Starting a charity

nosnehm

Have studied this forum in detail as I am searching for advice on where to invest at best possible rates for the charity I am the treasurer of. Would any of you have any ideas please? The major banks are less than helpful and where they can only offer a very meagre return. Our funds are hard earned and I would like to do the best possible.
Thanks in anticipation.

Savvy_Sue

nosnehm wrote: »

Have studied this forum in detail as I am searching for advice on where to invest at best possible rates for the charity I am the treasurer of. Would any of you have any ideas please? The major banks are less than helpful and where they can only offer a very meagre return. Our funds are hard earned and I would like to do the best possible.
Thanks in anticipation.

Have a look at this thread, and the article it links to. TBH, no-one's giving a great rate these days, but if you can tie the money up for a year or more it can get a bit better.

The 'usual suspects' for charity banking are Unity Trust, CAF and Triodos - it's late and my arm hurts so please google them if you don't spot links in that other thread.

mum2one

The_Doctor179 wrote: »

It's a shame that this site does not support charities unless they are a registered charity, however as this site knows you CAN NOT register unless you have taken £5000. I think this is a disgrace for Martin Lewis's site and i will be contacting him about the way the so called Board Guide remove posts that are a genuine unregistered charity fighting to suceed in these times.
I will not post which site i am talking about as this will be removed but it is a site set up by an ex service man who served his country in the 1st Gulf war and only wants to help the UK forces and their families who have suffered from past and present conflicts.

There is a way round that you can register as a chairty, and you do not need to raise 5,000 per year. As we were formally a PTA (parents teachers assocoation), we don't raise £5,000 pa so were not eligable to register with the charity commission, but you can register as a charity through the Goverment Tax department, and they will issue a charity number.

x

savingscruncher

Not familiar with fundraising & registered charities in the UK, but am involved with UK charities via the auction site eBid! They hold a monthly charity fundraiser from the 24th-28th of each month via YDC(Your Donation Counts). This month is YDC89! Has anyone here heard of it or eBid? I always support registered charities during YDC. I have done formal fundraing in the US but the financial challenges facing fundraisers all over the world are really tough now.

savingscruncher

mum2one wrote: »

There is a way round that you can register as a chairty, and you do not need to raise 5,000 per year. As we were formally a PTA (parents teachers assocoation), we don't raise £5,000 pa so were not eligable to register with the charity commission, but you can register as a charity through the Goverment Tax department, and they will issue a charity number.

x

Always good to know ways to navigate government red tape.

thewilderness

The law changed and the Charity Commission relaxed their rules in regard to the paying of trustees in the 2006 revision but it did not come into force until 2009. There are some elements of the 2006 act which are still to be applied. The Charity Commission provides a really good helpline on this.

There are some large Charitable organisations that pay their Directors for their time but these should not be confused with trustee roles within organisations which are not dual registered - that is not registered with Comapnies House and the Charity Commission.

However, organisations should remember that there may be legal implications with paying volunteers above and beyond paying a Director.

megtyler

i suggested a CSR for our company. eco-friendly projects. we supported recycling efforts and started practicing eco friendly operational system. it allowed the company to save $30M. i got promoted yehey

thewilderness

megtyler wrote: »

i suggested a CSR for our company. eco-friendly projects. we supported recycling efforts and started practicing eco friendly operational system. it allowed the company to save $30M. i got promoted yehey

Not sure what you mean by CSR :huh: The most common term for it is Corporate Social Responsibility which isn't something you can register as, legally, here in the UK. It is just a way of working and a code of conduct...

the_matrix

Having come across this thread there was always something that has bugged me. There was this guy who set up a charity to help fight his legal costs for something or another. I can't remember what. How did he do this then? I've tried searching the internet but can't seem to find the story.

joepubli

Can someone please help solve this dilemma.

A friend is trying to set up a charitable foundation/charity. Initially, the donation is less than £5,000 so can't register with Charities Commission.

The donor naturally wants the charities to benefit from Gift-Aid. HMRC won't register for Charitable Status unless there is a bank account (they want 3 months' bank statements - "HMRC also needs to see copies of bank statements for the last three months". http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/complete-form-cha1.htm)

Banks want a registration number before they open a Charity Bank Account - but HMRC won't give one without a bank account...so a bit circular

Thanks for any help.

I am sure other have managed to resolve this - how?