For the second year running, Stewardship is joining forces with hundreds of charities and legal professionals across the UK to champion gifts in wills for Remember A Charity Week, 9-15 September 2024.
As a Charity Champion, we will be raising awareness of the option of giving to charity from your will, alongside taking care of loved ones. Offering generous tax incentives, this form of charitable giving is on the rise¹ and provides essential funding for vital services across the country – both now and for future generations. In fact, around £3 in every £10 donated to charity comes through gifts in wills². These donations make a huge difference, and some of the nation’s most loved charities simply wouldn’t exist without such gifts.
Helping to grow the 'Willanthropy' trend
Thanks to the generous acts of everyday people, the UK ‘Willanthropy’ movement continues to grow with around 100 people a day across the UK now choosing to leave a gift to charity in their will. By working together with Remember A Charity, we hope to inspire even more people to consider what they wish to be remembered for.
Create your legacy in three simple steps
We can help you to create your legacy with us in three easy steps:
- Decide how much you want to give.
- Ask your solicitor to add a gift to your Stewardship account in your will.
- Complete our Expression of Wishes form so we can make sure we have everything we need to honour your requests.
You can update your wishes at any time, free of charge, without having to involve your solicitor.
Charitable legacies are free of inheritance tax. In addition, if you leave at least 10% of your estate to charity, the rest of your estate will benefit from a reduced Inheritance Tax (IHT) rate of 36% rather than 40%. Our briefing paper on legacy giving covers all the considerations involved - biblical, ethical, legal and tax - and takes you through the process and the advantages of leaving a legacy to Stewardship. Our Head of Legal, Rachel Steeden, has also penned a helpful blog for Premier Christian Radio - which includes a link to an interview she recorded with them - on how to boost your giving tax-efficiently using charitable legacies and deeds of variation.
Legacy giving with a deed of variation
You can use a deed of variation to redirect part or all of your inheritance to your Giving Account, Donor Advised Fund or Philanthropy Fund within two years. This redirection will be exempt from IHT and may qualify the rest of your inheritance for a reduced rate of tax.
We recommend having your deed of variation prepared by a solicitor. We’re happy to review the draft to ensure Stewardship's details are correctly included.
Remember A Charity Week
Remember A Charity Week is an annual celebration of the power and impact of legacy giving. Throughout the week, partners, solicitors, will-writers, charities and others will be championing the legacy message, encouraging people across the country to help build a brighter future by leaving a gift in their will.
Get started on leaving your legacy
Create a plan so your generosity makes a difference for future generations. Access all our resources, find answers to your questions and submit an enquiry.
¹ Remember A Charity blog on its annual consumer tracking study, 15 April 2024
² Legacy Foresight Data Dashboard, 2023 (Based on top 1,000 legacy charities in England and Wales)
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Ruth Jackson
Ruth is leading the PR and communications for Stewardship, which she joined in April 2022.
She has over 25 years’ marketing communications experience across a range of sectors, including higher education, technology and the arts, both business- and customer-facing.
Ruth worships and serves at C3 Church in Cambridge where she lives with her husband, two teenage daughters, a dog and a cat. When she’s not at her desk, you might find her rowing on the River Cam, in a ballet class or out for a walk.
She supports causes that are focused on alleviating global poverty and injustice, with a particular interest in supporting vulnerable children.
