Stellar strategies for securing legacy investment
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Rachel Gedge is Legacy and In Memory Giving Relationship Manager at Children’s Hospices Across Scotland, better known as CHAS. Rachel is two years into her first legacy management role, and shares what she’s learning so far from success and ‘failure’ regarding legacy investment.
You’ll have to excuse the Sci-Fi infusion in this blog. I write this just days after CHAS’ annual Capital Sci-Fi Convention, an event that celebrates all things Sci-Fi and raises tens of thousands for CHAS each year. Having spent two days chatting about our free Will-writing service with people dressed as Yoda, Spiderman, Doctor Who and more, my mind is in a universe far far away.
But perhaps that’s not a bad place to start. Because being a legacy fundraiser does feel like being on another planet sometimes, doesn’t it? It’s pretty futuristic when you think about it. While our colleagues might be more focused on the next year or two, we’re making plans for 2050 and beyond.
That ‘other worldly’ feeling can be felt more keenly when we talk to our colleagues in finance, governance, and senior leadership teams about legacy investment. We might feel we need a universal translator (Star Trek) to really understand each other.
This is my first leadership role in legacy giving, which means I don’t have a plethora of proven past results (yet!). But what I do have is an approach to legacy investment that I believe puts me in good stead for interstellar success – and successful failure.
Do your research
No inter-planetary mission sets off without preparation. When trying to connect with colleagues and encourage them to join us in our legacy mission, research can really back us up.
This is an exciting time to be a legacy fundraiser. There’s so much information out there to support your ambitious plans.
Whether it’s Remember A Charity webinars, Legacy Futures reports, chats with legacy consultants, calls to your fellow legacy fundraisers, or even investigating your own database. Do your research and show your decision makers the depth and breadth of evidence backing your case for legacy investment.
Plan for plan B
In 1968, Spencer Silver tried to develop a super strong adhesive but fell short. Instead, he made a very weak adhesive. After years of trying to find a use for the material he had made, his adhesive was eventually used in Post-it notes. Plan A failed, but plan B was a roaring success.
As legacy fundraisers we may be naturally futuristic – but we must be realistic too. Our organisation’s financial position, internal pressures and competing priorities can bring us back to Earth with a bump if we aren’t prepared for them.
What’s the next best thing I can do if my proposal is rejected? What if they accept the proposal, but with half the budget? What’s the priority if I can only take forward one proposal? What aspects of my plans are dependent on one another, and what aspects are independent? What can I do to improve our legacy programme that doesn’t require any budgetary increase, so my strategy doesn’t wholly rest on investment? The existence of plan B doesn’t diminish your faith in plan A. It simply shows your decision makers that your plans are robust, thorough, adaptable, and realistic.
Don’t let the meeting be the meet-cute
Remember the moment that Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker first met on the Death Star? That’s a meet cute. The moment in a movie (Sci-Fi or otherwise) when two characters meet for the first time, usually in a comedic or dramatic way. Where possible, don’t let a decision-making meeting be the first-time decision makers ‘meet’ your investment proposal. Request an informal chat, ask for advice. For example:
“Hi, can I grab five minutes with you to chat through the proposal I’m submitting? I want to make sure I understand what you need included from your perspective – I don’t want to waste your time on the day!”
These conversations give you a chance to discover what the barriers to success might be and resolve them before you even submit. Put yourself in their shoes – how much would you love it if someone said to you, “Hi, can I chat to you for a few minutes about legacy fundraising, because I just want to make sure I understand what legacy giving needs from me.” Wouldn’t that be mind-blowing?
If meeting directly with decision makers is difficult or even impossible – I empathise. Have these conversations with those who will meet with them. Anyone you can.
When we reach out to our colleagues, we are valuing their perspective, their priorities, and you will learn so much. The barriers are not always what you think…
Successful failures
Unfortunately, even when we do all the research, make the plan Bs, and meet with decision makers in advance, our interstellar mission to the planet of legacy investment success - fails.
But there’s a successful way to fail.
‘No’ is an invitation to find out more. To engage our curiosity. While most of the universe is mysterious black matter, ‘mysterious’ should not be a descriptor of internal decision making. You could ask,
“Hi, could I have a quick chat with you about the proposal I submitted? I’m curious to learn more about why the answer was no, for my own understanding. I don’t want to waste any of your time with future proposals that don’t meet the organisation’s needs. It would help me learn and help my plans.”
Once you know the barriers, you’re on your way to turning one failed proposal, into the information you need for a successful one.
Being right is not enough
We all know that legacy giving is worth investing in, but being right is not enough. If it were, securing investment would be easy. Our organisations face many challenges and balance competing priorities, targets, and legitimate concerns. We must be willing to meet our colleagues where they are. We need to find creative solutions. We should be curious about their worlds and ask questions - if we want them to be more confident, and invested, in ours.
I am still developing my approach to legacy investment. I am also lucky to have an extremely supportive fundraising and senior leadership team. With this approach and support, we have increased legacy investment by more than 40% in my first budget year and hope for a further increase in my second. I hope my experiences shared here are helpful. As Doctor Who says - “As we learn about each other, so we learn about ourselves.”