Legacy & In-Memory Fundraising Virtual Conference 2025

Session Descriptions

Room 1

Legacies and loyalty: the long-term impact of an excellent supporter experience
Speaker: Kay Harrison, About Loyalty

About Loyalty’s research has shown the direct impact of high supporter loyalty on their intention to leave a gift in their will. But what does this look like in action?

In this session, we’ll dive into the supporter experience from a legacy perspective, exploring real-world examples of charities who are aligning their supporter experience with their legacy programme to grow long-term income.

Join us, to uncover exactly what a great supporter experience can look like – and how your legacy planning can play a crucial part.

Key learnings from this session:

• Insights into the connection between legacies and the supporter experience from more than 500,000 supporters across the globe
• Real-world examples of how charities are turning these legacy insights into action
• Tips, tools and techniques for doing the same at your own organisation

Not Just A Pretty Proposition: Making legacy fundraising work harder, not just look better
Speaker: Holly Eggleston, Aha Agency

Good creative alone doesn’t drive legacies. In this interactive session, Holly Eggleston – Legacy Lead at Aha Agency – makes the case for insight-led fundraising that’s as strategic as it is striking. Drawing on her experience consulting for UNICEF in diverse global markets and her years leading Cancer Research UK’s legacy programme, Holly will explore what truly motivates legacy donors, how to shape propositions that stick, and why curiosity should be your most valued creative tool.

You’ll leave with:

• Lessons from international legacy fundraising success (and missteps) – and how they apply in the UK
• Real-life examples of creative that converts
• Tools for applying behavioural insight to your own campaigns

Perfect for fundraisers who want to bridge the gap between good intentions and great results.

Key learnings from this session:

• Lessons from international legacy fundraising success (and missteps) – and how they apply in the UK
• Real-life examples of creative that converts
• Tools for applying behavioural insight to your own campaigns

Policy and compliance: future focus, what do we need to know to plan
Speaker: Alex McDowell, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

In this fast moving session, we will explore the potential impact of a range of policy and legislative changes on legacy fundraising and ultimately, legacy income. We will focus on what fundraisers, charities and supporters need to know and what this could mean for future communications and collaborations.

Key learnings from this session:

• What’s changed (or changing) in the world of legislation and policy that could impact legacy fundraising?
• Why this matters?

Legacy conversations for non-legacy fundraisers
Speaker: Sarah Beaumont, National Trust

Legacies are the National Trust’s second-largest source of net income, funding 44% of conservation projects last year alone. Every single property has benefited from a legacy gift, yet outside the Gifts in Wills team, these contributions are rarely acknowledged or discussed.

Each legacy is more than just financial support – it’s a powerful story waiting to be told!

This session explores how the Trust is embedding legacy awareness across its organisation through collaboration, strategic internal engagement and storytelling. Learn how we’ve inspired non-legacy colleagues and volunteers to become legacy champions – empowering them to build trust and raise awareness of gifts in wills with the thousands of visitors coming through our sites each day.

We’ll share how we’ve overcome barriers such as limited capacity, myths and nervousness around legacy conversations, helping to normalise and integrate gifts in wills into our daily operations and inspire more people to consider supporting us in this way.

Whether you’re part of a small team or a large organisation, this session will offer practical strategies to raise the profile of gifts in wills and unlock their full potential at your charity.

Key learnings from this session:

• Learn how to build a legacy programme from scratch: Lay strong foundations and create a sustainable, impactful legacy strategy.
•  Discover how to build an inclusive and welcoming Storybank: Inspire a wide range of passions and interests, opening up endless opportunities to promote gifts in wills in a subtle yet powerful way.
• Explore practical ways to involve staff and volunteers in legacy conversations: Gain internal buy-in and empower colleagues across your organisation to play an active role through collaboration.
• Learn how to amplify the gifts in wills message both internally and externally: Increase visibility and engagement across all touchpoints.
• Fast-track shared learning and avoid common pitfalls: Benefit from insights into what doesn’t work to accelerate success and strengthen your legacy approach.

Room 2

Guiding Stars – creating a flagship in memory appeal and increasing donor loyalty
Speakers: Charles Bloch & Vicky Fernbank, Guide Dogs

Discover how Guide Dogs created and developed a flagship in memory appeal as a loved in life charity. We’ll discuss where the campaign originated and how it has developed over 15 years to become a multi-channel campaign that has increased donor engagement and loyalty.

Key learnings from this session:

• How causal area doesn’t mean you can’t make a targeted in memory ask that is relevant to your cause.
• How to keep supporters engaged and supporting year after year.
• How to implement learnings to grow your campaign.

In Their Name: In Memory Journeys
Speaker: Faye Anderson, Mind

In March 2025, Mind launched a dedicated In Memory cash journey – our first tailored email stewardship programme for supporters giving in memory of a loved one. This session will share how the five part email journey was shaped by audience insight, the results from six months of performance data, and our plans for stewarding different in memory audience segments across channels.

Attendees will gain practical ideas for designing supporter journeys that resonate emotionally, interpreting data to refine approaches, and building multi-channel stewardship strategies that strengthen relationships and encourage repeat giving.

Key learnings from this session:

• How to use audience insight to design meaningful, tailored supporter journeys.
• How to analyse performance metrics -including second gift rates – to guide improvements.
• Mind’s plan to segment and steward in memory audiences effectively across multiple channels.

Innovating Legacy Acquisition: Testing New Growth Channels
Speakers: Katie Wimpenny, Harriet King & Dani Hernandez, Octopus Legacy

Octopus Legacy is a place to plan for death and find support after a loss. We’re partnered with over 250 charities to provide a free wills service, as well as helping them reach their legacy goals through our twice-a-year marketing campaigns. These campaigns help charities to reach a wider audience and secure more legacy gifts.

We’re always looking for new ways to progress our free will campaigns. Over the last year, we introduced new channels that significantly amplified our reach and impact: affiliate marketing, Reddit & optimising digital ads .

In this session, we’ll explore these three areas to help you grow your legacy acquisition:

Affiliate Marketing

• What is affiliate marketing?
• Why is affiliate marketing valuable for legacy fundraising?
• How you can apply affiliate marketing in your fundraising, including how to find the right affiliate partner for your cause
• How to make the most of an affiliate partnership and provide value

Reddit

• Why we tested Reddit during our Spring 2025 free will campaign
• Top line results
• Key learnings and insights

Optimising digital ads

• How we’ve utlised digital ads during our free will campaigns
• Top line results
• Key learnings and insights

Key learnings from this session:

By the end of the session, attendees will walk away with a comprehensive understanding of how these channels work, why it can be a valuable tool in the world of legacy fundraising, and practical steps to leverage these channels to amplify their campaigns and engage new supporters.

Legacy is a behaviour change brief
Speaker: Pete Esuola-Grant, GOOD Agency & Zoe Fowler, Marie Curie

With a 43% increase in people considering leaving a gift in their will over the past decade, the opportunity for legacy giving is undeniable.

However, leaving a gift in your will is still unusual behaviour and legacy giving is still a behaviour change brief for many organisations. Charities need to change perceptions of end of life planning, before making the ask.

GOOD worked with Marie Curie to do just that. The Will Talk campaign started a national conversation about Will writing, promoting lasting security for families, whilst also encouraging legacy gifts to support their hospice and hospice care at home work.

Join Pete Esuola-Grant, Head of Planning at GOOD, as he shares insight into what makes a successful legacy campaign, and how Will Talk was able to evolve into a big creative platform that has led to a 70% yoy increase in enquiries for Marie Curie’s Will writing guide that is projected to bring in income that will fund 285,839 hours of vital end of life care.

Key learnings from this session:

• Strategies for a successful legacy campaign
• How to make that cultural change and shift the behavioural dial
• Tips and tricks from the client & agency
• Actionable insights for organisations of all sizes

Reimagining legacy stewardship with immersive digital experiences
Speakers: Joe Nicholson & Ian Boardman, Consider

Go behind the scenes with Consider to explore how immersive digital experiences helped the British Heart Foundation and St John Ambulance upgrade their legacy stewardship. Join Co-founder Ian Boardman and Creative Director Joe Nicholson to discover how interactive platforms gave supporters a behind-the-scenes look at the impact their gifts could have – all from the comfort of their own homes. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to enhance your supporter experience, this session offers practical insights and cost-effective ways to reimagine your approach to legacy stewardship.

Key learnings from this session:

• How digital experiences can bring your charity’s work to life
• Why pledger events don’t need to be the only way you do stewardship
• How to start planning your own (cost effective!) digital experience

Programme

Click here for a screen-reader friendly version of the programme