Many of us understand the benefits of will legacies; they help a good cause that you believe in, after your gone, whilst reducing the IHT liability on your estate. However, the high salaries that some CEO’s and directors receive can serve to put some people off giving to one or two worthwhile causes.

In this blog, Dunham McCarthy is going to highlight the reasons for perceived – high director salaries and why you shouldn’t be put off leaving a will legacy – particularly if it is a charity that resonates with your beliefs.

Perceived issues with Some Charities

Early in 2025 the Telegraph newspaper conducted an analysis of The Charity Commission’s latest data. It showed that several employee’s, within the charity sector, were earning salaries of more than £400 K a year. Furthermore, the number earning this amount had risen from 27 in 2019 to 44 in 2024.

In fact, in 2022, the charities with the highest earning CEO’s and Directors where some of the largest and most popular charities to include ‘Save the Children International; ‘Cancer Research UK;’ The British Red Cross Society and ‘The British Heart Foundation’ with some salaries ranging between £180K and £300K

For many, knowledge of this comes as a huge disappointment given all the hard work that the charities do and certainly, such information has the potential to prevent people from leaving legacies to several very worthwhile causes.

BUT…Hang on! Let’s Look at the Bigger Picture!

‘The Charity Commission’ was established by the Charitable Trusts Act 1853 and tasked with the responsibility of keeping a watchful eye on charities in England and Wales – ensuring that they are approved and registered as well as regulating their day-today operations. To give you a degree of peace of mind, little has changed regarding the commission’s mission, so in most instances, you can support them with confidence.

The charity commission carefully investigates the ‘balancing of executives’ pay, with the demands of their roles ensuring that their compensation does not direct funds away from the charity’s mission. It’s worth remembering that some of the charities mentioned earlier are some of the UK’s most popular and therefore some of the largest and most complex. This means that they require some of the best business talents in the UK to run them.

David Holdsworth, the current CEO of The Charity Commission responded to the Telegraph’s analysis stating, “large and complex charities need to attract talented people to run them.”

We need to consider that sensationalist newspaper stories only focus on a part of a picture. The larger outlook is that the charity sector contributes almost £100billion to our country and that less than 5% of charities pay anyone a salary above £60K with many charities being largely run by volunteers.

The Decision is Yours!

Ultimately, the decision to leave money to any charity should be based on a thorough evaluation of the charity’s operation and mission and the impact of its leadership on the charity’s success.

The Benefits of Leaving a Will Legacy, to Any Charity, are Many!

Don’t forget, when you write your will, with Dunham McCarthy, you don’t have to focus on one of the main, higher profile charities; there will be many other worthwhile charitable causes, even within your locality, that do excellent work for a whole variety of causes.

Leaving a charitable legacy will:

• Provides clarity for loved ones
• Ensure assets are distributed according to your wishes
• Support causes you care about
• Reduce your IHT (Inheritance Tax) liability

The proportion of your estate that you leave to charity is exempt from IHT (40%). If your estate is slightly over the IHT threshold, a charitable gift can prevent any tax from being due at all. Leaving at least 10% of your net estate to charity can reduce the IHT rate on the remainder of your estate from 40 to 36%.

At Dunham McCarthy, We Make Writing an Effective Will Easy

Without a will, your assets will be distributed according to the government’s intestacy rules – which may not align with your wishes.

At Dunham McCarthy you benefit from:

• Online video appointments at a time that’s convenient to you
• Support of Legal professionals – our will writing experts are available to guide you through the process, giving you help and advice
• Mirror will option – Making wills with your partner has never been easier. They are also savings to be had over just producing a single will.

 

Find out more: enquiries@dunham-mccarthy.co.uk