FREE WILLS, WHAT’S THE CATCH?

Jack Visser and Pauline Mayer Cancer Research UK

Agenda

What is a Free Will Service for?

• Recruitment and Fundraising, Reward or something else

• FWS going forward

What is a Free Will Service for?

Legacy teams know less people leave a legacy than give during their lifetime

• Is a Free Will offer a tool for direct action to engage, convert or upgrade?

Later• How do we engage the legal profession?Now• Some history….

How it started • 1993 Cancer Research Campaign

(CRC)• 1994 Imperial Cancer Research

Fund (ICRF)

• To grow the market • Cold Acquisition Only• Generate Legacies for the charity

How it’s changed over time• Still Cold Acquisition Only• More targeted• CRUK model to generate Legacies for the charity• Cost control• Only for over 55s

Cost v. Income pre-merger

FY 1993/

94

FY 1994/

95

FY 1995/

96

FY 1996/

97

FY 1997/

98

FY 1998/

99

FY 1999/

00

FY 2000/

01

FY 2001/

02

£0.00

£500,000.00

£1,000,000.00

£1,500,000.00

£2,000,000.00

£2,500,000.00

Costs

Income

Cost v. Income post-merger

FY 2002/03

FY 2003/04

FY 2004/05

FY 2005/06

FY 2006/07

FY 2007/08

FY 2008/09

FY 2009/10

FY 2010/11

FY 2011/12

£0.00

£2,000,000.00

£4,000,000.00

£6,000,000.00

£8,000,000.00

£10,000,000.00

£12,000,000.00

£14,000,000.00

CostsIncome

Has the investment paid off? Cumulative Cost v. Income

FY 1993/94

FY 1995/96

FY 1997/98

FY 1999/00

FY 2001/02

FY 2003/04

FY 2005/06

FY 2007/08

FY 2009/10

FY 2011/12

£0.00

£10,000,000.00

£20,000,000.00

£30,000,000.00

£40,000,000.00

£50,000,000.00

£60,000,000.00

£70,000,000.00

£80,000,000.00

CostsIncome

The 2002/03 campaign cost £1.5mil

2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13£0.00

£200,000.00

£400,000.00

£600,000.00

£800,000.00

£1,000,000.00

£1,200,000.00

£1,400,000.00

Total income so far is £5.8mil

Top line figures

• Over 91,000 pledgers since 1993• And £426million in pledges

• But….

Pledgers and Non-pledgers

PledgersNon-includers

• Average 65% inclusion rate

FWS Marketing

• Currently only used as a cold acquisition tool• We continue marketing to our warm

supporters as all other charities do• A development in this will be to market FWS

to our warm supporters too...

Solicitor Engagement

• A key area of overlap between Legacy Marketing, Development and Administration

• FWS Will Writers are now also the Executors we deal with on a daily basis

• Of the 5000 notifications we receive a year 900 of these are from Wills written through the FWS

Solicitor Recruitment

• Over 1200 registered firms• About 850 very active firms

• No current recruitment programme

Solicitor Relationships

• Getting these solicitors closer to our cause will be the focus of our strategy to grow the service and its impact for the charity

• Listening to them is as important as communicating our need for Legacies to them, like any other potential supporter

Working as a team

• Legacy administration are crucial when developing relationships with law firms

• Thanking at end of case• Following up with a ‘how did we do?’ survey

sheet ensuring that communications are always positive

• Solicitors are potential donors!

Sector Will-making promotions

• Free Wills Month and National Free Wills Network run by Capacity Marketing

• Will Aid• Will Relief Scotland• And other charity schemes you may see

Opportunities for all charities

• Various will writing schemes – some investment needed but fairly quick data back

• Creating your own links with local solicitors – Free but needs someone to project manage it

• Members of Remember a Charity can link with Co-op Legal Services – Free

Conclusions

Free Wills - “What’s the catch” • Investment and long term focus• Used for Recruitment and Engagement• Proof that continued activity reaps long

term results!

QUESTIONS?