Trust makes a pitch for more cash in wills

THE National Trust is testing a new set of adverts in consumer magazines as it expands its campaign to persuade supporters to leave it money in their wills.

A campaign to boost legacy donations will target “outdoorsy” types and see a new design placed in publications including Coast, BBC Wildlife and the Waitrose magazine.

The charity revealed earlier this month that its income from legacies had reached a record of £61.7million. “It’s the first time we’ve gone into that consumeroriented space,” a spokesman said. “We have for a long time placed adverts in such publications as the Law Society Gazette, financial services publications and so on,” he added. “We are starting to place a few adverts like the one in BBC Wildlife magazine to raise awareness of the importance of legacies to the National Trust to inspire other supporters to consider leaving a legacy to help us with our conservation work.

“Last year we spent over £100million on the conservation of places in our care.” The pilot will see the number of adverts placed by the trust increase as it tests the effectiveness of different publications in persuading people to donate.