FirstClass blog articles

The charities that benefit most from Remember a Charity Week aren't always the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ready ones. Remember a Charity Week, running 7 to 13 September 2026, is the sector's most significant annual moment for legacy giving. Hundreds of charities, solicitors and campaign partners come together to celebrate and raise awareness of gifts in wills, reaching supporters at precisely the moment they're most receptive to the idea. But awareness alone doesn't convert. The charities that make the most of the week are the ones that have done the less visible work beforehand; the kind that doesn't appear in a campaign toolkit but makes the difference between interest and action. The Preparation Most Teams Overlook Campaign assets, social content, and staff briefings are necessary. They're also the first thing every charity thinks of. What gets less attention is the foundation underneath: the data. Remember a Charity Week is as much about reactivating existing relationships as it is about reaching new audiences. Many of your most likely legacy pledgers are already in your database. They've supported you for years, attended events, and responded to appeals. The question is whether your records are accurate enough to reach them meaningfully. Outdated mobile numbers, incorrect email addresses, deceased supporters still on mailing lists - each of these doesn't just represent a missed communication. In the context of legacy giving, where trust is everything, a misdirected message or a wrong name signals to a supporter that they are not truly known. That signal is hard to undo. Before the week arrives, it's worth asking: when did you last review the accuracy of your contact data? Are your mobile numbers current? Do you know which supporters have already indicated an interest in legacy giving, and when they were last contacted? Moments like Remember a Charity Week are a useful prompt. If data accuracy isn't something your team reviews regularly, a sector moment this significant is as good a reason as any to make it a priority, ahead of this week, and as a habit going forward. Meeting Supporters Where They Are Once your data is in good shape, the question becomes how to reach supporters during the week itself and through which channels. Email remains important, but it operates in an increasingly crowded inbox. For legacy teams looking to cut through during a busy awareness week, mobile messaging offers something different: immediacy, intimacy, and a read rate that email rarely matches. RCS , the successor to SMS, delivers branded, interactive messages directly to a supporter's phone, with read rates of 60-80% and engagement up to three times higher than standard SMS. A message sent during Remember a Charity Week directing a supporter to your gift in wills page, or to a Free Wills Month booking in October, lands in a channel they already trust and use every day. QR codes are equally underused in legacy communications. A code on an email footer, a social post, or any printed material can take a supporter directly to your legacy page in a single scan: no URL to remember, no delay between the impulse and the action. The supporter who wants to give is already there. The only thing standing between that feeling and a completed action is making it easy. Through our sister brand Cymba , which brings over 20 years of messaging expertise for charities, we're already helping legacy fundraising teams build mobile campaigns that reach supporters at exactly the right moment. If your charity is already working with Cymba on regular giving or text-to-donate, the infrastructure to extend that into legacy communications is closer than you might think. For more on the channels and audiences most relevant to legacy giving right now, our article on Gen X and legacy fundraising is worth a read. The Bridge to Free Wills Month Remember a Charity Week and Free Wills Month in October are two separate moments. But they can equally be seen as stages of the same campaign. The groundwork laid consistently throughout the year, at moments like these and the ones that follow, is what determines how well you capitalise on them when it matters most. The awareness built during the week, through social content, supporter emails and mobile messaging, primes supporters for the practical next step that Free Wills Month offers. A supporter who receives a thoughtful, well-timed message in September and is directed to your gift in Wills page is far more likely to act when Free Wills Month opens than one who encountered your legacy programme for the first time in October. Ready When the Moment Arrives The organisations best placed to make the most of events like Remember a Charity Week are the ones with the right infrastructure already in place: a clear view of their supporter data, the confidence to reach people through the channels that actually work, and the case management foundation to handle what follows. Together, FirstClass and our data cleansing team give legacy professionals the pipeline visibility, case management, and clean data that makes every communication count. And through our sister company Cymba, the mobile messaging capability to reach supporters where they already are is closer than most teams realise. If Remember a Charity Week or Free Wills Month have prompted some useful thinking, that's exactly the point. The most effective legacy programmes aren't built in a week; they're built on consistent foundations for when these events arrive, everything is already in place. If any of the ideas here are worth exploring for the coming months or the year ahead, we'd be glad to talk.

Legacy administration carries a hidden cost. Here's what it's really taking up, and what legacy professionals could be doing instead . Ask anyone who manages legacy administration what their day looks like and the answer rarely starts with relationships. It starts with paperwork. Documents to upload, correspondence to chase, reports to pull together, dates to track. The work is necessary and important. But for many legacy professionals, it quietly crowds out the things that matter most. That trade-off deserves more attention than it gets. Legacy giving is one of the most relationship-driven forms of philanthropy there is. The supporters who include a charity in their will do so out of deep, long-standing connection. Honouring that connection takes time, care and presence. Yet the administrative burden of managing legacy income can leave little room for any of it. The Administration Behind Every Gift Every legacy gift generates a significant amount of work before any income is received. Documents arrive from solicitors and need to be logged, stored and acted upon. Correspondence passes between multiple parties, including executors, solicitors, financial advisors and families, often over months or years. Financial reports need to be produced for trustees and auditors. Key dates need to be tracked so nothing falls through the gaps. For larger charities with dedicated teams, that workload is distributed. For smaller organisations, it often falls to one person. That person is also likely to be managing supporter relationships, attending sector events, and contributing to broader fundraising strategy. The hours spent on administration are hours not spent on any of those things. What Gets Crowded Out The hidden cost of administration is not just inefficiency. It is opportunity. Every hour spent uploading documents or chasing correspondence is an hour not spent building the relationships that become tomorrow's legacies. Legacy stewardship, by its nature, is a long game. The supporters most likely to leave a gift are those who feel genuinely known and valued by an organisation over many years. That kind of connection takes consistent, personal attention. It also takes confidence. When a legacy professional knows that every case is properly recorded, every date is flagged, and every financial report is accurate and accessible, they can engage with solicitors, executors and families with authority. When they are not sure whether the information is up to date or complete, that confidence erodes. And the people on the other side of those conversations notice. A Different Way of Working The organisations that manage legacy administration well tend to have one thing in common: a system that handles the administrative burden so the people do not have to. Not by removing the human element, but by giving it the space it needs. That means rapid access to records without searching through files or spreadsheets. Income dashboards that give an immediate picture of the pipeline and expected income. Financial reports that are ready when they are needed. Important dates flagged automatically. And correspondence and case notes held in one place, so nothing is ever lost or disconnected from its context. When those things are in place, the time equation changes. Administration becomes faster, more reliable, and less draining. And the time that is recovered goes back where it belongs: into the relationships, the stewardship, and the work that only a person can do. Built for the Reality of Smaller Organisations For smaller charities, universities , arts organisations and heritage bodies, that kind of professional infrastructure has not always felt accessible. Enterprise systems carry enterprise complexity and cost. For many organisations, the gap between a spreadsheet and a full legacy management platform has felt too wide to bridge. FirstClass 5 Essentials was built precisely for this. Cloud-hosted, ready from day one, and priced for organisations that don't need enterprise complexity. The Right Use of Time Legacy administration will always require care and attention. That is not something any system can or should remove. But the hours spent on the purely administrative parts of the job - the uploading, the chasing, the reporting - are hours that could be spent differently. If you would like to see what FirstClass 5 Essentials looks like in practice, we would be glad to show you.

At FirstClass, we’ve always believed our product should grow with the charities and non-profits who use it. Your input has shaped the way we build, and now we want to take that collaboration one step further. Monthly Check-in Calls We’re introducing monthly check‑in calls - an open forum where you can drop in, chat with the team and other customers, and explore anything to do with the product. No agenda, no pressure. Just space for conversation, questions, and shared ideas. These sessions give you the chance to: Share your priorities and help shape how we address different aspects of the system Stay informed on technical updates, including external systems like SQL or Outlook What’s new across our Team, billing, and the wider company See functionality demonstrated live - if you’re unsure how something works, we’ll show you Updates on features and fixes in the latest releases Ask questions on any part of the system Whether you join for five minutes or stay for the full hour, this is your space to connect with us. It’s a chance to explore challenges together, share experiences, and help shape a product that truly works for charities. We’ll host these sessions monthly on Microsoft Teams, giving you regular opportunities to drop in and join the conversation. As the sessions develop, we'd like to occasionally bring a specific topic to the group rather than holding separate meetings. It makes better use of everyone's time and gets the right voices in the room. For our next session, on Wednesday, 16th September at 11:00, we'd like to begin the discussion around Expenditure - feeding directly into how it will be handled in FirstClass 5. You can sign up using the Save the Date button below.

Priti Parmar has been a familiar, reassuring presence for FirstClass customers since 2018. Here is her story. Ask any FirstClass customer who they turn to when they need help, and Priti Parmar's name is sure to come up. Warm, patient, and quietly knowledgeable, she is one of those people customers turn to time and again. And for many, she is the voice that stays with them long after the problem is solved. What fewer people know is that Priti came to FirstClass having already encountered Clear, as it was then known, through a previous role. Clear's software at that time had a different product entirely, unrelated to legacies, but the connection was there. When the opportunity to join the team arose, she already had a sense of the company she would be walking into. A Different Kind of Support Priti's background before FirstClass was in support, but of a very different kind. She spent years helping internal teams handle insurance claims, working directly with claimants and taking on training and validation responsibilities alongside. It was detail-oriented, people-focused work that demanded both patience and precision. Those instincts - listening carefully, finding the right answer, making sure nothing gets missed - turned out to translate perfectly. The sector itself was entirely new, but the skill of supporting people through processes, and doing it with care, very much was not. When the opportunity at FirstClass came along, Priti took it. "It was the chance to move into something new and learn a whole new industry. I thought: why not." A Steep and Rewarding Curve Legacy administration, as Priti discovered, is not a world that gives up its complexity easily. The people she was supporting already knew their sector inside out: wills, tax, finance, estate law. The questions they asked were specific, technical, and often urgent. She joined at a significant moment too. A major software upgrade was underway, which meant supporting customers through a transition while simultaneously getting to grips with the different versions herself. Then COVID arrived, which brought its own particular demands and, in some ways, an unexpected opportunity to focus. "Initially it was a daunting task. But after a while it starts to become second nature. Even today I am still learning, and at times I also need support from the team myself." That last part matters. Priti does not pretend to know everything. She is comfortable saying she needs to find out, and just as comfortable making sure she does. For the customers she supports, that honesty is part of what makes the relationship work. The Part She Loves Most Ask Priti what she enjoys about the job and the answer is immediate: the customers. Not the software, not the processes, not the features. The people. She knows most of them by name, and in a sector as close-knit as legacy administration, that means something. Professionals move around. Someone she supported at one charity can reappear at another a year later, and when they do, the relationship picks up exactly where it left off. "I love chatting with customers and working out how I can help them. And if I cannot help them myself, I make sure I get the right information from those who can." It is a straightforward answer, and a revealing one. Support done well is not about resolving tickets. It is about the person on the other end of the call feeling heard, helped, and confident that someone is genuinely on their side. That is what Priti brings. A Team Worth Belonging To The warmth Priti extends to customers is very much a reflection of the team she works within. "I absolutely love them to bits. We are also close-knit, and I could not ask for a better team. No one ever hesitates to help, no matter what your role is. We are there for each other." Working remotely has not changed that. The team still makes a point of meeting in person once a month, keeping the social thread intact alongside the professional one. It is the kind of culture that does not happen by accident, and it shows. Beyond the Working Day Away from FirstClass, Priti finds her balance in movement and connection. Long walks in nature, time with family, and a genuine love of travel. She has explored the US, spent holidays with relatives in India, and counts visiting the Golden Temple on the India-Pakistan border among her highlights. These days, Europe is drawing her attention, Italy in particular. It is a life lived with the same open curiosity she brings to her work: always willing to explore somewhere new, always ready to learn. What Comes Next For now, Priti is exactly where she wants to be. Support is her world, and she sees plenty of road ahead in it. A software company never stands still, which means there will always be something new to learn, a new customer to meet, and another challenge to work through. For the customers who already know her, that is reassuring news. For those who have not yet had the chance to work with her, it is something to look forward to.

Beyond AI - two priorities the legacy sector can't afford to ignore. Read any thought leadership article right now - across any sector, not just legacy fundraising - and somewhere between a quarter and half of it will be about AI. We know, because we used AI to check. In the context of legacy fundraising, AI is consistently touted as the tool that will unlock the sector's next chapter: better engagement, wider outreach, sharper strategy, stronger revenue. And to be clear, we think there's real substance to that. AI has a meaningful role to play. But we also think two other areas are being quietly overlooked among the noise. Areas that deserve equal attention right now - and that legacy teams would do well to get ahead of. Those two areas are Rich Communication Services (RCS) and clean data. AI is important. But it isn't the whole story RCS and Legacy Fundraising RCS - the more advanced successor to SMS - is already making its presence felt in the charity sector, and its potential for legacy fundraising teams is considerable. Where SMS is limited to text, RCS enables charities to send messages that incorporate video, imagery, and interactive buttons - all within the native messaging experience on a supporter's phone. The result is communication that's richer, more personal, and demonstrably more engaging. Combine that multimedia capability with RCS's ability to tailor content for individual supporters, and you have a channel that is meaningful, personal, and scalable all at once. For legacy teams working to build long-term relationships with potential legators, that combination matters. Perhaps its most significant asset, though, is trust. RCS messages carry a Verified Sender badge, giving recipients clear reassurance that what they're reading is genuine. In a sector where legacy giving is built on trust above almost everything else, that matters enormously. It's a low-cost, high-impact way for charities to demonstrate credibility at the point of contact. This focus on trust is one that the wider sector is increasingly vocal about. A recent article from Smee & Ford - specialists in legacy data and intelligence - noted that while AI holds real promise for the sector, legacy fundraising remains deeply human in nature, and that AI-generated messaging risks feeling inauthentic if the human touch is lost. It's a perspective that reinforces why channels like RCS, which carry built-in credibility signals, matter as much as they do. You can read the full article at smeeandford.com . Through our sister brand Cymba , which specialises in developing and delivering RCS campaigns, we are already helping legacy fundraising teams harness this technology and build mobile messaging campaigns that make an impact. Its agility, tailorability, and scalability make it an opportunity the sector shouldn't wait for. Clean Data and Legacy Fundraising Data rarely gets the attention it deserves. When there is new technology to explore and AI-driven approaches promising transformative outcomes, the discipline of maintaining clean, accurate data can feel like an unglamorous afterthought. It shouldn't. Good data is the bedrock of good communication - and poor data is a reliable route to missed opportunities, wasted resources, and, at worst, damaged relationships with supporters. In legacy fundraising specifically, the stakes are high. Duplicate mailings, deceased supporters still being contacted, incorrect names, missing preferences - each of these is more than an administrative error. They erode the trust that legacy relationships depend on. And they signal to supporters, however unintentionally, that they are not truly known or valued. There is also a practical argument that goes beyond relationships. AI's effectiveness is entirely dependent on the quality of the data it works with. A model built on inaccurate or incomplete source material will produce inaccurate and incomplete outputs. Investing in AI while neglecting data hygiene is, in effect, building on sand. Maintaining clean data isn't always straightforward, but the rewards are consistent and compounding. Better-timed communications. More relevant personalisation. Greater confidence in what is being sent and to whom. Drawing on the expertise of our data cleansing team, FirstClass is already helping charities get more from their data - and from the systems and strategies built on top of it. In 2026, attaining and maintaining clean data should be on every legacy team's radar. Good data is the bedrock of good communication. Poor data is a route to missed opportunities - and lost supporters. A More Complete Picture AI is undoubtedly part of the future of legacy fundraising. Any attempt to argue otherwise would miss the point. But RCS and clean data deserve to sit alongside it as strategic priorities - not as supporting acts, but as foundations without which the promise of AI cannot be fully realised. Underpinning all three is the same thing: trust. Trust that communications are genuine. Trust that supporters are known and respected. Trust that the technology serving a legacy team is making relationships stronger, not weaker. The charities that hold that at the centre of their strategy - whatever tools they use - will be the ones best placed for what comes next. The legacy sector is evolving quickly. Charities that invest in all three - the innovation of AI, the reach of RCS, and the discipline of clean data - will be better placed than those treating them as an either/or. If you would like to explore how we can support your legacy team with data cleansing or RCS messaging , we would be glad to talk. Get in touch with our team on 01257 272730.