Gifts in Wills at Big4 Fundraising 2026

Gifts in Wills masterclass

Building a Gifts in Wills program for the future: Making the right choices for your organisation

Marcus Blease, Bethan Hazell, Karen Armstrong, Ross Anderson

Cut through the noise around Gifts in Wills and explore the choices that matter – from acquisition, messaging and stewardship to investment and measurement – to build a sustainable program that’s right for your organisation.

MAIN CONFERENCE sessions

What Gifts in Wills fundraisers can learn from the CIOF Convention and current benchmarking

Bethan Hazell and Marcus Blease

Combine international conference insights with current Gifts in Wills benchmarking to examine how programs, pipelines and supporter behaviour are changing – and what Australian fundraisers should consider next.

Making Gifts in Wills everyone’s business: How ChildFund Australia transformed its bequest program

Joanne Walsh, ChildFund Australia

See how ChildFund developed a new unrestricted proposition, rebuilt its pipeline and embedded Gifts in Wills across everyday supporter communications and conversations – not only within one specialist team.

What donors really think: We answer the Gifts in Wills questions fundraisers are actually asking

Karen Armstrong and Megan Maya, Ignte

Discover what potential supporters really think about Gifts in Wills messaging, trust in charities and the assumptions that shape fundraising practice. Drawing on sector questions tested with the public, Karen and Megan will translate reassuring findings, uncomfortable answers and important blind spots into practical ideas for communication, stewardship and conversion. 

A pipeline isn’t a strategy: How WWF requalified Gifts in Wills prospects at scale

Tiara Rajesh, WWF-Australia

Learn how WWF used direct mail, telemarketing and conversational SMS to requalify a pipeline of around 10,000 prospects, uncover previously unknown confirmed gifts and create more meaningful engagement at scale.

Ideas that keep giving: How the Wilderness Society turned ‘symbolic immortality’ into Gifts in Wills growth

Karl Tischler FFIA, Marlin Communications

Discover how supporter identity and the desire to see one’s values continue beyond a lifetime shaped a highly personalised campaign that generated 56 confirmed gifts with an estimated future value of $4.48 million.

Two-step digital acquisition for Gifts in Wills

Fiona Hawley, Digital Ninjas and Naomi Hepperlin, International Fund for Animal Welfare

Exploring online will-writing platforms and digital 2-step lead generation and direct-to-sign-up for Gifts in Wills, with an IFAW case study.

If I knew then what I know now… lessons from building a career in Gifts in Wills fundraising

Ross Anderson FFIA, Lort Smith Animal Hospital

Drawing on nearly two decades across multiple charities, Ross will share the assumptions, missteps and unexpected successes that shaped his approach to Gifts in Wills. Learn why there is rarely one right formula, how to assess new ideas and platforms critically and how to make decisions that fit your organisation and supporters.