Unclaimed Gift Aid
Is your charity missing out on income?
In recent years, there has been a growing gap between the number of potential Gift Aid claims and the actual funding received from the scheme. Estimated to be around £560 million, the Gift Aid gap is a growing problem, but represents a fantastic opportunity for charities to gain additional funding.
For the benefit of any readers who are not fundraising professionals… Gift Aid is an incredibly important UK government scheme for the Third Sector. Allowing them to claim an extra 25% income on any donations made by UK taxpayers at no extra cost to the donor or the charity.
'Ultimately, it is the people and the communities that charities exist to serve that miss out if Gift Aid could is not claimed.'
– CFG’s Breaking Down The Barriers report
What barriers are there to claiming Gift Aid?
This gap hasn’t come from nowhere. Gift Aids lengthy admin process and the general lack of education around the scheme, has resulted in both donors and fundraisers letting valuable funds fall through the gaps.
Funds that charities cannot afford to lose, especially when up they’re already up against:
- The rise in cost of living
- Increased expenses
- Decrease in funding
- Decrease in footfall
The report identified 5 major barriers to claiming Gift Aid:
Lack of awareness
There is a lack of education around the Gift Aid scheme for both donors and fundraisers
Overly complex processes
Admin processes and claims to HMRC are overly complex, stressful and lengthy
Lack of charity resources
Charities are stretched, with reduced staff and no one responsible to make the claims
Missed opportunities
Gift Aid is seen as a chore or a waste of time for charities or it simply isn’t promoted enough
Multiple funding streams
There are more funding streams to manage, meaning multiple Gift Aid claims to manage too
How do we address the Gift Aid Gap?
So, with 20% of the charities surveyed saying they found claiming Gift Aid difficult or very difficult, how can we reduce the existing barriers?
Raise awareness
Raise awareness through national campaigns like Gift Aid Awareness Day or share clear messaging on-site for donors
Streamline processes
Simplify and streamline internal admin processes where possible and create templates to save time when claiming
Delegate resource
Nominate someone to be responsible for Gift Aid claims and regularly put aside time to complete the task
Promote the scheme
Provide education and training for your staff so that they can confidently promote the scheme to donors
Create guidance
Ensure your team knows which funding streams involve Gift Aid and how to manage each set of data accordingly
Claiming Gift Aid through contactless donation devices
As you will no doubt be aware, Contactless Fundraising is a valuable tool and has the advantage of being able to gift aid those donations. Most contactless suppliers offer this feature in some way.
However, the way in which you ask contactless donors for Gift Aid is incredibly important to its success.
At GWD we have many years of experience developing efficient self-service solutions and we have applied this expertise to the Gift Aid problem to ensure that donors using our devices Gift Aid their donations up to 80% of the time.
We have identified common barriers to a donor using Gift Aid and removed them one by one.
If 80% of your contactless donations were gift aided, how much extra income would that give you?
Keep reading to see how our solutions helps minimise the barriers identified above.
Claim Gift Aid easily with Donation Station Pro
Devices built for self-service
Our devices are designed to be left unattended, ensuring the donor has the autonomy and discretion to complete the journey themselves. Overall, our Gift Aid feature is easy to understand and navigate, with minimal cognitive load.
Clear on-screen text
Many donation systems rely on responsive applications created for web, which means the text is typically smaller and the elements on screen are not designed for users with limited dexterity or visual impairments. Our screens use an intentionally large font and keypad to combat this.
Large accessible keypad
Along with our decision to use a landscape screen, the large keypad (which features only necessary characters) allows all donors to easily view the screen and input their data.
We know that many devices on the market use a small, phone-like screen which can be hard to use, resulting in supporters opting out of Gift Aid or ending the journey entirely.
Minimal Gift Aid steps
Our devices only collect the data needed to complete the required Gift Aid claim to HMRC. There are no additional steps which speeds up the user journey and helps ensure GDPR compliance.
One screen per step
When a user arrives at a screen they have to understand what is required of them. Reducing the cognitive load for users is vital, we wanted the process to feel simple, not overwhelming.
The actions are immediate
Our journey is instantaneous without the need for added steps such as QR codes or online forms. This minimises any barriers to conversion, increasing the overall use of Gift Aid (on average our customers see up to 60% of donations Gift Aided).
Each of these features work together to create a simple and easy journey, maximising Gift Aid income.
Knowing which solutions will work for your needs is key to your charity’s success. If you are considering contactless fundraising and are unsure where to start, think about how these tools can make your lives easier and go from there.
Who are GWD?
We help socially-minded organisations transition to digital systems, building stronger relationships through impactful products and services.
Our experience goes back two decades, with a foundation building and providing critical digital services and products for the financial services and retail industries.
With a long-proven ability to handle challenging projects and a team of trusted experts, we work hard to solve problems and deliver change that helps others.
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