Dionne Sturdy-Clow, Gift Aid Project Officer at Charity Finance Group, goes through the results and recommendations from the 2024 Gift Aid Awareness Survey.
GIFT AID AWARENESS SURVEY
As part of Charity Finance Group’s (CFG) Gift Aid Awareness Day campaign, CFG surveyed charity finance professionals and leaders from 100 different charities about their experience of Gift Aid.
We sensed some survey fatigue, so we were delighted with the number of responses and grateful to those who took the time to give us this insight into their experience claiming this vital tax relief.
You can read the Gift Aid Awareness survey report or read a summary of the survey’s findings in this CFG news article: New CFG report reveals more to do to maximise vital Gift Aid scheme.
WHY DID WE DO IT?
As CFG’s Gift Aid Project Officer, I may be biased, but I believe Gift Aid is the coolest side of tax relief…
90% of the charities surveyed had registered to claim Gift Aid and commented on how valuable the tax relief was to them. Despite being a vital source of income for the sector, with around £1.6 billion to over 66,000 charities across the UK, there is still an estimated £560 million that goes unclaimed every year (read more at the government’s charity tax relief statistics).
We wanted to explore the barriers to registering and claiming and see what the sector says could be done to close the Gift Aid gap.
BREAKING DOWN THE BARRIERS
The report shows that more must be done to maximise every claim. Some of the key difficulties were:
- Registering and claiming:
- 20% of charities found claiming Gift Aid ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’. Read more from Third Sector: Research finds one in five charities fund claiming Gift Aid Difficult.
- 60% of charities are aware of either ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ available support when registering for and making Gift Aid claims.
- But 16% still say there is not enough support.
- Lack of awareness:
- 70% would like to see more done to raise awareness of Gift Aid among the public.
- 50% of charities support the idea of a government-backed public awareness campaign.
- Operational challenges:
- 40% would like the rules around Gift Aid to be clearer and easier to understand.
- Charities face administration challenges and some of the more complex tax rules can be difficult to grasp, leading to missed claims. Some charities are missing out on Gift Aid income due to lack of resources and support.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The report recommended changes to help charities maximise this vital source of income:
- The Future of Gift Aid: CFG is reiterating the charity sector’s ‘ask’ for the government to progress The Future of Gift Aid project.
- Simplified registration process: streamline and improve the Gift Aid registration and claims process which many charities can find fiddly and time-consuming.
- Boost the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS): the survey report recommends raising the limit of the GASDS amount from £30 to encourage take-up and raise more funds.
- Enhanced awareness campaigns: launch targeted campaigns to inform donors and charities on the importance of Gift Aid and GASDS, and the extra value it brings to the causes they care about.
- Increased support and training: provide more comprehensive training and support resources to help charities maximise Gift Aid.
- Technological solutions: continue to explore the digitisation and automation of Gift Aid processes.
GIFT AID AWARENESS DAY CAMPAIGN – #TICKTHEBOX!
The Gift Aid Awareness Day campaign was started by CFG in 2019 to:
- understand the barriers to registering and claiming
- raise sector, public and government awareness, and
- encourage us all to #TickTheBox.
Thousands of charities joined the campaign in 2024, as you can see from some of our favorite posts.
CFG also runs the Gift Aid Awareness Day Webinar every October. Add your details to the form below to register for updates or visit CFG’s events page to see what other events we have in this space. You can also visit our Gift Aid Hub for plenty of helpful resources.
JOIN THE GIFT AID AWARENESS DAY 2025 CAMPAIGN
Will you join us next October? Pledge your support for the 2025 Gift Aid Awareness Day campaign by filling out this short form. Choose your level of involvement and register for updates on how you can participate. You’ll also see information on available resources to help your charity maximize Gift Aid.
If you are an individual, umbrella body or corporate organisation, you can still get involved! You could learn how to #TickTheBox next time you visit your favorite charity shop or donate online, share our message on social media, support our events or partner with us to do more research. However you chose to join in, you can help close the Gift Aid gap.
Find out more about Charity Finance Group and the support available to our members, or with any direct queries about the Gift Aid Awareness campaign, please feel welcome to contact Dionne.Sturdy-Clow@cfg.org.uk.
If you want more info on claiming Gift Aid you can read HMRC’s guidance: Claiming Gift Aid as a charity or CASC.
ABOUT DIONNE
Dionne joined CFG in January 2024 as a Gift Aid Project Officer. Her role is to lead CFG’s Gift Aid Awareness campaign, making it the most impactful so far!