How to receive online donations for small unregistered charity

PlutoinCapricorn

The fact that your income is under £5,000 does not mean that the Charity Commission regulations are irrelevant: you must still comply with their requirements (I am assuming that you are not in Scotland).

"Helping charities to enhance their accountability is one of their aims, along with encouraging effectiveness and impact; ensuring legal compliance; and promoting the public interest in charity. Their site is a mine of information and really worth looking at. As a fundraiser, it is also important for you to be familiar with the legalities of fundraising.

If you are thinking of setting up a charity, the Charity Commission can guide you step by step. In England, you are required to have raised £5000 before your organisation can be formally registered. You are able, however, to raise money prior to this, provided you have complied with all the current legislation, and have a proper constitution and suitable, trustworthy Trustees in place. You are also required to ensure that your accounts are properly kept. » Full information is given on the Charity Commission website."

Have you got a separate bank account for the donations?

Kitsi

Wywth wrote: »

How on earth can you consider me spending my time & effort trying to help you like this rude:



Still, now I know your feelings on this I won't bother any more. Good luck!

I apologise, I was rather hasty there. Perhaps it was the other way round and I misinterpreted what you meant! One of your comments came across a little sarcastic when I first read it but looking back I think I read it incorrectly. And actually you're right, I am getting ahead of myself. I really don't have the knowledge to pull this off at the moment. I am seriously learning as I go along. It was not necessarily something we planned to do (start a charity) but after a few very successful events it seemed like the logical next step.

Please forgive me

Kitsi

Thank you again PlutoinCapricorn for another very useful piece of information!

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Have you got a separate bank account for the donations?

Yes, we have a bank account for donations in the charity's name.

PlutoinCapricorn

Yet another good website: there is a lot of advice out there

http://www.support4charities.com/law_and_ethics.html


Why not wait until you are fresh tomorrow, go and re-read the responses, make notes of the points, follow up some links and then perhaps make some decisions?

Kitsi

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Another suggestion: could you find somewhere - perhaps a Tibetan bookshop/craftshop/centre - that would permit you to use them as a c/o address? That would give you some legitimacy.

Also, are you able to provide evidence of transfer and distribution of funds?

We've held a fundraising event in a Tibetan cafe. Its quite possible that if we build up a good relationship with them, they will allow us to use their address!

Transfering funds is a whole other issue lol! The people we've supported so far do have bank accounts so transfers or cheques are not an option. We have a representitive out there (a very close and trusted friend who is well known in the community) who firstly identifies the individuals who are in need of help. They make a sort of application explaining their needs. So far we have only focused on the education of children. He sends us photos and details of the individuals. We then transfer the money to him and he distributes it, taking photos of each person receiving their share of the donations.

I have just checked the Moneygram website and they have lowered their transfer fees recently (I don't know if this is a permanent thing). If it is, it might give us the option to send directly to each individual. We avoided this in the past because the transfer fees were much higher. It would still cost us 10 times as much to send to individuals as it would to send it all in one bulk. Currently it costs the same to send £30 as it does to send £300. At least with the fees being relatively low, we wouldn't be wasting too much money!

I guess somewhere we're going to have to sacrifice some money that we would otherwise prefer to spend on the cause.

Kitsi

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

Yet another good website: there is a lot of advice out there

http://www.support4charities.com/law_and_ethics.html


Why not wait until you are fresh tomorrow, go and re-read the responses, make notes of the points, follow up some links and then perhaps make some decisions?

I will do that . Looking at it fresh would be a good idea. My head is spinning right now :undecided.

Thank you for taking the time to offer me advice, everyone. It has given me a lot to think about.

PlutoinCapricorn

My first impression is that transferring to one recipient looks better than giving directly to individual beneficiaries. The overseas charities that I have experience of transfer to their local offices, who keep detailed records and accounts of where the money goes.

The locals are assessed on the basis of need and other options: for example, in Afghanistan points were given and married women and/or those with sons were less likely to qualify.

It seems that things have been a little informal; as I said, you do need to follow existing rules and guidelines, and to think about what possible donors who do not know you will expect in the way of evidence that the money is going where it is supposed to be going and that it is making a difference - and not just temporarily.

Savvy_Sue

Kitsi wrote: »

Could I display the charity's bank details online perhaps?? Obviously only the necessary details, not all of them!

Errata wrote: »

Do make sure you put all the details of who cheques should be made out to, the bank account, sort code and the name and address of the bank on the website.

If you put bank account details on the website, 'best practice' is to open TWO accounts - one for money going in and a very tight transfer process to the other, for money going out.

If you only have one, and the details are too publicly available, I understand that it's relatively simple for the wrong people to empty it.

PlutoinCapricorn

The CC has a section on charities too small to register, with some useful information including a model constitution:

Even a small charity needs a bank account. Lots of banks offer ‘treasurer’ or ‘community’ accounts – these are suitable for small, unregistered charities. . .

There are lots of ways you can raise money – from organised collections to applying for grants. A small, unregistered charity may need to take extra steps to show funders it is a legitimate organisation.

Here are some ways to show potential donors you are trustworthy:

be honest and up-front that you are not a registered charity – this helps to build trust
create a website so people can read about what you do
make online contacts with other organisations, using social media for example
put some or all of your governing document online so that people can read about your aims
- See more at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/start-up-a-charity/as-your-charity-grows/staying-small/#sthash.AAwYP0vA.dpuf

Errata

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

If you put bank account details on the website, 'best practice' is to open TWO accounts - one for money going in and a very tight transfer process to the other, for money going out.

If you only have one, and the details are too publicly available, I understand that it's relatively simple for the wrong people to empty it.

Fair enough, but it's caveat emptor both ways when donors send a cheque with all those details on it.