It has been a busy couple of weeks in which I have been doing a lot of research reading as well as bouncing new ideas off of people which then leads to more reading. I have discovered that I am in a real “Chicken and Egg” stage of the project. While ideas abound and people are responding positively to the project – I am still lacking the basic infrastructure that would allow me to succeed. For example; electronic giving has increased hugely in the last few years but there is still a large amount of bureaucracy surrounding Charity in this country and it looks like I am going to have to take some pretty radical steps to ensure that I can get this all up and running.
“amillionbefore30” is looking to raise £1million for Children’s Hospices before 2012 – there are 45 hospices in the UK each independently registered and acknowledged by the Charity Commission and the HMRC. The easiest way for me to setup a method of collecting electronic donations is through the fantastic “Just Giving” site which has so far helped 7.5million people raise £430million!
However, it is not that simple. The pioneering idea of “Gift Aid” – where the tax is claimed back after your donation – does not allow for simple donations to multiple charities. I had a good conversation with Julian at “Just Giving” who explained that HMRC requires a separate form to be filled out for each charity donated to as funds will be dispersed to all Children’s Hospices this is an unfortunate turn of events. Julian mentioned that this is one of the most commonly asked questions that “Just Giving” users have, but as such they are yet to resolve this.
So “amillionbefore30” has essentially to become a registered charity in order to succeed in its goals. This is not a straight-forward step at all. I still plan to use “Just Giving” as I think that it is a fantastic model yet I need to be a registered charity to be able to do so efficiently. However, to be a registered charity (acknowledged by the HMRC and Charity Commission) I need to have over £5,000 in income. Talk about “Chicken and Egg”. I have been looking into seeing if I can have an exemption made as it will allow me to really start motoring on this – fingers crossed that I can.
As with so many things in life there are no short-cuts apart from putting in the hours – the research has been fascinating and I am learning so much from so many sources from different industries and sectors. My initial reaction to the amount of bureaucracy was frustration but this has been followed by the realisation that it is there to ensure that donations go to the stated recipients and are not stolen or diverted. “amillionbefore30” has to be above board and it will be. In the next week conversations need to be held with numerous people who I hope can it in the right direction.
This blog is the “soft launch” of the project. When the idea first popped into my head I had no idea how much work it would take. For those of you who are reading thank you it really means a lot that you have found this already. Please leave comments they are greatly appreciated and I will respond to all of them. If you’d rather e-mail me the address is at the top and likewise I will get back to you as quickly as possible.
Thanks for reading
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