This page is for church leaders looking for information about legacy giving. If you are thinking about leaving money to your local church in your will please click here.
Legacies and gifts in wills
Even for those of us confident in speaking about the importance of giving it can be hard to talk about legacies. It is helpful to reconsider legacies in the light of faith and to think about the meaning and importance of legacies to those who leave them. Just as we support our church by regular planned giving while we are alive, so we can choose to continue to profess our love for God and our church after physical death as a commitment to support its ongoing life in generations to come. In addition to the below resources, the national church has a website dedicated to helping you talk about legacies.
Tools for Encouraging Legacies
Template Promotional Leaflet
If you are thinking of getting in touch with people to promote legacy giving you could use one of our template leaflets to help people understand the difference a legacy could make. A suite of options are available which allow you to tailor your message depending on your missional focus, as well as include a personalised message from the vicar.
Options will be available in the coming weeks.
Free Online Will Writing Service
Will writing can often seem like a time-consuming and difficult thing to do – and that’s a big reason why many people put it off. The Church of England has partnered with Farewill to offer a free online will writing service. This service has no obligation for someone to leave a gift to their local church but for those that do it offers a simple process to enable them to do so. To get started simply share this link with members of your community.
Template Letter of Wishes
Many churchgoers already have a will but they can still leave a gift without having to go through the hassle of amending it, by leaving a Letter of Wishes. These are simple to create and express someone's desire to support a cause in addition to the stipulations of their will. You can download this here to provide to members of your congregation.
Faith Will Legacy Campaign with Christian Aid
Christian Aid has partnered with the Church of England, the Church of Scotland and the Quakers to inspire congregations to leave a gift in their will to their church and to Christian Aid. Faith Will is the first ecumenical legacy campaign of its kind, supporting church leaders with free resources to make it easier to talk about gifts in wills with an amazing suite of free worship and promotional resources. Watch the video below to find out more and sign up here.