Oxfam, Gift Aid

horsechestnut

If you take goods into Oxfam shops, they now ask you if you would like to "GiftAid" the goods. This means that Oxfam can reclaim tax on the goods that they sell, providing that you are a taxpayer.:D
You need to fill in forms and can tick the box that says you don't want to receive information from them.

lamb7994

Also the following charities have been doing it for 2 years now
Help the aged
Sue ryder
and also British heart Foundation have started doing it as well

James

GiveItBack

It's a great idea - Sue Ryder were the first to do it, and now qute a few have set up similar systems. If you take things into a shop, it's worth asking, as not all of the volunteers feel happy telling people about it. (Which I find bizarre, but that's people)

LittleVoice

I heard recently that there was two-stage process.
1 - when things are brought in
2 - contact when sold and have to offer the payment to the donor

Is that correct?

The news item suggested charities were therefore not doing much of this because the time/administration involved did not make it worthwhile.

GiveItBack

There are two ways of doing it.

One is that the items are logged when they arrive, and the donor fills out the form. Then twice a year (or it can be more often, but usually twice a year), a letter is sent to the donor saying how much their items have raised and confirming that the charity can claim the gift aid. I think non response is taken as yes.

So yes, there is admin involved, but the back office stuff tends to be things that shops want to have anyway (good to know who is supporting you), so the additional is only really a second class letter twice a year (if goods have sold). If the letter costs 50p (which I think is an over estimation), and the items sell for £2, then there's only a tiny profit in it. Hopefully, of course, the average income will be higher, so there's a benefit.

But then you also have the benefit of knowing who's supporting you, and I believe it's shown an increase in donated goods too.

GiveItBack

would love to read the article though - got a link?