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Twenty-five years ago, I was sitting at a pub with a group of friends after work when someone brought up Wills. Not one of us had one. We were in our 30s, with careers, homes, responsibilities, even young children – yet none of us had taken the step to prepare a Will.
That night stuck with me, because we all knew it was important, we just hadn’t done it. That gap between intention and action became the driving force behind LegalWills, which I co-founded shortly afterward.
Back then, research showed that 65% of Canadian adults didn’t have a Will. Two and a half decades later, the number is still hovering around the same level. That means millions of Canadians remain unprepared, and many opportunities for legacy giving are going unrealized.
The overlooked power of a Will
Most people associate Wills with asset distribution, guardianship, and executor appointments. But Wills are also powerful tools for impact. They allow people to express their values, and one of the most meaningful ways to do that is by including a charitable bequest.
Despite this, charitable giving through Wills remains surprisingly rare. About 9% of Wills include a bequest to a charity. But when you factor in that two-thirds of Canadians don’t have a Will at all, only around 3% of Canadian adults have actually planned a charitable legacy.
This isn’t about a lack of generosity. Canadians are among the most charitable populations in the world. The issue is structural: estate planning remains intimidating, expensive, and often out of reach. And when people finally sit down to write their Will, legacy giving isn’t always part of the conversation.
Why timing and friction matter
There’s a misconception that people don’t want to include charities in their Wills. In reality, many simply aren’t prompted to do so, or they’re writing Wills under circumstances that don’t lend themselves to reflection and generosity. Often, it’s rushed, reactive, and done through a lawyer without broader discussion.
At LegalWills, we’ve found that simply prompting people (asking “Would you like to leave a gift to a charity or cause that matters to you?”) makes a measurable difference. The number of people who include a charitable bequest doubles. So does the size of the average gift. That single moment of reflection creates a four-fold impact overall.
This is critical for nonprofits to understand: legacy giving isn’t about persuasion. It’s about removing friction, educating supporters, and making giving the default, not the exception.
What the data tells us
After helping over 500,000 Canadians write their Wills, we’ve accumulated insights that are useful for the nonprofit sector:
- Wills written over the last decade through LegalWills have included over $400 million in planned charitable bequests.
- Many of these Wills contain multiple charitable gifts — sometimes as many as ten or more.
- The average cash bequest is over $15,000; residual bequests (a percentage of the estate) average $45,000.
- The most frequently supported causes are animal welfare, faith-based organizations, and local community groups.
- A significant percentage of users update their Wills multiple times, which means charities have ongoing opportunities to be included.
The case for flexible, low-barrier tools
Traditional Will-writing often involves legal fees upward of $800, with limited flexibility. For a charity, this creates a challenge: asking a supporter to revisit their Will (just to include your organization) is a hard ask when the process is costly and time-consuming.
But online services make it easier to have that second conversation. Our users can log back in anytime and update their documents. This flexibility means supporters are more likely to add or adjust legacy gifts as their lives and values evolve.
It also means that legacy giving no longer has to be a once-in-a-lifetime conversation.
What nonprofits can do differently
If you’re a nonprofit professional, here’s what all of this means for you:
- Make legacy giving a default part of your donor engagement. Don’t save it for major donors or capital campaigns. Everyday supporters often make the most heartfelt legacy gifts.
- Educate your community. People need to know that they can include your organization in their Will and how to do it. Use plain language, share examples, and normalize it.
- Collaborate with Will-writing services. Whether it’s offering resources or partnering with platforms, making the process easy is the biggest gift you can give your supporters.
- Prompt at key moments. Milestones like birthdays, membership anniversaries, or “in memory” donations are good times to gently introduce legacy planning.
- Think beyond money. Some people leave physical items, property, or even frequent flyer points. A Will is a flexible tool, and you might be surprised what people are willing to give.
Changing the conversation
Ultimately, this is about shifting how we view Wills; not as cold legal documents, but as reflections of a life lived with purpose. A Will can tell a story: of love for family, care for community, and belief in a better future.
As nonprofits, you have a role to play in helping supporters tell that story.
We can empower them with knowledge, reduce the intimidation factor, and make giving feel natural. It’s not about closing a donation, it’s about opening a door to lasting impact.
Let’s shift the legacy conversation from a last-minute decision to a thoughtful part of lifelong planning that’s grounded in values, purpose, and impact. Check out the LegalWills 2024 Canadian Report: Gifts in Wills to learn more.
Tim Hewson is the co-founder and CEO of LegalWills, Canada’s leading online Will service. With over two decades of experience in digital estate planning, Tim is passionate about making Will writing accessible, affordable, and impactful – especially for the charitable sector.