Gift Aid

Whether you're a new donor, or you already make a contribution to our work through your salary, please Gift Aid your donations to us.

Try our Gift Aid calculator, and see how much more your donation could do!

Last year the Fund was able to raise nearly £1 million through the scheme.

There are many reasons for making sure you Gift Aid your donation, but the best one is this: it doesn’t cost you a penny. All the money raised through the scheme comes from HM Revenue and Customs.

When you make a donation to the Fund through your salary, the deduction is made after HM Revenue and Customs has taken its share of income tax. This means that the contribution is taken from your net salary, not gross.

However, by agreeing to Gift Aid your donation, HM Revenue and Customs is then obliged to give to the Fund the amount of income tax it took off your donation before it was made.

If that sounds complicated (and there is a mathematical formula for working it out), in simple terms it means HM Revenue and Customs gives us 28p for every £1 donated under the Gift Aid scheme (at the present level of basic income tax).

But please note: if you don’t pay income tax, you can’t Gift Aid your donation.

Letting us know you want to Gift Aid your donations is very simple. Gift Aid instructions can be made by post, telephone, fax, or even e-mail. However, if you are not using a donation form to make a Gift Aid declaration, be sure to put the following:

“I agree to Gift Aid all donations that I have made to the Fund since 6 April 2000”

Why? Well, not only does this guarantee that the Fund can claim the income tax on any future donations, HM Revenue and Customs will also refund the income tax paid on any donations made before the declaration, but after 6 April 2002!

So please Gift Aid your donation if you can, and let us know if you can’t; so we won't bother you about it. Gift Aid is simple to administer, but very valuable. Contact our Donor Care team on 020 8240 2451 for further details.

If you carry out a sponsored event for the Fund, it is possible for the individual amount pledged from each sponsor (providing they are UK taxpayers) to count as a Gift Aid donation. Click here to download our sponsor form, which contains a column where sponsors can indicate whether they would like to Gift Aid their sponsorship.

From April 2004, if you complete a Self Assessment tax return from HM Revenue and Customs, you can nominate the Fund to receive all or part of the any repayment of tax that may be due to you. You can use the tax return form to make your donation, which is then paid directly to the Fund.

You may also choose to Gift Aid your donation to further increase its value, at no extra cost, and any tax on such donations will be paid to the Fund without the need for a claim.

Furthermore, if you are a higher rate taxpayer, you can claim the difference between the higher rate of income tax at 40%, and the basic rate of 22%, on your Self Assessment form.

Should you wish to make a donation in this way, please quote the code TAA32TG on your Self Assessment form.

For further information on giving through Self Assessment, visit the HM Revenue and Customs website, or contact the Donor Care team on 020 8240 2451.

Payroll Giving (sometimes known as Give As You Earn) is administered by the Charities Aid Foundation and is a tax-free way of giving to the Fund. Each time you are paid, a donation is deducted by your pay section before tax is calculated, and HM Revenue and Customs gives the Fund the tax it would otherwise have kept.

For example:
- If you pledge £5.00
- You pay £3.90
- HM Revenue and Customs add £1.10

If you have a CAF account the Fund can also accept CAF cheques and Standing Orders.

For further information, you can visit the Charities Aid Foundation website, or contact our Donor Care team on 020 8240 2451.