FirstClass blog articles

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.

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.

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.

'Emailing!' we hear you cry. 'How is that a feature?'. Email is as prevalent as pen and paper – if not more so. Everyone uses email, but it's crucial to understand how it can be used within the FirstClass platform. Email is critical in helping charities build an online presence. Here are four reasons we believe email deserves a FirstClass feature showcase. 1. Hit send If you rely on an external platform to send and receive emails, then you’re operating outside FirstClass’s secure environment. And it’s one more platform to manage, too. With FirstClass, you can email anyone and everyone related to a specific case. The software works seamlessly with all versions of Outlook, making integration easy. Additionally, you can eliminate email-related admin, which is inevitable when using a third-party email provider. Any email addresses that aren’t on the system can easily be imported. Oh, and everything’s ringfenced, so that only those with admin rights can send emails. 2. Log it When it comes to incoming emails, all attachments, notes, and tags can quickly be logged into the system. So, users can easily track specific items if they've attributed a keyword or search term to them when they go into the legator's records. If, for example, you've previously logged a copy of the will, you can locate and recall that specific document by searching 'copy of the will'. 3. Flexible templates With FirstClass, users can easily create letter templates. While they look exactly like standard printed letters, they can be emailed to anyone in seconds, saving charities time and money in postage fees. Additionally, users can incorporate their own branding, such as logos and fonts, so that all digital communication can be on brand and consistent with other assets. 4. Scans well With FirstClass’s email import attachment wizard, users can log critical documents – such as estate sales brochures, Smee & Ford notifications and sensitive information relating to a case – almost instantly with the scan-to-email functionality. Once an item has been scanned and emailed to the user, they can use the importing attachment tool to select which attachments they would like copied from the email to the FirstClass directory. Ready to go paperless and futureproof your organisation? Contact the FirstClass team on 01257 272730 or email info@firstclass-software.com .

By Bobby Parmar, Account Manager at FirstClass Wow, what an event! The Institute of Legacy Management’s annual conference ( ILM , for any readers who aren’t aware) was particularly special this year. Well, for us at least – but I’ll come on to that in a minute. First, I have to say that there's nothing like being in a room full of like-minded people, all of whom are passionate about legacy management (and incredibly talented in their respective legacy management fields). It’s also really quite inspiring to see so many people from some of the UK’s best-loved charities discussing the sector and sharing best practices. But for us, having provided a key legacy management tool for charities’ legacy management programmes for almost three decades, there was something else, too. A family feel Throughout the day, we continually bumped into people who, over the years we've worked together, have become like family. From legacy managers at RNLI and Cancer Research UK to team members from RSPCA, Barnados and Legacy Link, it was great to see so many people in one place. We also had the opportunity to meet with members of a steering group we've formed to help us shape the next version of our software – version 5 – in the most collaborative way possible. Three members of the group, Angela Noguera-Horne from Cancer Research UK, Val Tabor from Barnados, and Daniel Pepper from RNIB, even shared some initial feedback from users, much of which suggests that they are generally happy with the product. Pat on the back And, of course, following our recent national award win, having collected the Outstanding Partner to the Sector Award at the Smee & Ford Legacy Giving Awards 2024, many well-wishers - both customers and non-customers – were very kind about our recent success. However, the biggest pat on the back came from ILM, which is eager to develop an official qualification on FirstClass . This recognition shows that we're becoming a standard part of the legacy management infrastructure and doing something right, too. This year's ILM was exceptional, and the FirstClass team was incredibly proud to be a part of it. Looking for an award-winning bequest management partner? Get in touch with our team today.