Money for nothing

I am a great believer in the principle of money for nothing, and particularly if it comes from the Government or from big business. There are two ways that I have been able to help arts organisations get hold of this type of money recently, both of which seem to be highly effective.

Staggeringly, there are still arts organisations who are not taking advantage of Gift Aid. The value of any charitable donations can be increased by 25% by claiming back the Gift Aid. Changes in regulations will shortly mean that this can also be done for smaller donations when the donor hasn’t submitted a Gift Aid declaration, so having a collecting box in your foyer becomes instantly more attractive.

But the exciting bit, where you can actually double your original donation, is with higher rate tax payers. These donors get a rebate from the taxman when they declare their Gift Aid donations at the end of the tax year. If you remind them of this fact, and ask them to donate the rebate as well, you can immediately achieve an extra 25% on the original gift – which in turn can be eligible for Gift Aid, so the cycle repeats itself and over three cycles you can double your money – isn’t that great!

With 50% rate tax payers the rate they reclaim is even higher (37.5% as opposed to 25%) so the total over three years from a £100 gift comes out at over £211. Of course it is not money for nothing, as you do have to put some effort in – I suggest sending a letter towards the end of the year thanking donors for their generosity, reminding them to claim from HMRC and suggesting they might like to donate the rebate.

The other way to get money for arts organisations with charitable status is to sign up for Give as you Live. Every time one of our supporters makes a purchase online from big brands, like British Airways, you will receive a small percentage which comes out of the business’s marketing budget. No cost to the charity, no cost to the donor – it really is free money. I have been using this for the last six months and have raised over £50 for my chosen charity – not a huge sum, but if everyone does it this builds up into a substantial revenue stream of unrestricted income.

So it’s not exactly alchemy and turning base metal into gold, but it is a simple way to increase your fundraising at a time when every penny really counts.