Freedom Fighter

Addressing You and Me

freedomfighter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:04:48 +0000

I bang on quite a bit about the need for charities to make sure that their address lists are up to date. Some, patently, are at least seven or eight years out of date – simply because letters are sent to me at an address I left many years ago.

Is the electoral register the answer for checking addresses? In theory, the answer must be yes. After all, this is one of the methods used by credit rating agencies, and the financial world in general, to help check that we are who we say we are. But they (quite rightly) have access to the unexpurgated electoral register. Charities and others have to use an edited version. Anybody on the main register can choose not to be on the edited version which is available to any Tom, Dick or Harry. I, personally, have made such a choice.

I am told that the edited version has only about half the names which are on the main register. And yet charities are up in arms about the proposal to withdraw it. In practice, there are other databases, maintained by organisations in the direct mail business. And my guess would be that some of them are likely to be better, overall, than the edited electoral register.

Check the Technology

freedomfighter — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:14:03 +0000

I have a high regard 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 life saving volunteers on its bone marrow register. But it needs more, because, currently, it can find a matching donor for only around half of those desperately in need of help. And then the sentence: “By growing the register we can save more lives, and the Jonathan Parker Charitable Trust’s support helps make this possible.” The glitch is that I have never heard of that worthy trust. No doubt, the intention was to refer to my own organisation’s help. Better luck next time!

Get Up to Date

freedomfighter — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:40:58 +0000

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 eight years ago. Chance has meant I received it. Bearing in mind that many people do move every few years, using a list more than eight years old may mean the majority of addressees are no longer at their respective addresses – which seems quite a waste of money.

The simple answer: Don’t try to economise by using out-of-date lists. Get up to date!

No Smoke, or Mirrors

freedomfighter — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:10:55 +0000

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 write a cheque for £40,000 and sign a Gift Aid declaration form. The charity recovers from HMRC the appropriate basic rate tax of £10,000. And so it has £50,000. I cannot escape paying baic rate tax (of £10,000) on the £50,000 – but I have effectively recovered it by writing the cheque for £40,000, rather than £50,000.

Higher rate tax is easier. I simply do not pay it. In my tax assessment, my basic rate tax band (ie the amount of income on which I pay only basic rate tax) is increased by £50,000 – which means that the £50,000 is exempt from higher rate tax.

No-Cure Explanation

freedomfighter — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:16:43 +0000

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 as “The Rag Doll Illness”, because it blocks the muscular triggering system, and its ignition system no longer works properly, the pitfall would be to become too technical in fund-raising literature. This is avoided by the use of a simple little booklet – with pictures of puppets.

I think the Association has done a good job in describing the illness, and I get the impression that it does a good job in supporting sufferers and their families, and in supporting the medical neurological research carried out by the MG Research Group based at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Crying ‘Wolf’?

freedomfighter — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:47:45 +0000

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 comes from Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The charity says: “we risk losing many valuable scientists like Dr Hopkins if we can’t provide emergency funding grants for those whose funding has run out”.

The last published accounts of the charity showed spending during the year of just under £7 million, with a fund of more than £750,000 being carried into the following year.

I would have thought that a charity in that situation would know, from experience, that, from time to time, extra funding is needed, and that it would make sure it was in a position to respond. Of course, the charity needs funds – to meet all kinds of research costs. But I don’t believe it is playing fair with donors to suggest that certain research projects will have to be terminated if the funds do not come in by a certain date. It would be irresponsible for the charity to put itself on such a knife edge. Obviously, if there is a good response to the appeal, it will help the charity to fund further important projects in the future. What worries me is the pressure put on well-meaning donors to pay up straight away – or else.

Splitting the Cost

freedomfighter — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:53:09 +0000

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, it is made clear that £30 of that is for the entertainment, drinks and dinner. This means that participants can sign the Gift Aid declaration in respect of the remaining £70, to benefit the charity. And, of course, those guests paying higher rate tax can benefit from the tax recovery.

I hope that this idea of splitting the ticket cost (which must be accurate) will be taken up more widely. Sadly, the expenses for some events swallow up much of the ticket price, with the main benefit to the charity coming from a raffle and auction.

Blooming Gift Aid

freedomfighter — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:18:01 +0000

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 to change, to preserve the great advantage of Gift Aid on the cost of membership. Now, free entry is offered for a family member accompanying a ‘Friend’. This is rather like Life Membership of The National Trust – where a member can take a friend for free.

Keep Up-to-Date

freedomfighter — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:50:05 +0000

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 try harder and to put more effort into its fundraising if that example is anything to go by.

Encouraging Employees

freedomfighter — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:49:57 +0000

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 each charity for which they volunteer during the above period. There is no limit to the number of organisations which can be supported by an individual, nor on the total amount any charity can receive in this way. The value of each grant is based on the number of hours volunteered by the employee, but grants are not awarded for fundraising events, such as dinners or receptions, or for activities that require financial support or sponsorship, such as walk-a-thons.