Charity brands are complex, living entities which exist in people’s minds, formed through every interaction, experience and relationship over time.

When viewed through the lens of legacies, the relationship becomes even more complex. Leaving a gift in a will represents the ultimate expression of belief, trust and commitment to a charity’s mission. Often it’s the culmination of years of personal or emotional connection. But the long time-lags between pledging and realisation make it difficult to isolate brand effects. On average, the period between writing one’s final will and its realisation is around six to seven years, meaning that current legacy income reflects brand perceptions and communications from many years earlier.

The fact that the top ten legacy charities receive 23% of all legacy income (Legacy Futures analysis of the Charity Commission Register of Charities 2023/24) suggests that brand strength does have an influence but until now, there hasn’t been any concrete evidence to prove it.

Programme aims and objectives:

1. To explore what makes a good/strong brand and how different elements of a brand interact and affect a brand’s dynamics.
2. We will look at what brand strength means in a legacy context, exploring the various brand dimensions.
3. We will carry out deeper analysis to explore whether we can find any relationships or correlations between brand strength, fundraised income and legacy income.
4. We will provide practical insights and recommendations on how charities can leverage their brand to grow legacy engagement and income.