The new Parish Resources website has a wealth of information and resources to help with PCC and the roles within it.
In this section of our website, you will find details on supporting you to promote legacy giving, and information on claiming and declaring Gift Aid.
Would you like to know more about running a Legacy campaign?
Why talk about legacies?
All churches rely entirely on the support and generosity of their worshiping and local community. Our giving is vitally important and helps contribute to mission. Beyond our lifetime’s regular giving, a gift in your will can be a lasting and powerful expression of your gratitude and thanksgiving to God. We are privileged if we can leave a mark of our passing, to be remembered by those people and causes we’ve cared for in life and can make a lasting impact your local church’s future.
No matter how large or small, gifts in wills create amazing opportunities for mission. Through prayer we can discern God’s will for our lives, and that includes seeking his guidance on how we use all that he has entrusted to us for his glory.
How should churches promote legacy giving?
There are several ideas available from the Church Legacy website: parish magazine articles, sermon ideas, leaflets you can overprint or simply order. However, the most important thing that you can do is for the PCC to determine its policy on legacies and to publish it to the congregation, so that potential donors will know what will happen to their gift.
A policy might be on the lines of: “The policy of the PCC is to use legacies to help fund significant development projects in the parish, whether buildings, equipment or staff. As circumstances change over the years, it may not be possible to fulfil specific donor requests, so church members are encouraged to leave legacies for the general purposes of the parish. The PCC will discuss with executors the most appropriate use of the legacy in the light of current projects and the donor’s known areas of interest in the church (e.g. children & youth, music, buildings).”
Information about how to encourage legacy giving in your parish can be found on the Church of England website in the following places:
We also have a number of Legacy booklets in the office, and if you would like some, or to get in touch regarding running a legacy campaign, please get in touch with the Team.
Would you like to know more about Gift Aid?
Church of England parishes collectively receive nearly £90 million in Gift Aid tax rebates in 2021, around £40 million more than the amount collected in the year 2000, and sufficient to fund 1,700 stipendiary clergy.
This is a great tribute to the hard work of volunteers running Gift Aid programmes in parishes throughout the country, as well as a testimony to the value of the Gift Aid scheme.
- It’s important to get it right, and you can find all the up-to-date information you need at www.parishresources.org.uk/giftaid.
Parish Resources is a website provided by the Church of England’s National Stewardship & Resources team and offers a wealth of resources (web pages and downloads) to support all aspects of stewardship, administration and management in the local church, as well as links to other sites and pages of interest.
