Who is this for?
In particular, it’ll be useful for Fundraisers, CSR Managers, Marketing and PR teams and Development Managers.
What you’ll learn from this guide
- How Gift Aid is defined and how to integrate it into a digital fundraising strategy
- The benefits: what it can do for charities, and the different approaches that can be taken to capturing it
- How to evaluate different solutions in relation to you needs and requirements as a fundraiser
Page Contents
What is Gift Aid?
Gift Aid is a UK government scheme that al
lows charities to claim back 25% of the value of a donation, as a form of tax relief. To claim this additional money the donor must be a UK taxpayer and make a declaration, supplying their contact details.
We’ve published a blog on how Gift Aid works – there are specific data required by HMRC, learn more here.
Why integrate Gift Aid into digital fundraising systems?
It increases your income!
It’s 25% extra funding for your charity. All donations are great, but the extra boost Gift Aid makes super-charges your fundraising activities.Higher conversion rates with digital tools: for instance, the Donation Station by GWD can achieve a conversion rate of 60% of all donations being Gift Aided – and sometimes as high as 70%.
Digital devices can accept higher value donations safely, as opposed to traditional cash box donations. Donations of up to £1000 can be made with card, on the Donation Station.
Venues are returning to ‘normal’ after the COVID-19 global pandemic. Where footfall is increasing, opportunities to improve fundraising income are growing. With an estimated 1 in 6 payments now only being made with cash, it’s easy to see why charities should cater to visitors wanting to make card or contactless donations.
Capturing data – repeat visitors and repeat donors can drive higher-value relationships, building towards legacy donations.
It has the power to persuade! Research has found people are more likely to donate when they see the government is willing to top up their money to charity.
Whether you want to jump straight in or make a gradual change, read on to learn how to approach integrating Gift Aid into your digital fundraising.
How to develop your approach to Gift Aid
How does your fundraising strategy look? How much fundraising do you currently do through digital means? If you’re transitioning to digital systems now or in future…..it’s important to know the potential Gift Aid opportunities that are can be harnessed through any digital devices, online services or events
What’s the feedback from donors? Do they want to be able to Gift Aid a donation at point of payment – consider asking your fundraising teams at events what the appetite is for this.
We know that on average a typical donation device from GWD converts between 50 and 70% of donations to Gift Aid. With this figure, you can estimate the potential impact on income.
Gift Aid should be viewed as an additional stream to your existing fundraising revenues, and can be promoted through many different activities:
- Sponsored Events
- Charitable Attractions
- Memberships
- Donated goods
- Collections – digital and cash and cheque
- Auctions
Note: Each method has varied inclusions and exclusions.
We have written a blog article explaining these methods including their exclusions.
There are a few key considerations when it comes to communications around Gift Aid. Whichever solution you choose to maximise your ROI, consider building messaging around your fundraising offer that:
- Nudges the donor
- Has emotional resonance
- Uses your Tone of Voice
- Creates impact
- Has consistency
- Connects with physical signposting
Focussing on two areas as a start will increase the likelihood of a donor making a Gift Aid declaration.
Explain the impact
A regular supporter or passing visitor will be more likely to make a declaration if they understand the additional benefits it brings, without cost to them.
Try explaining where these additional funds can end up, what the last total Gift Aid rebates were, and how they translated into extra support for your beneficiaries…this could be integrated into your donation device, or signposted around your donation spot.
Be consistent
Keep the message consistent across your donation devices, social media, and fundraising to drive engagement and awareness of the importance of GiftAid with your audience.
Now you’ve identified your needs, consider which solutions could work best for your organisation.
There are a number of criteria for choosing the right solution and digital fundraising approach when it comes to Gift Aid integration;
Customisation – when thinking about your charity or social organisation, there’ll be key messages and a brand look and feel you’ll want seen.
Consider where these can be shown? Ideally, integrated with your fundraising tools, devices and Gift Aid suggestion. Adding printed banners and digital designs on screen with your logos prominently displayed are two things that’ll grab attention.
Analysis tools – refining your fundraising approach requires an element of data analysis. Using reports and breakdowns of donor behaviours can strengthen a strategy. For example, being able to analyse the donation amounts over a period of time, and their conversion to Gift Aid can help identify any gaps in communications.
Ask yourself: What’s useful, and what’s not so useful to your organisation?
Optimisation – Both branding and data analysis are tools for optimising your fundraising. If you’ve identified an opportunity to grow your Gift Aid declarations through report analysis, you can optimise the donor journey:
- A promotional campaign highlighting the extra impact any Gift Aided donations will could pull in interest and nudge those unsure, to make their Gift Aid declarations.
Where do I go next?
Feel happy with the direction you want to take, or left with more questions?
If you haven’t gone through a transition to digital fundraising, working with an expert is the best way to ensure you get a good return on any investments.
We’ve designed the Donation Station to help streamline admin processes, freeing charities up for more impactful conversations with donors.
Supplied with Gift Aid data integration as standard, it makes submissions to HMRC easy and helps optimise your fundraising strategy.
