 billion annually by 2050
“The £1-3m sweet spot is where legacy fundraising delivers maximum impact and charities looking to grow income from gifts in wills can’t afford to overlook the power of the mid-value donor.”
“It is insights such as these where Legacy Navigator can help turn complexity into clarity, giving charities of all sizes the tools, evidence, and confidence to grow legacy income sustainably.”
