Bear with me. Kierkegaard the 19th Century theologian and Philosopher said “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” It was 38 years ago when I was sitting at my desk as Director of Fundraising and Public Affairs at the Order of St John that I got a call from the
Contested Wills Archives - Radcliffe Consulting – Defining the Future of Legacy Fundraising
19 May 2021
Reflections
- By : radcliffeconsulting
- Best Practice, Contested Wills, Coronavirus, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Our Blog, Tips, Uncategorised, Wills
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8 April 2020
Online Consulting during the virus
As we all isolate to our home (or are sadly furloughed) it does not mean the end of advice and support. Online advice can be given at a fraction of the cost of a personal visit but (almost!) as worthwhile. If you need support, even an hour of advice can be a lifeline. Isolation does
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Our Blog, Wills
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30 March 2020
Legacy giving during THE VIRUS
Every one of us is being affected. The effects are different for each of us. We know absolutely nothing about what the future holds in the short, medium or long-term future. We have no idea what the future holds for each of us financially. We have no idea as to the global effects on our
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Making the ask, Our Blog, Tips, Wills
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7 March 2020
Stop treating legacy prospects as idiots
I have just got back to my hotel room from giving a legacy seminar in Canada and this question was raised by a delegates: “Have I got this right? You are saying make it easy?” Recently I have given masterclasses in Australia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria and of course in the UK. Similar questions were
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Tips
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4 January 2020
Has the world become a better place? Turning donors from pessimists to optimists.
It is Saturday 4th January, I am listening to BBC Radio 4 – a programme called “a small matter of hope”. AWESOME. Listen to it with your fundraising hat on and think “what is the best story telling?”. The programme has nothing to do with fundraising but everything to do with story telling. The programme
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask
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19 December 2019
2020 – the year of perfect vision? Mind the gap
The end of a year and beginning of a new one is the perfect time to think of the year ahead. What is my vision for the year and beyond? What are my clients’ visions? And what are the visions of legacy prospects? I might be stupid but I always thought 2020 was “perfect vision”.
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Our Blog, Tips, Wills
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12 November 2019
Memory failure – why do donors not remember what we tell them? And how to get them engaged
Every time I meet older supporters, I get really worried – they have memory failure about most fundraising communications – including legacies. And yet memory leads to the greatest engagement opportunity. What are we getting wrong? And how can we get it right? Lifestyles of older generations Every time I meet supporters who have retired
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Alerts & Updates, Best Practice, Contested Wills, Our Blog, Tips, Wills
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14 October 2019
Still learning after 30 years
But the final hurdle……. 8 hotels. 4 countries. 3 weeks. A gruelling schedule but what I love about my job is that after 30 years I still have loads to learn and achieve. It’s like being in a race which just gets better. My determination to win gets stronger every year. But there are some
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Our Blog, Wills
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1 October 2018
Respect the intelligence of your prospects
What really annoys me at the moment is: special Will making offers. In my view most of them are deeply patronising and assume I am too stupid to have one (as a tail end baby boomer). What Is more, these “special offers”, which are not really special at all, are often attracting the least good
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask
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17 May 2017
I am bored to death. Are you dying to make a difference?
Is this a tasteless headline or attention grabbing? Does it matter if it is tasteless? Let’s get legacy giving noticed How many legacy campaigns are noticed? In focus groups it is truly frightening to discover that most legacy articles, posters, leaflets and even bookmarks go unnoticed. There are too reasons for this message blindness: The blandness
- By : Richard Radcliffe
- Best Practice, Contested Wills, Legacy Strategy, Making the ask, Tips
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