The Future of Legacy Fundraising Is...

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.

The £4.4 Billion Opportunity

By Fiona Paton • July 6, 2026
UK legacy giving is at near-record levels. What the latest figures tell us, and what they mean for the sector. UK legacy giving brought in an estimated £4.4 billion in 2025, the second-highest year on record, according to the Legacy Giving Report 2026 from Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford. Only 2024's exceptional peak of £4.6 billion has exceeded it. By any measure, gifts in wills have become one of the most significant and reliable sources of voluntary income in the charity sector. Yet despite that scale, the opportunity remains largely untapped. Understanding why starts with looking at what the numbers actually say. A Sector at Scale The figures behind that £4.4 billion total tell a compelling story. Around 44,000 estates included a charitable gift in 2025, generating an estimated 104,000 individual bequests. The average gift value stood at £44,000, a sum that can be genuinely transformational for smaller organisations receiving even a handful of legacies each year. Perhaps the most striking figure of all is this: a record 17.4% of all estates at probate now include a charitable donation. That's nearly one in five. Legacy giving has moved well beyond a niche form of philanthropy. It is mainstream, growing, and showing no signs of slowing down. The Underinvestment Problem With legacy income accounting for 37% of all voluntary income to UK charities, you might expect it to command a proportionate share of fundraising attention. The reality is quite different. Research from the Charities Aid Foundation suggests charities spend around 15% of their fundraising budgets on legacy promotion, less than half what the income share would justify. That gap between income received and investment made is striking. It suggests that for many organisations, legacy giving is still treated as something that happens to them rather than something they actively cultivate. The gifts arrive. But the strategy, the stewardship, and the administrative infrastructure to support them are not always keeping pace. Concentration at the Top Legacy income is also unevenly distributed. For the top 1,000 legacy-receiving charities, gifts in wills account for around 30% of total fundraised income, a significant dependency. In the health sector alone, just eight major charities account for roughly half of all legacy income received. That concentration matters for two reasons. First, it reflects how much further the market could grow if more organisations, including arts bodies, heritage organisations, universities, hospices, and community charities, invested seriously in legacy fundraising and administration. Second, it highlights the competitive advantage available to those who do. The pipeline is there. The question is whether organisations have the capacity and the tools to manage it well. What Comes Next The outlook is positive. Annual legacy income is projected to approach £5 billion by 2030, driven in part by the ongoing transfer of wealth between generations. As legacy giving becomes an increasingly central part of the UK's philanthropic landscape, the organisations best placed to benefit will be those that treat it with the strategic seriousness it deserves. That means investing in legacy fundraising, yes. But it also means having the administrative foundations to handle every gift with the care and precision it warrants. The £4.4 billion figure is not just a headline. It is a signal. Sources: Legacy Giving Report 2026, Legacy Futures and Smee & Ford; Charities Aid Foundation UK Giving Report.

Getting the Help You Need, Fast

By Fiona Paton • June 29, 2026
How our support portal keeps your issues moving, and nothing slips through the gaps. We introduced our support portal last year, and it’s made a genuine difference to how quickly and consistently we’re able to help. But we also know how organisations work: people move on, new team members join, and not every process gets handed over as smoothly as we’d all like. So, it felt like a good moment to set out how it works and make sure everyone on your team knows where to go. When something isn’t working the way it should, you want it sorted quickly. So do we. That’s why we’ve put a system in place that makes sure every support request gets the right attention from the right person, with nothing getting lost along the way. The Quickest Route to a Resolution The best way to raise a support issue is through our portal: www.firstclass-software.com/contact When you log a request here, a ticket is automatically created in our support system. You’ll receive a confirmation email with your ticket number straight away, and your issue goes into a shared team view that we review together every day. That daily review matters. It means the whole team has visibility of what’s open, what’s progressing, and, importantly, who is best placed to help. If one of us is tied up or away, your ticket doesn’t sit in a single inbox waiting. It’s picked up. Once Your Ticket Is Open Everything you need to do from there can be handled by email. If you want to add more detail, share a screenshot, or simply check where things stand, just reply to your confirmation email. Your response is automatically recorded against your ticket, so nothing gets separated from its context. Why We’re Asking You to Use the Portal We know it’s natural to fire off an email directly to someone you know on the team. We genuinely appreciate that; it speaks to the relationships we’ve built with you. But direct emails do carry a real risk: if that person is out, in a meeting, or simply gets busy, your message can sit without anyone else knowing it’s there. The portal changes that. The moment you log a ticket; the whole support team knows about it. It can be assigned, prioritised, and picked up by whoever can move fastest, and it’s there in front of us at every daily team meeting. It’s a small change in habit that makes a meaningful difference to how quickly and reliably we can help you. In Summary – Log support issues at www.firstclass-software.com/contact – You’ll receive a confirmation email with your ticket number – Reply to that email to add information or follow up; it all stays connected – Your ticket is visible to the whole team and reviewed daily – The right person picks it up, wherever they are If you’re ever unsure, or would rather talk something through, you’re always welcome to call us on 01257 272730. Articles like this, along with sector news, product updates and practical tips, are shared in our monthly newsletter. It’s something we’re often asked about: how do I sign up, or why am I not receiving it? So, we’ve created a dedicated page to make that easy. Visit www.firstclass-software.com/stay-connected to join, and please do pass the link on to any new members of your team.

The FirstClass Approach - Essential for Any Caseload

By Fiona Paton • June 18, 2026
Why smaller charities, arts and heritage bodies, and universities can't afford to manage legacies on a spreadsheet. Every charity that receives a legacy gift - whatever its size - carries the same responsibility: to honour that gift with precision, care and respect. The supporter who included your organisation in their will made a considered, generous decision. The way you administer that gift reflects directly on how seriously you take it. That's a truth that applies equally to a national charity managing thousands of cases a year and to a small arts organisation, university, or heritage body receiving a handful. The scale differs. The weight of responsibility does not. Yet many organisations in that second category are still managing legacy administration on spreadsheets. It's understandable - the volume feels manageable, the setup cost of dedicated software seems hard to justify, and there's a natural tendency to use familiar tools. But spreadsheets carry risks that are easy to overlook until something goes wrong. The Hidden Cost of 'Good Enough' Legacy administration is more complex than it looks from the outside. It involves tracking multiple cases simultaneously - each at a different stage, each with its own timeline, solicitors, correspondence and financial reporting. It requires a clear view of what income to expect, when, and how that maps against your organisation's plans. And it demands a clear, auditable record of every decision and communication. Spreadsheets can hold data. What they can't do is give you a real-time picture of your pipeline, generate reliable financial forecasts, or produce the audit trail that funders, trustees and regulators increasingly expect. When something is queried - by a solicitor, an executor, an auditor, or your own board - the answer needs to be immediate, accurate and documented. A spreadsheet rarely delivers that with confidence. There is also the question of what happens when the person who built the spreadsheet moves on. Legacy administration knowledge concentrated in a single file, maintained by a single person, is a fragile foundation for income that may represent a significant proportion of your organisation's voluntary revenue. "A lot of the organisations we speak to are managing perfectly well - they just don't realise how much peace of mind comes from knowing everything is audit compliant and in one place. FirstClass 5 Essentials gives smaller organisations the same professional foundation as the largest charities, without the complexity they don't need." - Bobby Parmar, Account Manager, FirstClass Built for the Scale You're Actually Working At FirstClass 5 Essentials is designed precisely for organisations in this position. It brings the same core capabilities that legacy professionals rely on - case management, financial forecasting, communications - in a version built for teams managing a smaller caseload. That means no unnecessary complexity. No features that exist to serve operations ten times your size. Just a clean, purpose-built system that gives you the visibility, compliance and confidence that spreadsheets simply can't provide. The practical benefits are immediate. A clear view of your pipeline and expected income. Case notes and communications in one place. And a record that holds up to scrutiny - because increasingly, it needs to. The Licence That Fits Unlike other software, FirstClass 5 Essentials doesn't require organisations to commit to bands of licences. If one person manages your legacy administration, one licence is all you need - with the flexibility to add more as your team grows. The investment required is smaller than many organisations assume. And when measured against the value of the gifts being administered - and the reputational and compliance risk of getting it wrong - it's rarely a difficult decision once the numbers are on the table. The Upgrade Path Is Always There Organisations change. Caseloads grow. Legacy programmes that start small can become central to a charity's income strategy over time. FirstClass 5 Essentials is not a ceiling - it's a starting point. As your organisation grows, so can your system. Upgrading when the time is right is straightforward, and everything you've built moves with you. You don't have to predict where you'll be in five years to make the right decision today. You just have to start with the right foundation. The Right Tool for the Work Legacy giving is growing. The Great Wealth Transfer is already underway, and more supporters - across a wider range of organisations - are including gifts in their wills. That trend makes the question of how those gifts are administered more important, not less.