FirstClass helps shape national legacy benchmarking programme

The background


With almost 30 years’ experience of working with over 200 charities, Legacy Foresight is the UK’s most prominent legacy market analyst.


As part of the Legacy Futures Group, Legacy Foresight specialises in benchmarking, research and analysis to generate insights and data for the UK’s legacy market.


Legacy Foresight’s flagship product is Legacy Monitor, an annual benchmarking consortium programme designed to monitor, analyse and forecast trends in legacy giving.


In order to collate and deliver this level of market intelligence, Legacy Foresight relies on FirstClass.

“The majority of the data supplied to Legacy Monitor comes direct from charities’ FirstClass legacy software. This data can be extracted and transferred easily and efficiently, and is almost always complete and robust. For charities that don’t use FirstClass, the process can be more time consuming and more data quality checks are required.”


Kathryn Horsley, Director of Insight at Legacy Foresight

The approach


Legacy Monitor’s consortium includes 83 charities, which accounts for almost half of the UK legacy market by legacy income. These charities provide quarterly income and bequest data that is combined with big picture economic and social trends to create an in-depth analysis of the British legacy sector.


Legacy Foresight produces interactive dashboards and quarterly and annual reports that enable charities to better understand the legacy market overall, and how their performance compares with the market and their peers.


In order for Legacy Monitor to include the granular level of data and analyses it has become nationally renowned for, it is reliant on member charities to supply high-quality data.


Of the 83 charities that form the consortium, 60 use FirstClass, which makes data retrieval a robust and efficient process for 75 per cent of its members.


These days, Legacy Foresight:


  • Uses FirstClass to gather 80 per cent of all legacy income data for Legacy Monitor.
  • Relies on FirstClass to ensure that data provided is complete and accurate.
  • Works collaboratively with FirstClass in order to continually integrate new metrics that offer new insights and provide Legacy Foresight’s members with a deeper understanding of the area in which they work.

“If you really want to understand the dynamics and performance of your legacy income, then you need access to as much robust data as you can possibly acquire. FirstClass is not only a tool that allows its users to do just that, but combined with the Legacy Monitor programme, it also has the capacity to empower charities to make more informed, strategic decisions for their legacy programme.”


Kathryn Horsley, Director of Insight at Legacy Foresight

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Pilot Project Launched to Support Free Wills Month

By Fiona Paton • July 31, 2025
To shine a light on October’s Free Wills Month , an initiative designed to offer those aged 55 and over the chance to have straightforward wills written or updated free of charge, FirstClass and sister company Cymba have joined forces and are partnering with the Institute of Legacy Management (ILM) to launch a project that illustrates the impact mobile messaging has on legacy giving. Whilst mobile messaging is typically associated with text-to-donate campaigns, the partnership between two companies that sit within ClearCourse’s stable of brands will showcase how this technology can be used to inspire people to leave legacies in their wills. The webinar, entitled “ How to Boost traffic to your Free Wills and Legacy pages ”, will be jointly hosted by the FirstClass and Cymba teams, and explore how emerging Rich Communications Services (RCS) technology, the evolution of SMS, can be used to drive engagement when it comes to legacy giving. The event will also provide charities with insights into how they can build trust when it comes to increasing donations and gifts by revealing tried and tested messaging formats that drive action. Charities will also learn how to highlight their free wills and legacy pages by harnessing RCS’s ability to implement branded quick-action buttons, and understand the difference in outcomes between SMS and RCS messaging via a dedicated split testing session. In the lead up to the webinar, which takes place on 11 September at 10:30 am, Cymba and FirstClass will be running test campaigns with several of the UK’s prominent charities, the results of which will be revealed during the session. On the event, Rich Mullens, Director at Cymba and FirstClass, comments: “ Regular givers are often among the most open to leaving a legacy. In this webinar, we’ll show charities how mobile messaging can help them engage these supporters more effectively and drive meaningful traffic, not only for donations but also to inspire gifts in wills. We’re delighted to unite these two brands, both of which are founded on helping charities boost donations via mobile messaging and increase their legacy giving, and we’re confident that attendees will leave feeling inspired to use new approaches. ” The new Data (Use and Access) Bill, which gives charities greater freedom to use the soft opt-in by enabling them to contact past supporters with relevant legacy messages without needing fresh consent, removes barriers to utilising RCS. This means that the benefits of RCS, such as the ability to use logos, images, video, and tap-to-act buttons, can be quickly and efficiently embraced by charities looking to incorporate this emerging technology. For more information on Cymba, FirstClass, and Free Wills Month, visit https://www.cymba.co.uk , https://www.firstclass-software.com , and https://freewillsmonth.org.uk ,  respectively.

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