A gift in your will - also called a legacy - can help the College in many ways: by helping to build the endowment, safeguard Fellowships, support students, establish scholarships, improve our historic buildings, or help to fund our flourishing clubs, societies and sports teams.
Gifts in wills have helped to shape the College and support its people, teaching and research, from the time of John de Balliol and Dervorguilla, right up to the present day.
"I am incredibly thankful to the donor who funded my scholarship for enabling me to be here, to study, to pursue research, and to follow my dreams and passions. Their support and generosity has made my research and study possible, and I would not be where I am now were it not for them."
Eleanor March (2023), recipient of the Brian Dickinson Scholarship established by the late Brian Dickinson (1958) through a gift in his will.
If you would like to support future generations of Balliol students and academics by leaving a gift in your will, you will need the College’s full legal name, which is The Master and Scholars of Balliol College in the University of Oxford. You may also find it helpful to know that Balliol is a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1144032).
There may be tax advantages to your estate to include a gift to Balliol in your will, notably if you live in the UK, USA or Canada. Please contact your financial advisor or accountant for further information about this point.
For more information about leaving a gift in your will download our Legacy Guide. You may also find our suggested wording for your will helpful.
If you are intending to make a gift to Balliol in your will it would be very helpful if you could let us know your present intentions by completing our Legacy Pledge Form. Information of this nature will help Balliol’s long-term planning. You may choose not to give us this information. This is entirely a matter for you. Any information you do give will be treated in the strictest confidence.
If you wish to discuss a bequest, or if you would like to let us know you have already included Balliol in your will, please complete our Legacy Pledge Form Alternatively, you can email Andrew Murton, Head of Development Operations, or call +44 (0)1865 277636.
If you are thinking about making or updating your will, Balliol has partnered with the National Free Wills Network to enable you to do so at no cost to you. Find out more and request your National Free Wills Network information pack.
Gifts in wills have a transformative impact on the lives of Balliol students. Thanks to a generous legacy gift to establish a graduate scholarship from the late Brian Dickinson (1958), Eleanor March (2023) has had the opportunity to continue to study the subject she loves at Balliol.
Read Eleanor's story.
Over 200 Old Members and friends of the College, aged between 28 and 98, have already chosen to leave a legacy to Balliol in their will. As a way of thanking them during their lifetime, we have created the Greville Smith Circle, named in honour of one of our most generous legators, Harold Greville Smith, who read Chemistry at Balliol in the 1920s.
If you have pledged a gift to Balliol in your will, we would be delighted to invite you to join the Greville Smith Circle. Members of the Circle are invited to an annual lunch in College. If you'd like more information about leaving a gift in your will and becoming part of the Greville Smith Circle, please contact Andrew Murton, Head of Development Operations.