Legacy income to charities in Ireland grew by over 60% between 2015 and 2019. The finding is included in the new report by Campaign Solutions. Some of the findings are below.
- The report has verified €234m of legacy income in the five years 2015 – 2019.
- Income increased from €30.5m in 2015 to €49.1m in 2019. That’s an increase of 61%!
- Taking account of unavailable charity data, the real 2019 income figure is thought to be closer to €54m.
In part, because of Covid, the legacies landscape has changed – dramatically. The number of people writing or updating wills has increased. Charities have seen fundraising channels disappear. Looking ahead, legacy income could be a welcome, and in time, more stable source of funding.
Among the other findings were:
- 116 charities have been confirmed thusfar to have received bequest income since 2015. A further (small) cohort were identified that received legacies, but the detail is not yet available. The report will be updated periodically as and when new ‘old’ information is provided if needed to reflect that. In total, the accounts of over 750 charities were reviewed. There was not, on this occasional, a formal survey process, but there were follow up calls and emails to about 100 of the charities, including many CII members.
- While more charities are now securing legacies, we have yet to break the century mark for a single year.
- 2017 was the standout year. Elizabeth O’Kelly almost doubled the legacy income in 2017 when she left €30m to five charities.
- At least two €1m+ bequests were also received by charities in 2017. Let’s hope this is a pointer to where we could go – rather than being seen as a once off extraordinary year.
- Further very significant bequests have also come to light.
- No arts / cultural organisation was identified as securing a monetary bequest.
- Environmental charities received a tiny amount – just 0.15% – of the total legacy income over the five-year period, equating to an annual average for those identified of just over €70k.
- 10 charities received over 60% of all recorded legacy income in each year, rising to a high of 75.4% in 2017.
There are numerous examples of charities increasing their income two, three, four and five-fold. In most cases, these charities have proactive legacy plans in place. Many other Irish charities are not yet securing any or in other cases, only sporadic legacy income.
There is a lot more information available in the public report (and even more in the full client report). To receive your copy, please email info@campaignsolutions.ie
New Legacy Insights Research Service
The report has inspired a new initiative from Campaign Solutions called Legacy Insights. Charities are invited to come on board as clients to help continue this research AND to facilitate more in-depth research on both their legacy activity and income. This will be incredibly innovative in an Irish context.
New clients will immediately get the complete version of this new report and separate details of their own market share rank for each year. Further research insights and reports will follow as a result of the research they will collaborate on. Discounts apply for MyLegacy and CII members but charities must sign up by May 28. This tracker report is just a starting point – and will, with client support, continue for many years. Charities will be welcome to attend Zoom meetings to find out more about the research findings and the new service.
More information on the new Legacy Insights research offering to charities is at http://campaignsolutions.ie/legacy-fundraising/
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