Legacy Engagement & Development

As part of our stewardship work with the Canal & River Trust, Cherry Tiger have been working with the legacy team to increase the number and value of gifts in wills. Previous activity had been quite sporadic but with a new focus, we were asked to develop key communications to raise awareness of wills and start to build a legacy journey for supporters.

Key to this would be how we raised the profile of legacies to the key audience of long-standing ‘Friends’ of the Trust. Along with the legacy team, we wanted to take supporters on a journey from awareness to engagement, inspiration and consideration, rather than simply make an outright ask.

Our first step was to introduce editorial content in Waterfront magazine – also produced by Cherry Tiger exclusively for Friends – sharing visionary stories that demonstrated the long-term impact of the charity’s work; from protecting our industrial heritage to protecting wildlife and tackling the effects of climate change.

The team at the Trust then asked Cherry Tiger to design and write a legacy enquiry pack. This was developed primarily as a cost-effective digital download where enquiries were driven to the website. Inspirational, practical and informative, it was also designed to be easily adaptable for print if enquirers preferred this option and in order to support other activity.

Excitingly, the legacy team were also able to test legacy events this year, whereby we invited Friends to attend a regional event at some of the Trust’s most inspiring locations, including Anderton Boat Lift. Cherry Tiger developed the mailings, sending personalised invites to key segments of Friends.

It was great news when we heard that all events were fully subscribed. The legacy team made a huge success of each occasion and it was also a great opportunity for Cherry Tiger to join in and meet some of the Trust’s wonderful Friends. We are now working with the team to support rolling out a fuller programme of events next year.