The background The Macular Society was founded in 1987 to provide support for people with Macular Disease – a degenerative condition that impacts the macula, which forms part of the retina at the back of the eye. Since the 1990s, the charity has helped thousands of people struggling with sight loss and continues to invest heavily in groundbreaking research to find a cure. Its legacy programme has also grown considerably over the last two decades. In 2009, the charity had 12 known legacy pledges. In 2024, it secured almost 600, growing legacy income from hundreds of thousands of pounds to £4m. This growth trajectory led The Macular Society to choose bequest management software FirstClass in 2023.
The background Imperial College London (Imperial) is a world-leading university for science, technology, engineering, medicine and business. It was founded in 1907 with a mission to use science to try to understand more of the universe, and improve the lives of more people in it. Viewing science as more than simply a subject but a mindset, a bias for inquiry and action, and the pursuit of knowledge and new ideas with grit, humility, creativity and courage, Imperial now has a number of campuses throughout London and the South East of England. With total charitable income amounting to £60m a year, £5m of which originates from bequest giving, the legacy team decided that it was time to accelerate its legacy programme in order to boost legacy-related revenue. Yet, with a legacy management infrastructure historically built around manual methods using a combination of spreadsheets and CRM, the legacy team established that this was not enough to effectively maximise the value of its estates. In order to do this whilst futureproofing its legacy management capabilities, increasing revenue and improving the efficiency of the legacy management team, Imperial chose FirstClass – making it the first educational institution ever to incorporate the platform.
The background As part of an international Christian voluntary network dedicated to tackling poverty in all its forms by providing practical assistance to those in need, St Vincent de Paul Society has been helping people since 1844. With over 10,000 members, all of whom are motivated by faith and committed to visiting vulnerable people across England and Wales to offer friendship, St Vincent de Paul Society has a strong national presence. However, with an annual legacy income of £800,000, it relies heavily on financial support to continue funding its good work. One critical source of revenue is bequest income which, since late 2023, the organisation has been managing using FirstClass.
