Half of Scotland’s legacy income goes to just 50 charities

Half of all legacy income in Scotland goes to just 50 charities, a report has revealed.

According to latest Scottish Charity Regulator figures there were 25,427 charities in the region as of the end of March this year.

But research released this week by consultancy Legacy Foresight and the charity coalition Remember A Charity has revealed that 48% of Scotland’s legacy income goes to only 50 charities.

Among the top 50, it emerged that just 19 charities account for 40% of this group’s legacy income.

The top charities for legacy income, based on figures in 2020/21 were Scottish SPCA which earned £7.23m from legacies.

Other charities in the top ten include Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, National Trust for Scotland and Erskine.

In total around 500 Scottish charities are named in wills each year. Of these almost two thirds (64%) are small charities.

According to the two bodies research legacy giving amounted to £136m in Scotland in 2020/21. The top 50 charities in the region for legacy income raised £66m, which is up 2.8% on the previous year.

In addition, the research found that 42% of Scottish people aged 40 or over saw they would be happy to leave a gift in their will to charity, and 21% have already done so.

“In the cost-of-living crisis, money is tight for charities and supporters alike,” said Remember a Charity director Lucinda Frostick.

“But in many ways, this brings us all closer together, with people being acutely aware of the need for charitable services and wanting to support the causes they care about.

“As legacy giving has little or no upfront cost while offering the potential to achieve a better future, we’re seeing appetite for giving in this way reach record levels. Legacies offer a huge growth opportunity for Scottish charities.”

Legacy Foresight director of insight Kath Horsley added: “The fundraising market is becoming increasingly challenging and competitive but for those charities who continue to invest in legacy fundraising it remains resilient and we continue to see legacy income on an upward trajectory.

“Whilst the Scottish market is relatively small, it is clear that Scotland is on a similar trend to that of the UK as a whole, and the forecast for charity legacies remains promising.”