How much do you give to charity?

Frosti

clairehi wrote: »

Apologies for sounding obnoxious. I did reply to you straightaway as I was very concerned that due to the incomplete information you gave, your post would put off other people from using the Gift Aid scheme, which is a very valuable and under-used scheme that many people sadly are not aware of.

Your post clearly stated that a Gift Aid donation had cost you money. However if eligible donors (tax payers) give through Gift Aid, it will not cost them anything extra. In fact if they are a higher rate tax payer they can claim extra money back via their Tax return.

I think your case is unfortunate but probably highly unusual. I am sorry for your financial difficulties. Gift Aid is a tax rebate, and if you did not pay any tax in that year you would not have been eligible to use the scheme. All Gift Aid declaration forms should clearly state this information to ensure potential donors are aware.
I would guess that HMRC clawed back the rebate directly from you via your tax return as you were not eligible to use the scheme that year, which I can understand must have been a nasty surprise.

Thank you for clearing up that mystery. It's true, I think of myself as a tax-payer and did tick the box on the funeral donation list. It wasn't until months later when my tax return was finalised that I discovered my income for that year was so low I was exempt from paying any tax at all.

However, I must say I am still upset that you did not bother to read my first post properly - haven't checked the other posts you *mis*quoted - certainly in my case you based a very aggressive, unpleasant post on your own mis-reading of the facts.
I would like an apology for that.

By the way, if I can give £30-60pm to charity on an income that is still likely to be below £8G this year, then if you have a job that pays more than that, £45pm does not seem generous.

VK-2008

i only give what i can afford when i can afford it, if that makes sense.

i used to have the direct debits set up but cancelled them due to bills etc

remember there are soooo many charities its near impossible to give to them all

pick one or 2 and see how you get on with that if you can

DKLS

I have regular donations set up for the local donkey sanctuary and the Gorilla Fund and I give 2-3 days free consulting to another Charity per month.

VK-2008

After thinking about this and going over in my head i would like to say again try volunteering, not only are you helping others you get a great sense of satisfaction.

the charities will appreciate anything you can do

the other option is do sponsorship, things like charity runs, bungee jumps.

do raffels/funday etc you can raise a lot of money and have fun doing it at same time

hope this helps you