Programme graduate (2023), Catherine House, Legacy Giving Officer for Queen’s College, University of Oxford, shares her experience of being a mentee and how she’s applies the valuable learnings in her role.
I started at The Queen’s College in 2021, although I’ve always worked in the charity sector, at home and overseas. Previous to Queen’s, I worked in fundraising for Oxford’s University Museums. There, I met people who wanted to leave legacy gifts and I began to further promote and develop this area.
When the opportunity arose at Queen’s, I thought it was the perfect chance to focus on legacies. I knew there was so much to learn but I couldn’t wait to get started.
I’m in a team with three other fundraisers who are in regular giving and major fundraising, although I’m the only one with a dedicated role in legacy giving. We all work very closely together, though, and incorporate legacy giving messages into everything we do.
The Queen’s College provides a world-class education, fosters a strong academic community, and contributes to the intellectual life of Oxford, within traditions of excellence and inclusivity. It was founded in 1341 to be a college for fellows and students from the north of England. Today, the College remains proud of its northern roots and is active in supporting schools and raising aspirations of students in schools in the north of England.
Since the College was founded, bequests and legacy gifts have played a crucial part in the development of Queen’s and the provision of student support. Legacy gifts are now more important than ever, as tuition fees are insufficient to cover the cost of undergraduate teaching, provision of student support and the maintenance of our historical buildings.
People have been leaving legacy gifts for hundreds of years to support future students in their education. It's lovely to play a part in this long-standing tradition.
When I first came into post, I realised I had a lot to learn. I saw an ad for the programme and thought what a brilliant opportunity it would be for someone like me who was keen to progress in terms of my career and personal development. I didn’t think the chances of winning were high, however, and I was amazed when I found out I’d been accepted!
It’s such a varied programme, which kicked off with a masterclass in London, where I got to meet fellow mentees. We then had group sessions on subjects such as free will schemes, in-memory promotions and sensitive and impactful legacy conversations. Some of these areas were new to me, and the sessions were incredibly helpful.
We also had one-to-one mentoring where we set individual goals and objectives for what we wanted to achieve.
The session that has always really stuck with me was the masterclass with Professor Russell James. I was fascinated to hear about all the research that had been done into legacies and how it informed legacy giving programmes. I use the knowledge I picked up in this session all the time.
Another thing that came out of the experience was the realisation that there isn’t only one way or a best way to do things. Charities are always trying to find new and better ways to engage with their supporters. There are different strategies and we’re all learning together. I found this very helpful and reassuring. It helped me come to the conclusion I needed a simple strategy that prioritised certain actions. I decided to prioritise raising awareness of legacy gifts, building our legacy giving society and strengthening our internal processes for legacy administration. This year, I've changed focus to concentrate on promoting legacy giving, which has resulted in us producing a new brochure and sending out a legacy giving appeal.
One of main reasons I applied for the programme was that I wanted to build confidence, which the experience certainly helped me do; so much so that after it ended I was inspired to take my next step into technical training. I’m now studying towards the ILM’s Certificate in Charity Legacy Administration. I feel like in the last three years, I haven’t stopped learning!
Dr Claire Routley gave some very valuable advice about how to have legacy giving conversations. It's a private thing and people aren’t always keen to discuss the subject. She gave four tips which I always remember and try to follow:
This advice inspired me to insist on having legacy stories in our impact report, so we can share stories about the generous people who leave money for students of the future.
Have a go. I didn’t expect to win. I was thrilled when I did and the experience was very worthwhile and excellent for my professional development. I’m very grateful I had the opportunity to take part, but if you apply and don’t succeed, book on to a Legacy Futures masterclass anyway. And join the ILM, who provide lots of free resources and training.
If, like Catherine, you would like to be considered for the Future Leaders mentee programme, you have until 20 January 2025 to apply for the 2025/26 cohort.
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