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Making a charitable bequest is
an important decision for both
the charity and the individual
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To maintain this range of services,
and cope with the demand for new or
extended services, the Charities need to
secure their future income as far as is
possible. Current income streams are all,
more or less, variable and largely beyond
the control of the charities.
Overall income has peaks and troughs
from year to year and it is therefore vital
that the CMCs maximise every possible
source of income. Legacy income has always
been an important source of funding, and,
as the studies identified, there is scope to
increase it.
In the world at large, demographics
indicate that care for the elderly will
increasingly become a problem for
everyone, from national governments to
individuals. By the year 2025 it is estimated
that 1.9 million people in the UK will be
over the age of 90. This will place an
increasing burden on charities.
As more people live longer, the
resources that they put in place to fund
their retirement will be stretched, possibly
to breaking point, with the result that they
will become more likely to seek charitable
support. At the same time they will be less
likely to be able to afford to give support
to charities.
This increased longevity is particularly
noticeable within the Masonic population,
where 27% of the membership is already
over the age of 65. This has a potential
double impact on the income of the
Central Masonic Charities.
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Retirement provisions are being
stretched over a longer period than
anticipated, and therefore Freemasons are
more restricted in their charitable giving,
whilst at the same time, the longer they
live, the more likely they are to require help
from the Masonic charities. If the increased
demand is to be met, there is a need to offset
the predicted decline in future income.
The primary objective of the Legacy
Appeal is to increase income from legacies
for all four of the CMCs. The true success
of the Appeal as regards this objective can,
of course, only be gauged in the longer term.
However, there is a further, important
objective against which success can be judged
in the shorter term, to improve the awareness
of the services and facilities offered by the
four Charities. This is not only to encourage
support of the Charities, but also to ensure
that Freemasons and their families are aware
of the help that is available.
The Appeal will ultimately cover the
whole of England and Wales. At the time
of writing, it is also intended to include
Districts overseas, but the approach has
not yet been finalised.
The Appeal will consist of two phases:
a Pilot and a National Rollout, with the
former scheduled to start early in 2007 and
the latter towards the end of 2007. It is
anticipated that it could take up to two years
or more to complete the national rollout.
Initially, central appeal staff will deliver
Legacy presentations locally. It is hoped
that this will lead to the recruitment of
enough volunteer Legacy Information
Officers to ensure that delivery of the
message can be maintained and extended,
in a face-to-face process, in all areas across
the country.
In each Province or Metropolitan Group,
central appeal staff would like to initially
conduct two types of meeting: Awareness
Presentations and Legacy Workshops.
Each will be repeated as many times
as is necessary. Awareness Presentations
will normally be scheduled as part of a
suitable Provincial/Group event, not as
a stand-alone presentation.
Awareness Presentations are intended to
inform the members of the Craft and other
interested parties about the Appeal and
to inspire individuals to become involved
as volunteer Legacy Information Officers.
The target audience for these presentations
comprises Freemasons and the wives and
widows of Freemasons. In particular, Lodge
Almoners and Charity Stewards will be
invited as they are considered the most likely
source of volunteers.
The intention to include ‘Masonic
Ladies’ fully in all aspects of the Appeal
was also supported by research evidence
and the following quotes:
“The Masonic charities don’t rank highly among
my commitments, but I could change my mind
if I knew more about their work.”
(A Masonic widow)
“It will be important to get the wives and widows
involved. Each Province will differ in its habits
and relationships with the women but, in terms
of making financial decisions, their participation
could be very important.”
Legacy Workshops are intended to equip
the volunteer Legacy Information Officers
to carry out their role on behalf of the
Appeal. The training will enable them to
seek and secure legacy donations from
individuals, as well as continuing to promote
the Appeal at local level through further
presentations as and when appropriate.
The Pilot Project will involve up to
four Provinces and one London Group,
and will commence early in 2007.
Whilst the Pilot will be ‘live’ in the
sense of actively seeking legacy donations,
it will also serve to test the various elements
of the Appeal, gain valuable feedback from
the Pilot audiences and if necessary make
adjustments before the main appeal.
The Appeal will be managed by W Bro
Mike Wheal, Legacy Manager for the
Central Masonic Charities. When asked
for a summary of the Appeal, Mike
said that he thought one of the people
interviewed during the research had put
it very well:
“The key message should be that by doing this
your legacy will continue the principles by which
you have lived your life as a Freemason, and
that your gift will continue to help those who
are less fortunate than you ever were long after
you have gone.”
Further details can be obtained by
contacting: M L Wheal, Legacy Manager,
31 Great Queen Street, London
wc2b 5ag. t. 0203 116 0114.
Email: mike@cmc-legacy.org
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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