January 17, 2012 at 10:14 am
I have a high regrad for the work of The Anthony Nolan Trust. Having sent them a regular donation, it was encouraging to receive, very promptly, a full-page ‘thank-you’ letter. But, sadly, something had gone wrong with the technology (or was it human error?). In the middle of the letter was reference to the 437,000 [...]
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December 6, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Children with Cancer UK may be blaming a lot of recipients of a recent mailing for not responding – when the blame lies firmly at its own door.
So far as I can remember I had never received anything from them – until they sent me a fundraising letter to an address which I left nearly [...]
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November 28, 2011 at 6:10 pm
A distinguished contributor has written an important article for The Times, calling for full relief of tax to be allowed on charitable donations. It is a widespread misconception that, somehow, HMRC pockets part of the donor’s contributions.
Let’s suppose I am a top-rate tax payer and want a charity to receive £50,000 of my money. I [...]
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November 1, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Myasthenia Gravis Association is not exactly a snappy name for a charity seeking funds – although, of course, that describes it accurately. For a start, I would try to pick something easier for everyday use, while keeping the official title.
This, sadly, is one of the many diseases for which, still, there is no known cure. Known [...]
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October 15, 2011 at 3:47 pm
No doubt it can be shown that, the more urgent is the need for funds, the better is the response from donors. So, what am I to make of a request to meet emergency funding for scientists, including one request for £31,010 to provide emergency support grant funding to continue research into apoE4 – which [...]
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October 3, 2011 at 3:53 pm
A stiff white invitation card arrives. It is for a Black Tie evening of entertainment, drinks and dinner at a well-known privately owned stately home. Royalty will be there.
The evening will be in aid of The Rifles Regimental Trust, to provide care for casualties.
The response slip is well designed. With a ticket pdrice of £100, [...]
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September 13, 2011 at 3:18 pm
In these tough times, HMRC has to make sure that the public purse does not lose out. And so a few changes have had to be made at Kew Gardens. Previously, a category of ‘Friend’ of the Gardens was provided with complimentary Day Passes to give to others for entry into the Gardens.
That has had [...]
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September 3, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Not very bright of Camp Gan Israel to send a letter (asking for money) to me at an organisation to an address from which the organisation moved more than seven years ago. Reference books and plenty of entries on the internet have given the current address over all those years. Camp Gan Israel needs to [...]
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August 2, 2011 at 3:49 pm
Large companies want to be seen to be more charity-friendly – by helping in practical ways, with a drop-off in straight donations.
My son’s large Ciy-based employer is offering grants to charities where its employees have volunteered for 15 hours, or longer, within the most recent 12-month period. Any active employee can apply for grants for [...]
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July 6, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Let’s face it, payroll giving has not been the hoped-for success. And it does not deserve to be, when ’salary sacrifice’, if available, offers so much more to a donor, largely through the fact that less salary means less National Insurance for the employee to pay.
If one adds NI to the tax payable, [...]
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