We are not going to send you a brochure with a photograph of an elderly person looking at a sunset. Here is the practical information.
Why legacies suit this particular work
Riverbank restoration operates on a timescale that annual funding cycles handle badly. A buffer takes three years to establish and decades to reach its full effect. A legacy gift is the one form of income that matches that horizon.
Legacy income also tends to be unrestricted, which means it can pay for the monitoring visits and the livelihood support that project grants routinely will not cover.
How to do it
- Use a qualified lawyer. This page is information, not legal advice, and a badly drafted clause can fail entirely.
- You will need our full legal name and, once issued, our registration number. Contact us and we will send the exact wording.
- You can leave a fixed sum, a percentage of your estate, or a specific asset.
- You can restrict the gift to a programme, though unrestricted is more useful and we will say so.
- Tell us if you are comfortable doing so. It helps us plan, and there is no obligation.
We will not chase you
If you tell us you have left a gift, we will thank you once and then leave you alone unless you ask to hear more. Repeated contact about a legacy is a practice we find distasteful and do not use.
The three usual forms a gift takes
| Form | How it works | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| A fixed sum | A stated amount | Simple, and loses value to inflation over the years between writing and taking effect |
| A share of the estate | A percentage of what remains after debts and specific gifts | Keeps its proportion however the estate changes; the commonest choice |
| A specific asset | Land, shares or a named item | Needs care in drafting, and a conversation with us first about whether we can actually accept it |
What we would do with it
Unless you restrict it, a legacy gift goes to the part of the work that annual funding cycles handle worst: the follow-up. Buffer establishment runs over about three years and the monitoring that proves whether it worked runs longer than that. Legacy income is the only kind that comfortably reaches the far end of it.
You can restrict a gift to a programme or to a district, and we will honour that. We will also tell you, if you ask, that unrestricted is more useful, because the constraint that binds us is rarely which activity to run and usually whether anyone can afford to go back and check it.
A gift large enough to change what the organisation does would go to the board rather than being absorbed quietly, and what it funded would appear in that year's report by name.
Practical questions
Do I need to tell you?
No. Plenty of gifts arrive unannounced and that is entirely proper. Telling us helps us plan, and carries no obligation of any kind.
What details does my lawyer need?
Our full legal name and address, and our registration number once it has been issued. Ask us and we will send the exact wording rather than leaving you to guess it.
Can I change my mind?
A will can be changed at any time, and telling us about a gift does not alter that in the slightest.
Will you contact me about it?
Once, to thank you, and then not again unless you ask. Repeated contact about a legacy is a practice we find distasteful and do not use.
I am outside Uganda.
Gifts from abroad are possible and the mechanics depend on your own jurisdiction. Your lawyer will know; we can supply whatever they need from our side.
Ask for the wording
We will send the exact clause your lawyer needs, with no follow-up unless you want one.