Legacy giving has helped to sustain the National Trust for generations. But when they came to us, their existing gifts in Wills proposition was out of step with what their audience was telling them.
The National Trust needed a new, audience-approved legacy proposition that would inspire support over the long-term – with a focus on members born at the tail end of the Boomer generation, consistently the most open to leaving a gift in their Will.
That’s where we came in.
what we did
- Audience research
- Strategy
- Legacy proposition
- Style guide
We ran a robust proposition development process, combining audience research with creative development to finesse the most impactful, emotionally resonant messaging.
Initial insights told us that National Trust members wanted to see themselves as passing the baton down to their children and grandchildren – protecting and conserving the nation’s heritage. But there was a strong vein of wonder, too: a love for the rich experiences we have in National Trust places. They wanted everyone to have access to that.
That knowledge let us work up proposition options, but we iterated them with input from the audience – cycling through quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups to finesse a route that resonated with everyone.
Ultimately, this process led us to the National Trust’s new legacy proposition: Give a gift to the future.
It’s a crystal clear call-to-action that shows people the lasting impact they can have, whether that’s preserving the nation’s history or setting the stage for future generations to make their own memories.
Through our insight process, we refined a messaging framework – drawing on audience feedback on tone, style and the importance of stressing the National Trust’s charity status.
Alongside this, we developed a photographic direction and visual approach. Through images carefully chosen to evoke an experience of place and a graphic device that shows how a legacy gift connects past to future, we built a style guide that will support the National Trust’s legacy marketing for years to come.
Our rigorous, audience-approved proposition is going down a storm at the National Trust – and our style guide is making sure that anyone working on legacy fundraising can inspire new pledgers, long into the future.
