Gifts in Wills are about the Future.  After the initial shock of the pandemic the RSN has managed to keep going and look ahead, because we knew we had investments behind us.  Most of these have come from gifts in Wills. Right from the early days of the RSN, gifts in Wills made a really big difference to what the RSN could do and, at times, to its very existence.

The first recorded legacy gift was from Mrs Pfeffer, who left all her money to charities especially those supporting women’s education and employment. The RSN absolutely fitted the bill. She gave more than £5000, which was a percentage of her Will – that equates to around 700,000 today.  It was used towards the RSN’s own building, costing £52,000, that opened in 1903.

Our largest legacy was in 2009 when a British Life Friend, who by then lived in Canada, died.  We were sent £35,000 by the lawyers and we thought that was very helpful.  As it approached the end of the financial year, we needed to speak to the lawyers about how much the rest was likely to be (the auditors always want to know).  Usually you get a main payment and then a smaller final payment, but not this time. The first  payment was just the beginning and the final payment was over £1 million.

While most of us don’t have anything like that, everyone can leave something in their Will for a cause they care about.  No money is paid out before your death, and afterwards it can even help mitigate tax liabilities. The really wonderful aspect is that you are helping to build a future.

Legacy donations over the past decade have funded student bursaries to the tune of over £200,000; helped us establish courses; to pay for additional classrooms and most recently have helped to give us confidence to move forward, thereby supporting the next generation of students.

It is easy to add a gift to the RSN in your Will. There are two types, a pecuniary gift which means leaving a specific amount or a residuary gift which means a percentage of your estate after the pecuniary gifts have been paid.  This is really helpful as it keeps up with inflation, so if your assets rise in value, the amount given rises too, but all in proportion to your original wishes. This means that you can look after your family and also give something to a charity, like the RSN

If you would like to know more about leaving a gift in your Will to the RSN contact the RSN Chief Executive:  [email protected].

Our hope is that one day we will have enough to be able to offer whole scholarships to students, not just bursaries.

Read more about Leaving a Legacy.