Written by Lucy Grehan-Bradley, Programme Marketing Coordinator
Looking back can feel strangely transgressive in a world characterised by perpetual change. Charities are often urged to be future-focussed and digitally fluent, with an almost unrelenting demand on innovation, whilst some of the most powerful and enduring fundraising campaigns actually achieve their results through adopting traditional techniques and tried and tested creativity.
This turn towards the past doesn’t have to be viewed as a lapse in ambition but is rather a deliberate reminder that memory can be one of a charity’s most effective communication tools, when used sensitively and purposefully.
The Emotional Architecture of Nostalgia
Psychological research consistently demonstrates that nostalgia can elevate our mood and reinforce a coherent sense of self. Findings from the University of Southampton suggest that looking back fondly, makes people more positive and more open to connecting with others. Crucially for charities, this matters because those feelings often go hand in hand with generosity. Nowhere is this emotional mechanism more salient than in legacy fundraising. Leaving a gift in one’s Will is not an impulsive gesture but a deeply reflective act, and one that invites people to reflect on their lives and the indelible mark that they want to leave behind.
Research from Professor Russell James of Texas Tech University highlights the importance of personal memories and the gravitas they hold in decision making. James’ research found that when donors think about their own life stories, legacy giving feels less like a financial transaction and more like a meaningful final chapter.
Nostalgia Done Well
That said, effective nostalgia campaigns aren’t all about living in the past. The most powerful stories do not merely dwell on memory for its own sake, but rather make the past relevant, showing how personal experiences connect to action today, and impact tomorrow.
UNICEF’s Timeline campaign offers a compelling illustration. Supporters are invited to create personalised videos that mix moments from their own lives with key milestones in UNICEF’s work. The result is a powerful reminder that the organisation’s mission has been present throughout people’s lives, often without them realising it. Here, the past isn’t the destination; it is a bridge, linking memory to meaning, and meaning to action.
This distinction is particularly effective in legacy fundraising. Whilst many fundraising campaigns focus on urgency and change, legacy campaigns often work best in a quieter emotional space. They tend to favour reassurance over pressure, and simplicity over complexity, helping supporters feel confident and clear about the future that they are keen to help shape.
Keeping the Magic Alive: The Canal & River Trust
The Canal & River Trust’s legacy campaign exemplifies how nostalgia can be embedded with authenticity and strategic intent. Its message is elegantly restrained: “Pass on your love of canals through a gift in your Will and keep the magic alive for years to come.”
Canals are, almost by definition, repositories of memory. They evoke childhood holidays, serendipitous encounters and slower rhythms of life. The Trust’s campaign film draws delicately on these associations, inviting supporters to reflect not only on what the waterways have meant to them personally, but on what they might continue to offer to generations yet to come.
When the Canal & River Trust appointed a dedicated Gifts in Wills Manager in 2021, it did so without the comfort of an established legacy database. Rather than defaulting to assumptions, the organisation began by listening, primarily through engaging its existing supporters, in order to understand which messages resonated and which channels felt most natural. Communications were introduced gradually, supported by pilot events in 2022 and underpinned by a clear and considered stewardship strategy.
The outcomes were striking. More than 200 pledges were secured, and legacy income rose from £33,000 in 2020 to £338,177 in 2024/25. The Trust now publishes a dedicated Gifts in Wills impact report, reinforcing transparency and articulating the tangible difference that legacy giving makes. In 2024, this thoughtful approach was recognised nationally with the Smee & Ford Legacy Giving Award for Best Legacy Programme Launch.
A Lesson for the Sector
By honouring supporters’ memories, charities can invite individuals to see themselves not merely as donors, but as custodians – participants in a story that began before them and will continue after them. In this way, legacy giving becomes an act of continuity rather than closure, ensuring that what mattered in the past can endure, meaningfully, into the future.
How could you integrate nostalgia into your next legacy giving campaign?
About the author...
Lucy Grehan-Bradley
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