15 June 2018
As funding continues to be tight in the academy sector there are lots of good ways to raise additional funds. One of these is utilising the rules around gift aid for donations to the academy.
Academies are exempt charities and are therefore able to claim gift aid on certain donations. They must be registered with HMRC as an exempt charity – you should complete form CHA1 to do this, which can be found on HMRC’s website here.
To claim gift aid you must keep accurate records showing:
- Amount of declaration;
- Name and address of each donor;
- Date of donation; and
- A gift aid declaration by the donor.
It must be a donation and not a payment for services or goods, with typical gift aid scenarios for an academy school being as follows:
- Non uniform days;
- Appeals for contributions towards school running costs;
- Appeals for general reserve funds;
- Educational trips (in certain circumstances - read our blog for further details);
- Appeals to buy school equipment; and
- Other fundraising events.
Remember that every little helps. Making sure that you know when you can claim gift aid, and keeping detailed records of donations, can make a big difference to your academy’s fundraising efforts.
If you would like to know more on how to claim gift aid then speak to your local UHY academy expert. Alternatively, to read more academy schools blogs click here.
