Measuring and evaluating legacy marketing activities can be challenging.
A lack of consistency, both within individual charities and as a wider sector, makes it difficult to evidence a causal link between what is spent on legacy marketing, and the legacy income received as a result.
The situation is made more difficult by the long gap between the initial legacy communications and the eventual ‘payback’ which may come years later.
But despite this complexity, fundraising teams need to demonstrate the value of their activities, both to secure additional investment and to evaluate the ‘return’ on the resources they invest.
The Legacy Marketing Benchmarks project can help you to:
- Quantify levels of legacy marketing spend in relation to total fundraising spend and legacy income
- Assess your overall legacy marketing activity – including marketing spend, areas of focus, resourcing and effectiveness – against the sector and peer charities
- Evaluate the different types of legacy marketing activities undertaken in three broad areas: Awareness-Raising, Acquisition and Stewardship
- Build greater understanding of your legator database, including the different types of legator and the types of gift received
- Develop legacy marketing strategies and budgets
“In today’s highly-scrutinised fundraising environment legacy leaders have a responsibility to understand the effectiveness of their marketing activities”