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Press Release

New figures reveal legacies make up less than 14 per cent of voluntary income for charities

2 November 2011

As a campaign called 'Legacy 10' is launched to encourage people to support charities in their wills, official figures compiled by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) show that the amount of legacy income reported by the 11,000 biggest charities (1) in their most recent annual returns is £2.1 billion. This is a real terms increase of 3% on September 2010 but represents just 13.49% of all voluntary income received by these charities.

The Chancellor announced in his last Budget that from April 2012 anyone donating at least 10 percent of their wealth in their will to charity, will see their tax burden on their remaining taxable estate reduced from 40 to 36 percent.

Although often seen as complex, giving through your will needn't be and the Charities Aid Foundation's legacy service makes it easy to support charities in this way.

CAF gives you standard wording for your will which is accompanied by a letter of wishes. In your letter of wishes you state which charities or causes you would like to give to. This can be changed, for free, at any time without the need of a complete rewrite of your will and the legal fees this would entail.

If you're unsure of which charities you want to give to, you can simply put a charitable cause and CAF, itself a registered charity, will find charities for your donation to go to. CAF charges one percent for its legacy service.

Stephanie Moss, Legacy Manager at the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) said, “Contrary to what many people believe most of us don't leave a charitable legacy.

“Legacy giving isn't complicated and after you have looked after your family and friends it's a great way to make a difference.

“Through CAF's legacy service, you can have flexibility in your legacy giving and pick and choose charities and causes without the need for complicated legal arrangements or fees.”

(1) There are over 11,000 charities in England and Wales with an annual income of over £500k which report their legacy income in their annual returns to the Charity Commission.



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Charities Aid Foundation

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