Kildare residents urged to consider leaving gift in Will as part of ‘My Legacy Month’ 2025

As part of the launch of My Legacy Month 2025, people throughout County Kildare have been asked to consider including a gift in their Will.

This year the month-long campaign focuses on the security that legacy giving offers to charities, as traditional income sources become less sustainable.

My Legacy represents over 90 Irish charities from a wide variety of causes, including health, homelessness, LGBTQ+, International Aid, animal welfare, heritage and environmental issues. This includes Barretstown, Trócaire and Jack & Jill Foundation which support communities in Kildare.

Speaking at the launch, Niall O'Sullivan, chairperson of My Legacy, claimed that a recent survey of My Legacy members demonstrates that, for some members, gifts in Wills make up between 25 and 50 percent of their annual income.

He elaborated: "For around half of our members, income from gifts in Wills, is less than 10 percent; and for others at the beginning of their legacy journey, it isn’t something they’re quantifying yet but they can see the growing interest from the public and need to foster this stream of very personal support.

"Traditional sources of income are under pressure, with 60 per cent of members who responded stating they’d recorded reduced volume or amounts raised through individual giving, while 40 per cent indicated increased competition for funding from trusts and foundations across the same period."

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Mr O'Sullivan continued: "The good news, however, is that there is huge potential for legacy giving to support the increasing demands on charity services in Kildare and across Ireland.

"This is due to increasing private wealth and an ageing population."

He concluded: "No matter how small or large a gift you include in your Will, which is tax-free to the charity beneficiary, it can have an enormous impact on the good work that charities do.”

In addition, Mr O'Sullivan said that, compared to some other countries, awareness of the power of legacy gifts through wills "had been comparatively low in Ireland".

However, Mr O'Sullivan remains hopeful — "It's clear this is changing, with more interest from the public in making their mark on their communities and favourite causes in this special way," he said.

Anyone seeking further information about My Legacy and / or My Legacy Month 2025 can visit www.mylegacy.ie.

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