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How our media partnership with The Telegraph is helping people leave gifts in wills

Published: 17 January 2024

In this blog, Lee-anne talks about Macmillan's media partnership with The Telegraph. This project has helped people to learn more about the impact leaving a gift in your will can have on people living with cancer and those that care for them.

A selfie of Lee-anne Menzies, a Legacy Promotions Officer at Macmillan. She has long brown hair and is wearing a blue striped white top. Lee-anne is smiling at the camera and appears to be indoors.

Lee-anne Menzies Legacy Promotion Officer at Macmillan

About the partnership

My name is Lee-anne and I have been a Legacy Promotions Officer at Macmillan for more than 18 months.

My role involves promoting gifts in wills across different marketing channels. The aim is to increase awareness and raise vital funds for Macmillan.

At Macmillan, we want people affected by cancer in the UK to understand the importance of gifts in wills. We want them to feel inspired, informed and supported to leave a gift.

To reach our target audience in a new way, we decided to partner with The Telegraph. Together, we have created a digital and print series which takes a closer look at the importance of legacy giving.

The first phase of The Telegraph partnership launched at the beginning of 2023. It focused on discovering the explored meaning of 'legacy' with comedian and impressionist Rory Bremner.

Additionally, we had shared experiences to show the breadth of support Macmillan offers. With our storytellers Paul Rodgers, Judith Neptial, Anna Stockford, we showed how gifts in wills can support many of Macmillan's services now and in the future.

As part of the second phase of the partnership, we created 4 practical articles. They offer information about:

will writing
common misconceptions about wills
how leaving a gift to Macmillan can help transform the lives of people living with cancer.

Practical articles to help with will planning

A lined notebook with a dark green ballpoint pen on a light green background.

Tips to help you get started on writing your will

For many people the biggest barrier to writing a will is bringing up the topic with loved ones.

In our article 'The simple guide to writing a will and keeping your loved ones happy', we explore why most people tend to put off thinking about making a will. It includes Vicky Reynal, financial psychotherapist, and Nova Cobban, psychologist, thoughts on why 56% of UK adults have not made a will.

The hope is that the article will encourage people to end this behaviour and write a will.

Read tips for will writing

Two dark green mugs on a light green background.

Getting everyone involved

Our article 'How making a difference in your lifetime and beyond is simpler than you think' focused on the range of support that charitable bequests (also known as a gift in will or legacy gift) can fund.

We shared stories from inspiring individuals like Janet from Macmillan's engagement team. Janet found a new way of encouraging cancer conversations over a dominoes tournament.

Janet said: "This partnership is helping to ensure people get vital information about cancer, and the opportunity to ask Macmillan staff and volunteers any questions they might have."

How Gift in Wills make a difference

A dark green purse on a light green background.

Did you know that Gifts in Wills can save you money?

In 'Why it pays to get your house in order - starting with will writing' David Prosser, financial journalist, talks about the importance of writing a will and legacy planning. David provides information on inheritance tax and Macmillan's Free Will Service. He explains how the service works and what you need to do.

David said: "Making a will may also make it easier for your family to plan for inheritance tax. This tax is payable on all estates worth more than £325,000, or £500,000 if taking into account the value of your home.”

Learn how you could save money

How legacy donations change lives

Supporting everyday heroes

“I know a few patients who have chosen to leave gifts in their wills to Macmillan, because of the care they received from us. It’s wonderful to know our support has inspired them to help others.” -Bhavani

We also wanted to share the importance of charitable bequests from a more emotive point of view. Our article 'Supporting everyday heroes' shines a spotlight on the incredible work of Macmillan Cancer support, like our Macmillan nurses and welfare benefits advisors.

The Telegraph interviewed 3 of our Macmillan professionals to find out more about their roles and how legacy gifts help them to continue to support people living with cancer.

Meet our everyday heroes

Real-life stories

The Telegraph interviewed people who are making a difference in their local communities to demonstrate the importance of taking small steps to create change. This included:

Rhiane who has created a safe space for Black women to connect with the outdoors
Ben who encourages people to be more active and seek meaningful connections
Tom who raises awareness of suicide prevention through The Lion's Barber Collection which focuses on the impact hairdressers, barbers and beauticians have on their clients.

We are proud to have shared these personal stories, and encourage people to consider what their lasting impact will be.

You could make a massive difference to people living with cancer by leaving a gift in your will to Macmillan.

Inside look at partnership development

To bring this partnership together, we looked for a media outlet that would allow us to speak directly to our target audience. The Telegraph presented us with creative ways to bring our message to life! We brought together a working group within Macmillan who would help us review and amplify the content created within the partnership.

During the first phase of the partnership, our aim was to reach 100,000 readers with the digital content series. We are delighted to have gone beyond this target, reaching over 115,300 readers.

With the help of the social media team, the content was shared with a further 700,000 supporters, including almost 49,000 people who viewed our Rory Bremner video.

The second phase of the partnership reached more than 146,00 readers. We shared Wendy, Fahida, Bhavani and Tom's stories on Macmillan's social media channels and reached a more than 114,000 supporters.

Learn more about Gifts in Wills

A person is holding a Macmillan Free Wills Service guide in their left hand. In the right hand they are holding a pen over an open notebook that is on a table. In the background is a laptop, a cup of coffee and a glass of water.

We are delighted with the impact this partnership has had. Not only has it raised awareness of gift in wills but also has spread news of Macmillan's services and campaigns that our colleagues are involved in.

This project gave us the opportunity to work in a more collaborative way internally and externally. The input from everyone involved has been valuable. Their experience and hard work helped to bring the articles to life.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank The Telegraph team for their involvement in this project.

If you are interested in reading more about our partnership, visit the Macmillan and The Telegraph media partnership webpage or the Legacy hub on The Telegraph website.

If this blog has inspired you to leave a gift in your will for Macmillan, you can find out more by ordering a free Gifts in Wills guide or calling us on 0300 1000 200.