Charities urged to take part in 2024’s Great Gift Aid Hunt
Melanie May | 5 February 2024 | News
After 2023’s Swiftaid Great Gift Aid Hunt found over £1.3 million in additional Gift Aid for good causes, charities are invited to register to take part in this year’s hunt.
Every year, an estimated £564 million worth of Gift Aid goes unclaimed. Now in its second year, the Great Gift Aid Hunt aims to help charities access the Gift Aid they’re entitled and charities have until 19 April to take part.
Beth Michael, Co-Founder of Swiftaid said:
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“Swiftaid acts on behalf of over eight million UK taxpayers. By simply uploading their donation data, charities can check against these individuals for Gift Aid that was previously missed. Think of what an additional 25% income could do for your charity right now, with minimal effort and resource.”
To take part charities need to register, and those eligible will then be asked to upload their donation information so that Swiftaid can match donors. It will then notify them that Gift Aid will be added to their donation. The charity receives the final report to update their internal systems and Swiftaid submits a claim to HMRC on their behalf.
Comic Relief found thousands of pounds in unclaimed Gift Aid by taking part in the Great Gift Aid Hunt in 2023. Samir Patel, its CEO, commented:
“With so many people facing impossible choices to get by and the impact of poverty, conflict and climate change being felt further and wider, it’s more important than ever that we make sure we’re maximising the potential of the generous donations given to Comic Relief. We are looking forward to taking part in Swiftaid’s Great Gift Aid Hunt again – it’s a fantastic campaign that will help us unlock vital extra funds to support more life changing work here in the UK and around the world.”
The Great Gift Aid Hunt is supported by JustGiving and the Chartered Institute of Fundraising. Charlotte Sherman, Growing Giving Policy and Partnerships Manager at CIOF said:
“At a time when every penny counts, charities can’t afford to be missing out on £564mn of unclaimed Gift Aid. It’s great to see The Great Gift Aid Hunt use technology and innovation to fill this gap so donors can make full use of the tax relief available to them – and charities can maximise the value of their donations. We look forward to continue to work with Swiftaid on how to enhance this essential source of charitable income through our growing giving work”.
Oliver Shaw-Latimer, Senior Director of Payments at JustGiving said:
“We are proud to partner with Swiftaid. Through our partnership, we have added more than eight million eligible taxpayers to their database to ensure that charities are getting the most out of every single donation. We would encourage charities across the sector to sign up for the Great Gift Aid Hunt to see how much Gift Aid they could claim.”
More on last year’s Great Gift Aid Hunt here.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.