Macmillan Gifts in Wills Campaign

Leaving a gift in your will is one of the most important ways people support Macmillan Cancer Support, funding around a third of the charity’s work. Yet it’s also one of the most difficult conversations to begin. Our brief was to create a national campaign that encouraged people to think differently about legacy, replacing uncertainty with optimism and showing that a gift in a will isn’t about the end of someone’s story, but the continuation of someone else’s.

Heartbeat
The proposition, Where there’s a will there’s a way, gave us a simple but powerful lens through which to tell the story.

Rather than focusing on the act of writing a will, we focused on what that decision makes possible. Across television, print and supporting campaign materials, we followed people living with cancer enjoying moments that many of us take for granted—time with family, conversations with friends, a sense of normality. Those moments weren’t presented as coincidence. They existed because previous generations had chosen to leave a gift to Macmillan, creating an invisible connection between people who would never meet.

That idea of one act echoing across another person’s life became the emotional thread running throughout the campaign. From Bill Bailey’s understated voiceover to the warm, observational photography, every element reinforced the same message: the greatest legacy isn’t what you leave behind, but what you make possible.

Impact
The campaign gave Macmillan a hopeful and distinctive approach to legacy fundraising, moving the conversation away from mortality and towards the enduring impact of generosity. Rolled out nationally across television, print and direct communications, it reached audiences throughout the UK while creating a consistent platform that could support every stage of the Gifts in Wills journey. More importantly, it demonstrated that even the most sensitive fundraising messages can be uplifting when they’re centred on people rather than process.