Searching for the fundraising 'levers'

These past years have been hard for some legacy fundraising departments. Budgets shrank, teams stretched thin, and motivation low. 

Yet despite the cost‑of‑living squeeze, our work has never been more important. Across the UK, charities now raise around £5 billion a year from gifts in Wills, and that total is expected to double in the next two decades.

The challenge is figuring out how to continue to increase pledges with limited resources. 

For me, it’s about finding the high‑leverage actions that took little effort but could pay off big. Think of them as the 'levers' in your legacy programme that with tiny pushes generated massive results. 

To find them, try this quick exercise (preferably with your team):

1. List every legacy fundraising activity or campaign you ran in the last 6–24 months. They could be digital appeals, newsletter stories, thank-you events, webinars, etc. – include everything.

2. Score each activity on a scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for effort and for impact. Use your gut or any data you have (results, time spent, budgets, etc.) to score honestly.

3. Spot the low‑effort, high-impact wins. Look for those gems, activities with an effort score of 2 or less and an impact score of 4 or 5. These are your leverage candidates – the campaigns that didn’t drain the team but brought in great results.

4. Analyse and repeat. For each lever candidate, ask: why was it so easy? Why did it work? Can we do it again today, maybe on a bigger scale? Could we tweak or combine ideas to make it even better?

Remember, even a small campaign can spark momentum. It might be a short email story, a questionnaire in your newsletter, or a one-off thank-you call. By focusing on what’s already working, with perhaps some improvements, you keep moving forward even when faced with limited resources.