How to receive online donations for small unregistered charity

Wywth

Kitsi wrote: »

...We have a lot of support locally and people know we are trustworthy...

Well if they are local, and they know you, they could donate to you in cash couldn't they? :huh:

Kitsi

gb12345 wrote: »

But your problem will be building enough trust for people to believe all of that.

Anyone can set up a website, claim to be Tibetan and be donating 99.99% of monies to the cause, but how do people know that is really happening?

You will have no physical contact details on the website and a hidden domain registration so how are you going to convince a member of the public that you are legitimate and not just an opportunist scammer?

Ok, thanks for the advice everyone. I completely understand your points. I'm beginning to lose hope here!

I suppose at the moment, we are just relying on people who have met us or heard about us from a friend who know that we are 100% legitimate. I suppose with the website I just wanted to give people another option for donating but perhaps thats not going to be possible.

Kitsi

Wywth wrote: »

Well if they are local, and they know you, they could donate to you in cash couldn't they? :huh:

Yeah, thats the only way we've been receiving money so far but it does depend on us getting out there and doing events and things which is very time consuming considering me and my husband both have full time jobs as well. As I said, I just wanted to give regular supporters another option. I thought it would be slightly easier than its turning out to be.

PlutoinCapricorn

I got this from the Starting a Charity sticky above: I think that some people do this so they can claim tax back under the Gift Aid scheme.

"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."

Wywth

So you've almost completed a website, looked into getting a P.O Box ... and are now having second thoughts?

Am I the only one with the words 'cart' 'horse' and 'before' running through my head?

PlutoinCapricorn

If you have regular supporters, the normal procedure is to get them to set up a standing order - direct debits are not suitable in your case.

Kitsi

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Having such a direct link to Tibet does make a difference.

However, did you look at all existing registered Tibet charities and go through their accounts on the CC Register to see who has very low overheads and how much their income is and where it comes from?

When people do start their own charities, the trustees often raise the necessary £5,000. Registration is best because charitable trusts and foundations will not usually give to an unregistered charity and they are a good funding source.

Thank for this advice, I will look into it a bit deeper.

I do feel like we have something a bit different to offer. We want to teach about Tibet in a positive way, not just focus on the negative. My husband learnt singing bowl healing and meditation as a former monk so he teaches them which we don't take money for, we just ask for donations to our charity.

Kitsi

Wywth wrote: »

So you've almost completed a website, looked into getting a P.O Box ... and are now having second thoughts?

Am I the only one with the words 'cart' 'horse' and 'before' running through my head?

Not having second thoughts about the charity, we'll carry on doing what we're doing regardless. Was simply asking about receiving donations online.

Also, to be honest it has taken off a lot quicker than we ever expected so we're learning as we go along.

Do you have to be so critical when someones just asking for a genuine bit of advice??

gb12345

Kitsi wrote: »

I do feel like we have something a bit different to offer. We want to teach about Tibet in a positive way, not just focus on the negative.

So why not just focus on that initially? Make it an informational site and may be add links to some of the charities that have a higher % of donations directed to the cause

If your own charity takes off then you can add it to the site later on.

Kitsi

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

I got this from the Starting a Charity sticky above: I think that some people do this so they can claim tax back under the Gift Aid scheme.

"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."

Thank you for your genuinely helpful advice. I've heard that you can register with HMRC. I didn't think you could use it in the same way you can a registered charity number. It would still be extrememy useful to have though and may help to reassure people that we are genuine . I will look into it right away.