What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid enables charities like Woodcraft Folk to claim back the tax paid by donors on money they donate to the charity. If you are a UK taxpayer, every £10 you donate could be worth £12.50 to Woodcraft Folk.
Donors need to complete a simple declaration form with their name, address, amount donated and confirming that they have paid enough tax on the money they are donating and wish the charity to be able to claim it back as Gift Aid.
How do we claim Gift Aid?
To enable Woodcraft Folk to claim Gift Aid on donations made to your District (contributions to your camp fundraising for example), you need to do the following:
- Ensure that any donors who are UK taxpayers complete the Gift Aid Declaration.
- Record their donation on the Gift Aid log sheet
- Keep a copy of confirmation that the donations have cleared the bank account, confirmation of bank transfer, or bank statement relating to the donation.
- As soon as possible after banking, send a copy of the District Gift Aid log to finance@woodcraft.org.uk and confirm that you or Folk Office has on file: (1) evidence of banking for each donation; and (2) each relevant Gift Aid declaration.
FAQ:
1. What can we claim gift aid on?
Gift Aid can be claimed on any donation from a UK taxpayer who has paid the same amount or more of UK Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax as all charities or CASCs will claim on the donors gifts in a tax year, the donor is responsible to pay any difference.
If in doubt, please check with our finance team – finance@woodcraft.org.uk.
2. What if the donor has already filled in a Gift Aid form?
If you are certain that a donor has already filled in a form indicating they wish all future donations to be eligible for gift aid or you’ve checked with Folk Office to confirm this, please indicate this on the District Gift Aid log. If in doubt, ask Folk Office or ask them to fill in a new form – duplication is better than missing out on the additional contribution from the Treasury! Please note declaration forms should be securely stored for 6 years from the end of the accounting period they relate to. If a donor stops their donations then the time limit applies from the date of the final donation. If you are retaining any records at district level please ensure you are storing them securely and for the correct amount of time, destroying securely at the correct time.
3. What happens to the Gift Aid that is claimed?
Gift Aid from membership fees is used to support core Woodcraft Folk activity, including General Council and Annual Gathering.
If you wish to claim Gift Aid on other fundraising that your district is undertaking, we can process it in the same way. An admin charge of 4% is retained centrally to cover the costs of processing and the remainder will be passed on to your district to add to your fundraising target.