UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein is a leading children’s charity working to protect the rights and wellbeing of children worldwide. Legacy giving is critical to sustaining this work over the long term.

But like many legacy programs, UNICEF relied on broad, channel-led targeting and manual processes. This made it difficult to identify and engage supporters genuinely open to a legacy conversation. The volume-driven approach also reduced efficiency, increased rejection, and placed unnecessary strain on supporter relationships.

In 2025, UNICEF partnered with Dataro to adopt an AI-driven targeting approach that focused engagement on supporters most likely to consider a gift in their Will, while reducing effort and protecting supporter experience.

The result was a more efficient program with higher-quality engagement, less wasted outreach, and an estimated CHF 700’000 in additional future legacy income.

Key Results

Using Dataro’s AI software to find the best legacy prospects, UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein achieved meaningful gains in both legacy pipeline value and operational efficiency, including:

• 700’000 CHF in additional future legacy income

• 15 confirmed legacy commitments 

• 304 high-intent legacy considerers identified and added to pipeline 

• +24% higher legacy response rate across all channels using Dataro predictive modelling.

• Stronger cross-channel performance across direct mail, email, and telemarketing

How We Did It

Legacy fundraising presents a unique targeting challenge because confirmed legacy gifts are rare (typically representing less than 0.05% of all charitable gifts) and supporter intent is often unspoken. 

As a result, traditional targeting methods based on age, tenure, or broad giving history struggle to accurately identify who is genuinely open to a legacy conversation. This often leads to high-volume outreach, low-quality responses, unnecessary rejection, and added strain on supporter relationships.

To solve this challenge, UNICEF implemented Dataro’s legacy propensity model directly within its Salesforce NPSP CRM. Using machine learning, Dataro analysed each supporter’s giving and engagement history to generate a legacy propensity rank for every donor in the database. These rankings were updated weekly and written back to Salesforce, ensuring fundraisers were always working from the most current view of likely legacy interest.

With Dataro’s legacy rankings surfaced directly within Salesforce NPSP, UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein’s fundraising team had a clear, practical way to understand:

• Who to prioritise for legacy outreach

• Who to suppress from outreach to protect the supporter experience

• Where to focus effort for the greatest return

Dataro’s legacy insights gave the team a consistent, evidence-based view of legacy interest across the entire supporter base - without relying on assumptions, spreadsheets, or manual analysis.

UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein's AI-Informed Legacy Strategy

UNICEF implemented a structured legacy outreach strategy that combined Dataro’s AI-driven insights with clear business rules to guide how supporters were engaged.

Email newsletters and direct mail legacy surveys were run in tandem to introduce legacy messaging and capture early signals of interest:

• Email was used for broad, low-cost outreach and informed by Dataro’s legacy rankings

• Direct mail legacy surveys were targeted to supporters identified as high-potential legacy donors, ensuring higher-cost activity was focused on the most relevant audience.

Dataro’s AI-powered legacy insights were also applied alongside internal business rules to manage progression and suppression. Early identification of legacy rejecters and considerers allowed future campaigns to suppress unsuitable households and reinvest budget efficiently.

Supporters who showed interest through email or direct mail surveys, as well as high-potential legacy prospects identified by Dataro, were prioritised for personal phone follow-up. This funnel approach ensured legacy conversations were timely, relevant, and respectful of supporter intent.

Analysing the Results

Using Dataro’s legacy insights, UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein strengthened its legacy pipeline while dramatically improving program efficiency. 

Rather than relying on broad targeting and high-volume outreach, the fundraising team adopted a funnel-based engagement strategy - focusing effort on the strongest legacy prospects and coordinating direct mail, email, and telemarketing around a shared view of supporter intent.

By identifying high-propensity legacy prospects and confidently suppressing supporters unlikely to engage, UNICEF generated 3 – 5 times more legacy signals per supporter contacted, while reducing outbound direct mail and calling volumes by up to 40%. 

Across every channel, performance improved as outreach became more focused and better timed. Direct mail campaigns had materially higher-quality responses from Dataro-selected audiences, and actionable response rates (considerers and hand-raisers) exceeded historic email averages.

The funnel-led engagement strategy ensured telemarketing followed demonstrated interest or high predicted potential. This allowed callers to reach the right supporters faster, with fewer dials and engage in higher-quality legacy conversations.

This more focused legacy strategy delivered meaningful progress in a relatively short timeframe. Within seven months, UNICEF Switzerland & Liechtenstein identified an estimated 700’000 CHF in potential legacy value across its pipeline, including: 

• 15 confirmed legacy commitments

• 304 high-intent legacy considerers added to pipeline for ongoing stewardship ( 

• Representing in total CHF 700,000 in potential future value based on conservative conversion assumption.

Dataro is now embedded in UNICEF legacy strategy, providing a strong foundation for long-term growth. The AI-powered, audience-first approach has replaced guesswork and volume outreach with precision targeting, freed fundraisers from manual processes, and ensured every legacy interaction is respectful, well-timed, and grounded in supporter intent.