Markus Aichelburg

Austria – Markus Aichelburg-Rumerskirch, Vergissmeinnicht project manager

Legacy fundraising in Austria is really taking off. Imagine this: in 2018, about 33% of people over 60 had a will. Now, that number has jumped to 43%. That’s a big increase!

Plus, more people know about legacy giving. Back in 2018, about 76% of those over 40 knew they could leave money to a charity in their will. By 2021, this had shot up to 91%. And more are considering it too with the number of over 40s thinking about leaving a donation in their will doubling in this time, from 8% to 16%.

Among those without kids, 40% can see themselves leaving a gift in their will. This shows a lot of promise. And thanks to our campaign Vergissmeinnicht, more organisations are getting involved in legacy fundraising. Since the campaign started in 2012, legacy income has rocketed from €55 million to €120 million by 2022. Now, for every 9 Euros donated in Austria, 1 Euro comes from a gift in a will as more and more Austrians realise that they can do a lot of good in this way.

One thing that sets the Austrian campaign apart is our partnership with the Chamber of Notaries. This alliance gives us a robust support system for our work. In Austria, every notary in the Chamber gets 5 copies of our Inheritance Law Guide. On top of that, every three years, we collaborate with the Chamber on a study about legacy giving and charity gifts. This gives us useful data for news reports and media work. We can also offer local news interesting facts about their area, thanks to our regional data breakdown.

Working with Austria’s biggest private funeral home also gives our campaign a good push. Besides that, we focus on holding events about inheritance law and wills with notaries and reaching out directly to potential legacy donors. Our Google Ads campaign is a big help in sharing our Inheritance Law Guide. And through our Vergissmeinnicht magazine, which we send to everyone who orders the guide, we consistently remind people about the idea of gifts in wills.

Legacy fundraising in Austria still has challenges to overcome. We need to help people understand that they don’t have to stick to the law alone when planning their will, but they can steer their final wishes themselves.

The idea of bequeathing part of an estate to an organisation, alongside provisions for own children, is still a path less travelled. Over 90% of legators don’t have children. Clearly, there’s still a need to boost awareness and education in this area.

Tessa Robertsson

Finland – Tessa Robertsson, communication and advocacy coordinator at VaLa, which coordinates Hyvä Testamentti

Legacy fundraising income is on the rise in Finland, although it remains relatively small compared to many other European nations. As a percentage of overall private fundraising (which includes foundations, individuals, and companies), it currently stands at 5%.

A key challenge is raising awareness about the option of leaving a charitable bequest and many people remain unaware of this possibility. If an individual does not create a will and has no heirs, their assets revert to the state. However, our surveys indicate shifting attitudes. In 2015, only 1% expressed a willingness to include a charitable bequest, but by 2022, this figure had increased to 10%.

In addition, in contrast to several other European countries, Finns are not required to officially register their wills. Consequently, the precise number of individuals who have created a will and have included a charitable cause remains unknown. Our studies suggest that approximately 19% of Finns have prepared a will, and 10% of both men and women express a willingness to include charitable bequests.

Unlike many other nations, we have refrained from employing free will marketing campaigns in Finland. Ethical considerations drive this decision, as nonprofit organizations must approach this subject with a high degree of sensitivity.

In 2023 the Finnish Fundraising Association (VaLa) conducted an extensive investigation into the landscape of legacy fundraising within its member organizations, alongside an exploration of the evolving requirements of our national campaign Hyvä Testamentti (Good Will).

A total of 15 Good Will organizations and 17 other member organizations responded to the questionnaire. Notably, we discovered that the organizations affiliated with the campaign disclosed that they had collectively received an impressive €18 million in legacies over the preceding three years, resulting in an average legacy value of approximately €1.2 million per organization. In contrast, organizations not part of the campaign had acquired legacies worth €1.5mn during the same period, equating to an average legacy value of just over 82,000 euros per organization.

Furthermore, the variance in the number of wills left to organizations was conspicuous between the two distinct groups. Good Will organizations reported being aware of over 77 legacies designated to them in the past three years, while other member organizations acknowledged only 20 such legacies. This divergence underscores a significant disparity in legacy bequests. On average, organizations outside the Good Will campaign had been bequeathed just a single legacy each, whereas Good Will organizations enjoyed an average of around five legacy bequests.

Leyre Ayastuy

Spain – Leyre Ayastuy, Haz Testamento Solidario lead & senior creative consultant at Daryl Upsall Consulting

In Spain, the law is very protective of an individual’s heirs. It’s mandatory that part of the inheritance is reserved for family, and only a third can be freely allocated to unrelated individuals or to charities. Because of that, Spanish people often assume their legacy is defined by the law – so why dedicate time and effort to writing a will?

In fact, nearly 40% of people used to die without one but since 2007 the average annual growth in will writing has been 1-4%, rising in 2021 by 15% year on year as people were confronted with their mortality, before dropping back in 2022 to pre-COVID rates.

At Haz Testamento Solidario we gather information from our 22 member organizations. In 2021, the data showed that the number of people interested in legacy giving and reaching out to organizations had increased by 101% from 2020, and in 2022 it increased by 154% versus 2021. More and more people are telling charities they have included a gift in their will. On top of that, legacy income increased by nearly 35% in 2021 compared to 2020. and in 2022 was up 22% on 2021, to €40.9 million. So recent data shows optimistic developments.

I think the difference to other countries is time. In the UK, donors and organizations are used to legacy fundraising because they have been talking about it for a longer time. Like other Southern European markets, we started promoting legacy giving later so the Spanish market is still at an early stage. Back in 2007, when we started a joint campaign for the first time, no one really talked about legacy giving. We still have to stimulate conversations today, not just about legacy giving but about will writing in general, but the Spanish media has started talking more about both. Slowly things are changing, and growth is a fact.

We also find that younger generations are much more open to legacy giving. Our recent study shows that a younger target group segment of people aged 45 to 50 is very open to talking about it. Here in Spain, younger generations have fewer children, and they are less willing to commit themselves to marriage. Young generations feel more independent; they know what they want and are free of taboos. Trends are changing.

In our 2022 study, we saw too the youngest segment of respondents was also more open to legacy giving. So, if you add these trends to the facts, we are very positive about legacy giving’s potential. Gifts in wills to charities are going to be the more obvious and natural choice for people with no children or grandchildren and for people who are more aware of the need for nonprofit organizations to care for the planet and vulnerable people, research treatments for cancer and other diseases.

Charitable giving and fundraising have changed markedly in recent months. While some of those evolutions were already on the cards in 2019, many are a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis and others have simply been accelerated by it. What’s changing and what will this mean for the future?

Donor numbers in decline

Most noticeably, we will see fewer individual donors. For nonprofit organisations – certainly the larger ones – the focus is on regular giving, with more than 85% of income coming from monthly donors, many of whom were brought on board through face-to-face and telemarketing. So, perhaps the time has come for more of a focus on supporters who lie in that middle ground between these regular donors and major philanthropists, instead of the current one-size-fits-all approach.

At the start of the Spanish financial crisis in 2008-09, the number of supporters dropped by around 10% to 15%. If we’re facing similar figures, nonprofits will need to invest heavily in donor loyalty to prevent further supporter losses. After all, for the next couple of years at least, it will be difficult to replace these withdrawals with new donors, due to the challenge of recruiting supporters face-to-face. Plus, the decline in wages and employment will limit the capacity of families to give. Faced with the fear of economic uncertainty, families are choosing to save rather than spend. Donors should be reminded that their donations are now more important than ever.

Unlike the UK market, events are part of the fundraising mix in Spain, but they rarely yield a fundamental level of income, with the exception of some research, health and local organisations. So, the limitations imposed by COVID-19 for events are unlikely to have such a significant impact across the sector.

Changing funding models for nonprofits

The lockdown is affecting all sources of income, ranging from foundations to the sale of services, particularly in the cultural, social or educational fields. Nonprofits working at a local level or in the fields of social welfare, research and health, will surely have greater capacity to raise funds than much of the rest of the sector, who will need to make structural changes and potentially to radically alter their funding model. 

Unlike in the USA, banking and grant foundations in the EU and Spain – due to lower profitability levels – are likely to reduce their budgets from 2021 to 2023. However, dependence on foundations is relatively low in Spain.

Companies have responded to the COVID-19 emergency with a very high commitment to donate, especially to hospitals and also to the government(!). The majority of businesses are already strongly affected by COVID, although some have been able to build and strengthen during this time. So, while corporate giving will suffer where businesses are in crisis, I’m expecting to see partnerships with nonprofits increase. The corporate movement towards a purpose-driven philosophy, with businesses increasingly seeking to positively influence the world around them is of course a positive step, which may create more opportunities for charities and partnership working.

Activating supporter ambassadors online

Online donor recruitment has been the trend for months: but we have yet to see its growth capacity and the potential impact on advertising costs. We need to be able to activate those committed donors as our ambassadors – acting as our F2F team among their friendship groups and contacts.  

Organisations will have to develop their online community of donors. Supporter relationships shouldn’t be like paying for a utility, such as electricity and gas. We have to change that relationship and ensure it isn’t too passive, and that means knowing our supporters and what they want from us. As Mark Phillips says in this Queer Ideas blog, some donors give to focus on a problem, while others give to forget. The more we understand their drivers, the better we can build on those relationships and deepen supporter commitment.

The need to grow, change and adapt

And, as in 2008, we may simply have to learn to survive with fewer donors and fewer resources. We have to grow, change and adapt. In other words, we have to innovate, to try new things and not to fear making a few mistakes along the way. After all, the virus will remain a big part of our world for some time yet. It’s up to us to re-invent the future for our organisations, our supporters and beneficiaries. 

Related feature:

Future-proofing fundraising for a pandemic world

What do you think?

Are these changes reflected in your national market? How is your fundraising environment changing? What are the opportunities and challenges for re-shaping fundraising and the donor market? To continue the discussion, comment via our Linked In page.

About Ricard Valls Riera

CEO of Zohar Consultoria & Marketing Social, Ricard has over 30 years of experience in consulting and fundraising strategy for nonprofits, NGOs, universities, hospitals and research. Ricard is the global leader of #GivingTuesday Spain and author of “Como captar fondos con éxito”. He is also a founder and ex-treasurer of EFA. Follow him on Twitter: @rvalls.

Lev Fejes, head of research at ARC Romania, says:

“Romanians’ philanthropic behaviour has gone through an impressive change in the past few years. While the public has a long history of donating to religious institutions, giving to NGOs is a relatively recent and important shift. We’ve seen a significant increase in individual donations to NGOs.”

Increase in charitable giving

Since ARC Romania first introduced a system for direct debit giving in 2012, there has been major growth in the channel, from USD $3,224 (roughly €2,800) in 2012 to $2 million (€1.75m) in 2018. 2012 saw just 233 individual donors give to two NGOs, while in 2018, 22 NGOs collected $2 million from 50,700 donors.

The average monthly gift size is also growing, from $4 (€3.5) in 2012 to $5.6 (€4.9) in 2018, with an attrition rate of less than 8% in the first year of donation.

Source: ARC Romania

Text giving has also proven a successful fundraising channel. Romania was the third European country to implement a regular giving text programme, enabling individual supporters to give two-four Euros a month to a charity.

Reasons for growth in philanthropy

Source: ARC Romania

According to ARC Romania, while the recent introduction of regular giving infrastructure and online giving platforms have had a large part to play in encouraging philanthropy, powerful communications and fundraising campaigns from NGOs themselves are also inspiring the public to give. The independent media have also provided an key service in making individuals more aware of the importance of the sector and the value of a long-term or monthly donation.

Camelia Mates, ARC donation mechanism coordinator says:

“The efforts made by these different players have managed to create, in an admirable way, a sense of belonging to a community.  People see in these organisations a reliable partner who will deliver on their promise and do what the state wasn’t capable of doing.  Not only do people donate, but many have become volunteers or are even organising their own fundraising campaigns online.”

Community foundations & corporate giving
Community foundations are on the rise: first appearing in 2008 and now 16 across Romania. Between 2008 and 2016, community foundations invested $3.9 million (€3.4m) in their local communities through grants, scholarships, community projects, and in kind donations. Overall, community foundations have raised $4.3 million locally, from individual donors and small companies.

Corporate giving is also growing, with businesses able to direct 20% of their profit tax to non-governmental organisations, providing this amount is within 0.5% of their turnover. ANAF (National Authority of Fiscal Administration) figures show that in 2017, 27,784 businesses reported sponsorship expenses (including private scholarships), amounting to over 1.27 billion RON (EUR 280 million).

Although this amount is significant, this tax incentive is under-utilised, and it could bring twice as much money to the NGO sector, if all eligible companies were to use the scheme. In addition, recent legislative changes has caused some confusion and there is uncertainty as to whether corporate giving will continue to grow.

Legislative changes
Concerns have been raised that recent legislative changes will affect giving from both individual and corporate giving. One such change, introduced at the start of 2019, allows individuals to redirect 3.5% of their income tax versus the previous 2%. While this appears to be an increase, it is only those NGOs accredited with at least one licensed social service that can benefit from such donations, rather than the full spectrum of charitable bodies.

A civil society advocacy programme has successfully lobbied for the tax scheme to be amended to include all NGOs and this will be implemented from the start of 2020, however only those NGOs that provide licensed social services can benefit from the higher rate of 3.5%. ARC Romania cautions that, as a result of the tax changes, the majority of NGOs will raise considerably less funds through this fiscal facility in 2019.

Additionally, to qualify for corporate sponsorship, organisations must now feature in a national register, which has been slow to implement, hindering fundraising efforts. A law requiring all NGOs operating in Romania to publish the full names of the “real beneficiaries” of their services and donations, will soon enter in force, which ARC says is “likely to cause problems.”

ARC Romania states: “The latest political and economic developments in Central and Eastern Europe demonstrates that Romania needs a powerful civil society, now more than ever. ARC has successfully developed the infrastructure for large numbers of small and local donors to get involved in civic causes and to have ownership on the positive changes they want to see in their country, but there is a need for financial growth and stabilisation, empowerment and professionalisation, in order to have the significant and long-term impact we envision.”