Gift Aid Awareness: Tick the Box

Since 2018, charities across the UK have been taking to social media for one day every October to share the #TickTheBox message with donors, supporters, volunteers and others.

What is Gift Aid?

When you tick the Gift Aid box, charities receive an extra 25% on top of your donation, provided you’re a UK taxpayer. The best bit? It’s paid by the government, so it doesn’t cost you anything extra!

So, if you donate £10 and tick the Gift Aid box, Children’s Heart Surgery Fund can claim and extra £2.50, boosting your donation at no cost to you.

How do I know if I’m a UK taxpayer?

For a charity to receive Gift Aid, you need to have paid at least the same amount of capital or income tax as the amount your charity would want to claim in Gift Aid. For example, if you wanted to boost a £10 donation through Gift Aid, you must have paid at least £2.50 in tax that year.

When shouldn’t I tick the Gift Aid box?

Gift Aid cannot be claimed on donations that are funds that have been raised by (for example) a bake sale. The money must be your own.

You also can’t make a donation on behalf of someone else. If you are given the donation by someone, and you use your own details (bank details etc) to submit it, it cannot be accepted, even if they are a UK taxpayer.

Is it worth it?

100% yes! We can’t tick the box for you, but when you do we’ll process everything and won’t charge the charity or fundraiser to receive the Gift Aid.