Here at Perpetual Giving, we are
driven by one solid goal – to encourage more New Zealander’s to leave a legacy
in their wills. We aim to do what no one charity can do alone; promote legacy
giving in general so that leaving a charitable gift in your will becomes the
right thing to do once loved ones are taken care of.
We have some fantastic causes in
New Zealand and as a developed nation we are collectively some of the most
socially conscious people in the world, with 1.35% of GDP donated in 2010. This
makes it even more surprising that out of 15,443 estates administered in NZ in
2010, only around 6% made bequests for charitable purposes. There is definite
scope to increase legacy giving in NZ.
So why are around 94% of
individuals with Wills not currently leaving a charitable gift in their Wills? Research
on the subject points toward a number of different motives for leaving a
bequest which can help us to understand how to increase charitable gifting.
Communication about legacy giving was one factor; with a study into charitable
communications finding that donors who had received a request from a charity
were 17 times more likely to leave a charitable gift in their wills
(DameGreene, 2003). This supports our belief that working together across
charitable sectors to promote the cause is essential.
Another factor that could account
for low instances of charitable bequeathing is the desire to ensure that a Will
first provides adequate support for family members (Sargeant, 2008). This is
why we take a ‘family first, charity second’ approach to legacy giving –
promoting charitable gifting once loved ones have been taken care of.
A final factor worth noting is
the perception by many that their assets are insufficient to warrant a
charitable bequest (Sargeant, 2008). Perhaps this indicates a real need to
promote the idea that every bequest, no matter how large, makes a real
difference to charity funding and ultimately the cause they support.
How Perpetual can help:
We feel that our core business
background in the trust industry, where we have over 125 years’ experience in helping
people to instruct their Wills and administer their estates, makes us well placed
to make a difference in the campaign to make legacy giving more prevalent.
Through our own business; we will ensure that clients have all of the
information they need to consider making a charitable legacy in their Wills and
we will work across the sector and with charities to make this the norm.
We currently have a great deal of
interest from New Zealand charities who are keen to collectively promote the
cause and grow the funds obtained through bequests. We already have 25
charities in the Perpetual Giving community and this is set to grow. We promise
to keep you updated as more charities come on board and benefit from this service.
If we even increase legacy giving by 5%, we could raise an extra $ 6.1
million for New Zealand charities. Help us to make a difference today.
http://perpetualgiving.org.nz/
References
DameGreen, S (2003) How to Develop a Successful Bequest Programme. The Journal of Gift Planning
Sargeant, A (2008) Identification, Death and Bequest Giving
http://perpetualgiving.org.nz/
References
DameGreen, S (2003) How to Develop a Successful Bequest Programme. The Journal of Gift Planning
Sargeant, A (2008) Identification, Death and Bequest Giving
