Latest Legacy Stats – are you getting your share?

The latest figures on UK legacy income from Legacy Foresight show an encouraging picture, with a total income in 2015 of £2.56 billion, representing 13% of all voluntary income to charities. Average residuary legacies (shares of estates) are running at £42,500, with average cash sums now at £3,000.

Last year, the number of charities receiving legacies was up by 10% at just over 9,900 – was your charity one of them?

The latest stats also reveal that, although the big brand charities still claim the lion’s share of legacies, smaller and newer charities are making inroads. In fact, the fastest growth was achieved by charities with income between £0.5 and £8 million.

Legacy Foresight is predicting growth of 2.6% per year over the next five years, with a total legacy value of £2.91 billion by 2020. This is more than is currently distributed by trusts in the UK.

As ever, health charities come out on top of the income table at 39% share of the cake, followed by animal charities at 14% and conservation at 8%. So legacies continue to be an important income source for many charities.

If you would like to talk about how your charity could grow its legacy income, please call for a free chat on 01903 723519