Legacy Award Sponsorship

As part of its ongoing work within the legacy sector and commitment to recognising the level of dedication that goes into legacy administration, FirstClass has sponsored the Legacy Administration Team of the Year award – one of 19 categories that make up Smee&Ford’s Legacy Giving Awards 2024.

 

The awards ceremony, which will take place at the Hilton London Bankside on Thursday 18 April, aims to recognise colleagues, teams and partners within the legacy sector for their efforts towards legacy fundraising and administration over the last 12 months.

 

As one of the UK’s most prominent suppliers into legacy teams nationwide, having developed FirstClass’s renowned bequest management software almost three decades ago, the FirstClass team will also judge the category.

 

On sponsoring and judging this year’s Legacy Administration Team of the Year award, Bobby Parmar, Account Manager at FirstClass, comments: “As the architects of the number one bequest management software, we’re very used to being behind the scenes whilst working with our charity clients. However, through this sponsorship, we’ll be going behind the scenes in a different way to find out how other organisations are supporting some of the UK’s much-loved charities and ensuring that they remain funded, dynamic and important.”

 

Rich Mullens, MD at FirstClass, adds: “The legacy giving landscape is full of people devoted to keeping the lifeblood of charities pumping. As a key supplier to the charity sector – and one that specialises in legacy management – we not only feel a duty to invest in our clients, but also a duty to invest in those who make it such a thriving area to work in. With that in mind, we’re delighted to contribute to this year’s awards, excited to discover the good work that teams throughout the UK are doing, and proud to feed into such vital area.”

 

For more information on the Smee&Ford Legacy Giving Awards 2024 visit https://legacygivingawards.co.uk/.

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.

ILM Annual Conference 2025: Highlights from the FirstClass lounge

June 2, 2025
FirstClass hosted an exclusive breakout space at the ILM Annual Conference 2025, and it was a great experience! Discover the event highlights and our team’s thoughts on the experience.

Three things we're looking forward to at the ILM Annual Conference

May 7, 2025
Are you attending this year's ILM Annual Conference? Discover three reasons why the FirstClass team is excited about this year's legacy management event.