Budget gifts
Howard Lake | 5 March 1998 | News
The only major concession to charities in this month’s Budget appears to be the reduction in qualifying level for Gift Aid donations to £100. Sadly, this is not the long-anticipated reduction charities had been hoping for. Instead it applies only to donations to international aid and development work carried out in a restricted number of countries. It is part of the Government’s efforts to give a meaning to the Millennium that extends beyond the shores of the UK. Although only a small number of charities and their projects will benefit, this introduction could still represent the thin end of the wedge and a move towards a universal reduction in the Gift Aid threshold to £100.
Museums and art galleries were the other major beneficiaries of the Budget. Nine million pounds is to be awarded to institutions in an effort to prevent them from introducing admission charges. Recipients will include the British Museum, the Tate Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.