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  Gift Aid

CFG urges charities to use day of action to increase understanding of Gift Aid

Today sees the launch of the first Gift Aid Awareness Day, a national campaign initiated by Charity Finance Group (CFG) to address the estimated £560m of Gift Aid which is unclaimed every year.

This important tax relief, which is worth £1.3bn in total to charities, is often misunderstood by donors. A government report, published in March found that understanding of Gift Aid is mixed among charity donors with 30% having a ‘fairly poor’ understanding of Gift Aid and 11% having a ‘poor’ understanding.

With 14m people volunteering each month for charities and a sector workforce of 850,000, charities are being encouraged to use the day to equip their staff and volunteers with the essential facts, so that they are confident in answering questions from existing and potential donors.

CFG has today published a package of resources and graphics which can be downloaded free of charge, printed off and shared online, to help promote Gift Aid to the general public. These include:

  • A one-pager of FAQs which explains Gift Aid in simple terms
  • A template declaration form which anyone is free to use
  • Articles and guidance to help charities register and avoid erroneous claims

All the resources are available online: www.cfg.org.uk/tickthebox

The campaign will be promoted by CFG with the help of other charities, organisations and individuals across social media platforms throughout the day, with the hashtag #tickthebox.

Launching the day, Caron Bradshaw, Chief Executive of Charity Finance Group said: “Gift Aid is a vital resource for charities, especially at a time when they are feeling the squeeze. We can achieve more by pooling our resources and knowledge. In simplifying the messaging, CFG hopes to see the unclaimed Gift Aid of £560m going down and more vital funds flowing into the sector.

“While promoting Gift Aid has been a priority for CFG since it was introduced in 1990, today marks the start of a bold new campaign and an annual day of action to bring clarity to gift aid and educate everyone who generously donates to charity to make their donation go even further. Let’s get donors to tick the box.” she added.

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