Although Stephen Mooney has only recently taken up the post of Client Partnerships Director at Legacy Futures, he is in no way new to Legacy Futures, having consulted as Client Partner since January 2021. Previous to that, he was Director of Marketing and Communications at Muscular Dystrophy UK, and has been involved in legacies for over a decade.
Here, Stephen explains why he’s so passionate about legacy giving, how he sees the future of the sector, and how working in legacies compares to his past career experiences.
Where my interest in legacies began
In 2010 I launched a brand consultancy firm, and my first client was Rob Cope at Remember A Charity. I was fascinated by the strategic and unique nature of legacy giving and, also the scale of the sector, by what it was achieving, and what it wanted to achieve for the future. The more I learned, the more my interest in the area grew. Legacy giving appeals to my head and heart equally. I can apply the knowledge and skills I learned in the corporate sector to the strategy and commercial importance of legacies, while knowing I’m playing a part in something that’s critical for the sustainability of charities.
A special and unique sector to be involved with
I’ve worked across a broad spectrum of sectors, but what’s special about legacies is that you’re harnessing the relationship between charities and individuals, which is a real privilege. We break the last taboo — talking about death — and we ask people, as well as ourselves, to face our own mortality. It feels ground-breaking, of critical importance and totally unique.
Applying corporate knowledge to the world of non-profit
When I was in the corporate world, I realised the way to achieve success was to always listen carefully to the needs of the audience. In industry, the audience tends to be stakeholders, influencers and decision makers. In charity and non-profit, the audience is more likely to be members of the public, supporters, fundraisers and beneficiaries. The audience is different but the most important factor remains the same – that you listen, so you understand their pain points and know what you have to do to help them engage.
Partnerships — they’re so important
Trust is the key to successful partnerships — that and being there when you’re needed, and treating each other with respect. A smile and a kind word go a long way. The only way to achieve great things is through effective collaboration with people who are all working towards the same goal. Great outcomes can be had when motivated people get together to solve problems, change thinking and build a better future. I see my job (and passion!) as working with our charity clients to help them do all those things and more.
A truly exciting field
There is so much to get excited about in the world of legacies, in helping charities fulfil their legacy ambitions, in ground-breaking research for greater insight and understanding, in forging collaborative, sector-wide partnerships that can bring about change.
But for me personally, I find the most inspirational and uplifting side of my work is in the seriously smart and lovely people I have the pleasure in working with at Legacy Futures; that can be matched only by the seriously smart and lovely charity people we have the good fortune to work with every day. It might sound silly, but in my opinion, people and the relationships we build matter more than anything else, not just to my own role, but to the wider market and what the legacy sector is striving for now and in years to come.
My ambitions, for Legacy Futures and beyond
For the group and me personally, my ambition is that Legacy Futures becomes known as a trusted partner to everyone working in legacies (if it isn’t already!). And if I can play a pivotal part in that, I’m happy.
For the sector, I want to continue building and spreading the message that legacy giving isn’t just for now — it’s for the future. A good parallel is climate change, where we need to make changes now so that not just us, but generations to come can survive, thrive and look after each other.
Being part of a group and the advantages that affords
The group offer gives us the ability to plug in expertise at every part of the journey for our clients. This includes supporting their communication with donors at every stage of leaving gifts in wills or in-memory, be it awareness, pledge, stewardship or bequest. We also help charities forecast, plan their fundraising, inspire their stakeholders and build a legacy-giving culture throughout their organisation. Clients can benefit from our insight and support at any and every stage, and whether they’re big, small, new or established.
My hope and ambitions for the next five years
It’s all about the impact we can bring, by which I mean Legacy Futures and charities together. Our biggest and simplest aim is to grow legacy income for charities. To do that, we need to continue to support charities in their legacy development, and more broadly to continue to educate people about the importance of legacy giving, keeping the topic at the top of the agenda.
And when I’m not at work…
Beyond work and family, my passions are sport and politics. I run when I’m not injured. And listen to podcasts (about sport and politics, obviously), whilst I’m filling the dishwasher or over a glass of red wine.