Donations and Gift Aid

Most village halls are charities, and much of what they are given comes with no Gift Aid claimed. On Donations (under Money):

• A donate page ([hallpro_donate], or “Make the donate page for me”) takes gifts by card through your Stripe account, with suggested amounts. UK taxpayers can tick the Gift Aid declaration, in HMRC’s own wording, and give their name, house and postcode. They get a thank-you email with a copy of their declaration.
• Gifts given another way — the collection at the fete, a cheque, a bank transfer — are recorded on the same screen, with a declaration if the donor made one. Keep the signed form: HMRC can ask to see it.
• Gift Aid to claim lists the gifts not yet claimed and what they are worth (25p in the pound). Download for HMRC gives the columns of HMRC’s Gift Aid schedule in order — name, house, postcode, date, amount — to copy into the schedule and upload on Charities Online. Then mark them claimed.

Donations are kept apart from hire income, and the total given, and the Gift Aid on it, appear in the annual report. The charity must be recognised by HMRC for Gift Aid, with a Charities Online account, to claim.

For example: After the summer fete, 23 people give £10 online and 14 tick Gift Aid. The treasurer downloads the claim in October, uploads it to HMRC, and £35 more arrives for the roof fund.

Questions people ask

Can people give without Stripe?
Online giving needs Stripe. Gifts by cash, cheque or bank transfer can always be recorded on the screen.