Why leave a charity gift in your will

A legacy gift is a gift left in your will to a charity or non-profit organisation. It’s a gift that helps you continue to support their work long into the future.

Legacy gifts come in many different forms and in many different sizes. But no matter the size, they make a huge difference in our mission to help children have safe and happy childhoods.

There are many ways you could leave a gift in your will. It could be a cash gift, a personal item, or a piece of land. There are many different terms for legacy gifts; the most common are:

1. Residuary: This is a share of your entire estate – or everything you own – from money in your bank account to furnishings and items you own. When leaving a residuary gift, you can choose a percentage of the value of your estate (after tax and costs). This could be 100% or 25% - the choice is yours.
2. Pecuniary: A pecuniary gift is a fixed amount of money.
3. Specific: An item someone owned like a house, shares, or jewellery.

Leaving a gift in your will is a wonderful thing. But we know that creating a will can be an overwhelming task.

So, whether you’re tired of putting it off or just not sure where to start, we’ve outlined what you need to know about writing your will.

Where to start with writing your will:

Before you can leave a gift in your will, you’ll need to draft a list of what will be in your will. And what you want to do with your assets. To write your will you should:

Write a list of everything you own.

You can download our will planner to help.

Decide who you want to leave your assets to.

This is when you'd decide if you'd like to leave Action for Children a gift in your will. This could be a cash gift, a share of your estate (or, everything you own), or a personal item.

Choose your executors.

That’s somebody who is going to manage your estate and carry out your wishes.

Write your will.

As a valued supporter of Action for Children, you can have your will written for free. You have the choice to write your will online or talk to a specialist by phone or online video. Get your will written for free now.

Finally, you can complete our pledge form.

We respect this is a very personal decision, but we'd love to hear from you. If you’re happy to share, please complete our pledge form.

If you already have a will and want to amend it to leave a gift to Action for Children, you can complete a codicil form. You’ll then need to attach it to your will and provide a copy to your solicitor. You’ll also need to complete our pledge form.

At Action for Children, our legacy pledgers have made a huge difference to the lives of children, young people, and families across the UK. For that, we couldn’t be more grateful.

Our legacy gifts help us run our 372 services. Thanks to amazing people like you, we were able to help 687,755 children and families last year. Your gift will help us continue to be there for the families who need us most in the future.

This blog was updated on 18 October 2024 with new figures from our 2023/24 annual report.