Chalkface - Giving to Charity

Charitable giving is undergoing a transformation....and not before time. The average contribution to charity finally crept up above £4 per household per week in the 1990's. (Source, twentieth-Century British Social Trends, edited by A H Halsey and Josephine Webb, 3^rd edition, Macmillan), and most of that was attributable to a small proportion of the UK population.

The good news is that the Government has now made it easier to give to any charity or religious organisation of your choice. Changes announced by the Government in last year’s budget mean that:

The minimum amount for Gift Aid has been removed - now any gift of money to a charity can be tax effective.
A deed of covenant is now longer necessary for regular gifts.
A single Gift Aid Declaration now ensures that all your future donations can be boosted by the tax man.
A wider range of people can now benefit from tax-effective giving, including those on lower incomes, or those unable to make long term commitments.
A wider range of giving can now be tax effective - including single gifts of less than £250.

One way of making the most of the governments drive to improve charitable giving is by opening a ‘bank’ account for all your giving. The great thing about a charitable account is that you are in control of your giving. You can make regular or occasional payments into your account and then choose to give it to one charity, or a dozen different charities. You can make regular contributions or one-off gifts. You usually get a voucher book (like a cheque book) and sometimes a donor card to help manage your giving.

Two of the most popular organisations providing these services are the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and Stewardship Services. CAF have an excellent reputation and websites to match (see Givingtoday and Charitycard). Their CharityCard has proved popular and in just over two years, over £1 million has been given online.

Stewardship Services are the leading organisation in the Christian sphere with an annual income of over £15m and a pedigree going back to 1906. One of Stewardship Services strengths is that a person can support full time Christian workers. The tax-effective giving thereby boosts the value of their support. Stewardship Services leading product is the Stewardship Account for charitable giving.

There has never been a better time to give so find out more; Caf or Stewardship

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