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

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.

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.

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.

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.