Why finance and legacies add up to career success for Jenny-Anne

As Finance & Legacy Manager at the League Against Cruel Sports, Jenny-Anne Dexter is used to juggling both figures and families.

Having trained in the theatre and worked in marketing, Jenny-Anne’s varied career has taken her from the box office to the charity sector. She joined the League in 2019 as Head of Development, becoming the Fundraising and Legacy Lead and, after a brief break, returned last December to take up her new role.

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“I previously did some charity work in donor development and individual giving, then managing fundraising teams and doing legacy administration…so I’ve always been involved in legacies,” says Jenny-Anne.

“This role really makes sense because I can bridge the gap between finance and legacies and there are a lot of conversations that impact both areas.

“Legacies represent 50% of our income and it’s important to be able to represent that income stream through, from estate accounts to year-end annual accounts and the auditors. It means I can explain the figures in a financial way but also talk about them from a lay person perspective too.”

Throughout her career, Jenny-Anne has been keen to learn and she is a previous recipient of a Crispin Ellison Bursary Award, studying in her own time as her then day job was split between leading the fundraising team, running the merchandise operation and overseeing legacy marketing and administration.

A long-time member of the ILM, she continues: “I find being an ILM member is very helpful and, when I can, I log on to the free training webinars. It’s always useful to be able to talk with fellow members and ask questions.”

In addition, she has self-funded further finance training and is a member of both the Charity Tax Group and the Charity Finance Group – enjoying the crossover insight that supports her current role.

A great believer in “open and honest” discussion, she is a strong supporter of the legacy sector’s culture, saying: “I like an environment where I can say what I am thinking and be a bit bolder – for example, when saying we should pursue a legacy. When you do that, you are never pilloried or vilified and other voices will often say ‘I felt that too’.

“If someone doesn’t agree with you, they will say so in such a respectful way, which I really enjoy. I never feel I have been shouted down and I hope that’s true of everybody else too.”

Having said that, Jenny-Anne is aware that the League can generate strong reactions and tells the story of attending a professional event wearing a badge with the charity’s name and being shunned by a fellow attendee.

Recounting the experience, she says: “To be passionate for a cause is one thing – for me, that cause is about being passionately against the hurting of animals for sport – so for this individual to be so passionately against that was just weird.”

Jenny-Anne says many legacy gifts are often a result of personal experiences, such as people who have had a hunt encroach on their land, or who have seen animal cruelty taking place.

A stewardship programme supports pledgers and, while some are happy to “shout from the rooftops” about their commitment to the League, she says others prefer to have a “quiet word”.

Such legators will often leave legacy gifts to the League alongside other charities such as Cruelty Free International and Compassion in World Farming, and Jenny-Anne jokes that she usually speaks to their legacy officers at least once a week.

She finds it especially frustrating when legacies cannot be realised for a variety of reasons, citing a recent case where a £90,000 legacy has “gone missing”. Despite Jenny-Anne gathering the necessary paperwork to take action, the executor has been unable to pursue it through the courts for personal reasons.

“I find it very sad, the executor has been the ultimate ‘victim’ in the eyes of the law but no-one is interested,” she says. “It’s the same when, as a smaller charity we are left a share of an estate and the legacy isn’t paid. Larger charities will say a figure of £2,000 isn’t worth chasing but all that money adds up and the smaller charities lose out.

“I don’t think it should be a worry for us to contact someone and say ‘you are legally responsible for giving this money to us…’ If the money does exist, they should give it to us and if it doesn’t exist, then at least tell us. We’re not being underhand or demanding, or speaking out of turn; we’re simply reminding them that someone they cared about wanted to give money to this cause.”

She is a great believer in doing as much background research as possible ahead of a potentially difficult conversation, adding: “If you can find out relevant information without having to upset anyone, then you’re already half-informed and, when you do have that conversation, it’s not so much of an uphill struggle to get what you want.”

Because the League is a campaigning organisation, some profile raising opportunities such as Direct Response Television (DRTV) campaigns (which invite viewers to call a phone number or visit a website etc.) are not available. This, combined with the fact the charity has limited budgets, means engagement tends to be via the digital route and empowering employees to share the legacy message.

“We are very lucky within our organisation, the importance of legacies has always been acknowledged by our CEO and our finance director and the fundraising teams. I make myself known in meetings and I’m very pleased that legacies get the respect they are due.

“I always try to share legacy news with my colleagues, whether they are in the middle of the woods or sitting in front of a computer – I want to make the point legacies are fascinating and it’s not all about boring old numbers.

“When our campaigners are out meeting supporters and doing policy work, I want to make sure they have the information they need. Then, if they are talking to someone who says ‘I’d like to leave a gift..’ they feel empowered and know what to do.”

And, with a personal endorsement of just how much she loves her job, Jenny-Anne concludes: “I can’t imagine not working for an animal welfare charity – you can’t argue with that and, if you can, then don’t sit next to me in a meeting!”