What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is a tax relief system administered by the Inland Revenue to promote charitable giving and increase the value of a donation.
UK charities are entitled to 25% tax reclaim from the Inland Revenue on every £1 donated by UK taxpayers. So for every time £1 is donated to Sense with a Gift Aid declaration, the charity will receive an extra 25p by claiming back the tax you paid for a total of £1.25.
How can Sense claim Gift Aid on my donations?
To gift aid a sponsorship pledge costs absolutely nothing. All we need is a statement from your sponsor to confirm that they are UK taxpayers and that they wish Sense to claim back the tax on the donation.
To make the claim it is very important that we have your sponsor’s following details:
- name and surname
- address and postcode
- Confirmation that they have paid UK tax – to cover the tax the charity will reclaim.
Gift Aid cannot be claimed against a company's or work address.
And finally - don't forget to keep your sponsorship forms safe. We will need them to make our Gift Aid claims!
What is Matched Giving?
Many employers support their employees' chosen fundraising activities so it's worth asking your employer if they would be happy to support you! You may also need to register your chosen fundraising activity with your employer before you start to fundraise, so it is important to act quickly.
Some employers don't have clear policies or have their own set of rules - so find the right contact and check out the criteria. Some have schemes such as the pound-for-pound and others have a maximum amount that they are prepared to give.
This is a really easy way to increase, or even double, your fundraising efforts. And remember that it's not only the big companies who give to charities!
How do I pay in my money?
Cheques
All cheques should be made payable to Sense. You should forward the cheques to us as soon as you receive them. If you have a large number of cheques or a cheque for a large amount, you may want to send them by registered post.
Don’t forget to write your name on the back of the cheques or attach a covering note to enable us to accurately assign them to the correct record.
Please send your cheques to
Sense Events Team
101 Pentonville Road
London, N19LG
Online fundraising
Money collected through online fundraising websites such as Justgiving.com or virginmoneygiving.com come directly to the charity. We will keep an accurate documentation of all the money that reaches us in this way and record it against your target. We will be able to confirm your online fundraising total after the deadline for collecting your sponsorship has passed or when you tell us that you have finished your fundraising activities.
Cash
It is not safe to send cash, even notes, in the normal post. If sponsors give you cash or make cheques payable to you, pay the money into your own account and send us a cheque for the equivalent amount.
What is online sponsorship?
When you start your fundraising make sure that you set up your own personalised sponsorship page. Creating your webpage is really quick, easy and fun and you don’t even have to leave your chair to do it! You can then start spreading the word about your fantastic challenge by e-mailing the link to your page to everyone you know, even those who live far away, to ask them to sponsor you! You can also put the link to your page under your e-mail signature so that every e-mail you send is a sponsorship request!
Money collected through online fundraising websites such as VirginMoneyGiving.com or Justgiving.com come directly to the charity. We will keep an accurate documentation of all the money that reaches us in this way and record against your target. We will be able to confirm your online fundraising total after the deadline for collecting your sponsorship has passed or when you tell us that you have finished your fundraising activities.
What can your fundraising efforts can do for Sense?
We are very pleased that you have undertaken to raise money for Sense. You will make an enormous difference to lives of deafblind people in the UK. Below is a small sample of activities that your fundraising efforts can pay for:
£5 – could buy a set of musical bells to help stimulate even the tiniest amount of a deafblind child’s hearing in music therapy.
£7.50 – could pay for a deafblind child to experience sailing and feel the wind on their face on their Sense holiday.
£15 – could pay for a tactile book to develop a child’s sense of sight and touch at a Sense family centre.
£25 – could buy an interactive light tube to help stimulate a deafblind child’s remaining sight.
£50 – could help pay for a deafblind child’s vital first assessment.
£250 – could kit out a home with sensory ‘trails’ enabling the deafblind residents to identify specific rooms, stairs etc enabling them to live in a safe, secure environment.
£500 – could pay for a child to undergo a specialised educational development assessment to establish what their learning abilities are.
