Legacy Casework Assistant

Starting Salary: £32,829 - £35,856 (Inc London weighting)

Contract: Permanent FT

Hybrid working with a minimum of 40% of your time in Romero House.

Job Profile

CAFOD is looking for a Legacy Casework Assistant who will provide daily assistance to our busy Legacy Team within the wider Fundraising and Participation Group. You will be line managed by the Head of Legacy Funding, and you will report to the Legacy Case Officer in your day-to-day work. You will increase your skills in legacy case management by looking after the administration of simpler (pecuniary) legacy cases and providing administrative support on more complex (residuary) cases. You will be the voice of the legacy team on our phone line, handling calls from bereaved family and friends with sensitivity. You will write thank-you letters to executors and family members.

You will roll up your sleeves to help your colleagues across the fundraising team navigate a heavy workload, and you will deputise for legacy team colleagues when they are absent.

This is a varied and interesting role for someone who has a special blend of administrative and supporter care skills, the sensitivity to speak to people who have been bereaved or who are estate planning, the ability to work without close supervision, and a desire to pursue a career in legacy case management.

Key Responsibilities

Legacy Administration

• Open, scan, distribute and file all incoming post.
• Upload and process weekly batches of legacy notifications from the Smee & Ford notification service.
• Create case files on the legacy database (First Class) for each new notification received from Smee & Ford, or from an executor, solicitor of family member.
• Create or update supporter records on the CAFOD supporter database (CSD) including flagging deceased or posthumous contacts and recording the legacy notification and date of death.
• Maintain accurate and comprehensive records on First Class of legators, executors and solicitors, charitable co-beneficiaries, pecuniary case values, expected payment dates, legacy payments received and correspondence.
• Run a monthly report to reconcile legacy payments on First Class and CSD then investigate discrepancies and ensure that these are corrected.
• Compile reports using relevant data for other teams and external partners.  
• Review pecuniary legacy files on an ongoing basis and contact executors and solicitors to request payment and documentation, being mindful of legal framework and reputational risk. These contacts will be by telephone, letter and email.
• Write or speak to lay executors and solicitors to acknowledge pecuniary legacy notifications, updates and legacy payments.
• Liaise with charitable co-beneficiaries.
• Liaise with Finance and International teams to investigate whether gifts can be restricted to a particular area of work.
• Prepare a thoughtful handwritten card for lay executors or family members to thank them for their relatives’ gifts to CAFOD.
• Assist the Legacy Case Officer when required by inputting assets from Schedules of Assets and Liabilities and inputting details from Estate Accounts.
• Record legacy income and tax refunds accurately and in accordance with agreed procedures.
• Develop awareness of legal, tax and regulatory developments that affect legacy administration.
• Assist the Head of Legacy Funding to provide holiday/sickness cover for the Legacy Case Officer.
• Be available to take calls from executors and family members, offering sympathetic responses to queries, problems or concerns.

Teamwork

• Demonstrate exemplary professionalism, sensitivity and compassion in all written and verbal correspondence.  
• Work as a supportive member of the team to ensure the team’s supporter care responsibilities can be covered at all times
• Attend and contribute to regular team and CAFOD-wide meetings and briefings
• Participate in training and learning events aimed at furthering understanding of legacy administration.
• Assist the Legacy Team with other projects and office duties.
• Attend all YCL steering committee meetings, take notes and circulate to members.
• Play an active role in hosting and supporting YCL meetings.
• Respond to CPCs and volunteers’ queries about specific legacy cases or legacy administration in general.
• Play an active role in supporting colleagues across YCL consortium
• Play an active role in raising awareness of legacy fundraising within CAFOD, via staff briefings, training session etc.
• Attend legacy events to meet and support donors who are interested in pledging a legacy.
• Attend a Catholic Mass during a Fast Day collection season in a convenient location to increase understanding of audience and meet potential legators and executors

Safeguarding

All CAFOD staff share responsibility to promote and maintain a strong safeguarding culture, including identifying the key actions they should take given their role and responsibilities.

This list of duties and responsibilities is by no means exhaustive and the post holder may be required to undertake other relevant and appropriate duties as required. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

Understanding our context

• Understanding Catholic identity

Recognises how faith inspires Catholics to give, act and pray. Respectful of Catholicism and other beliefs.

• Understanding CAFOD

Understands and supports CAFOD’s vision, mission and values and what we aim to achieve.

• Understanding international development

Demonstrates an understanding of solidarity and human dignity when speaking about people living in poverty.

Working together

• Managing ourselves

A self-starter; willingly taking responsibility for getting the work done. Ready to take on additional responsibility to help the team or others under pressure. Positive, enthusiastic, self-aware, open to change and new ideas. Willing to undertake legacy case management training.

• Working with others

Collaborates sensitively and successfully with colleagues, executors and supporters at all times. Demonstrates integrity and empathy when dealing with supporters. Contributes across Catholic and wider charity sector to practice in legacy case management.

• Communicating

Excellent written and oral communications skills; great listening skills and proven ability to handle sensitive conversations, inspire support and resolve complaints. Presents complex issues simply and clearly.  Able to communicate across teams and with senior staff as needed.

• Looking outwards

Respects and responds to supporters’ emotional needs. Maintains good awareness of best practice in the sector and applies that to the team’s work. Plays an active role in collaborative networks across the sector.         

 Making change happen

• Managing resources

Confidence handling high volumes of bespoke and sensitive correspondence across a range of audiences. Respects the value of other people’s time and input; uses internal information systems to ensure work is completed and recorded accurately and efficiently.  Contributes to training colleagues to better enable legacy donations.

• Achieving results

Conscientious, can be relied on to deliver on time and in full. Pays attention to detail. Uses own judgement to make sound decisions.

• Managing our performance

Adopts a positive approach to receiving constructive feedback. Agrees with challenging personal objectives. Acknowledges the successes of others and provides encouragement to team members.

Job-specific competencies

1. Experience in using supporter or customer databases to collect, monitor and utilise data.
2. Quick, efficient and accurate data entry skills.
3. Supporter/customer service experience and confidence handling bespoke and sensitive communication across a range of audiences.
4. Willingness to develop an interest in legacy case management; attend a variety of training events and courses; and use that knowledge and experience to inform our work.
5. Legible and neat handwriting.
6. Sympathetic phone manner.

Desirable Criteria

1. Experience of the Salesforce CRM system and/or First Class legacy database would be useful.
2. Experience of legacy case management or the probate process would be useful.
3. Experience of legacy fundraising and/or relationship fundraising and ability to communicate that.
4. An ambition to advance in a career in legacy case management.

Safeguarding for Children and Vulnerable Adults

CAFOD recognises the personal dignity and rights of children and vulnerable adults, towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care and respect.  CAFOD, and all its staff and volunteers, undertake to do all in our power to create a safe environment for children, young people and vulnerable adults and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse.  CAFOD is committed to acting at all times in the best interests of children and vulnerable adults, seeing these interests as paramount.  Any candidate offered a job with CAFOD will be expected to adhere to CAFOD’s Safeguarding policy and sign CAFOD’s Code of Behaviour as an appendix to their contract of employment and agree to conduct themselves in accordance with the provisions of these documents.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references, and appropriate screening checks can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. CAFOD also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of, and consent to, these recruitment procedures.

Please click here for a full list of CAFOD’s Staff Benefits

Come and join us and help make a real difference in the lives of the world’s poorest communities.

CAFOD is an equal opportunities employer and encourages applications from people of all backgrounds, faiths, races and gender.