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Gift Aid Renewal

Information from TAT on Gift Aid

The requirement to renew renew Gift Aid (GA) every 4 years no longer seems to apply so the following procedure is for members who have recently joined and did not tick the Gift Aid box on the membership form.

Note that not everyone can agree to GA - they have to be a UK taxpayer.

Spreadsheet

  • Create a new folder on your PC/Laptop etc. called for example GA2024 for storing positive replies
  • Request a spreadsheet report from the Beacon Team of ALL members in Beacon whether they have Gift Aid or not.
  • Save this in your folder as All Members

File - All members

  • Delete all fields apart from:
    • Membership Number, Status, Forename, Surname, Gift Aid, Class
  • Sort by Status.
    • Delete all but Current members.
  • Sort by Gift Aid.
    • Those with GA should be at the top, those without should be at the bottom. (Maybe the other way round)
  • Delete members with GA
  • Save File As: Members without Gift Aid

File ‘Members without Gift Aid.’

  • Sort by joined date: create a new column with =year(joined date) and sort on this column
  • Note the date that you last contacted these members (Jan2024?) and delete all those who joined before this date.
  • This leaves you with members who have joined since the last ‘mass’ contact.
  • You can now use this list to contact recently joined members without GA to ask if they want to sign up for GA. 

In Beacon

  • Login as Gift Aid
  • The Group ‘Members not Gift Aid’ should already exist but it may be Inactive.
  • Make it Active and make sure that the Group Leader(s) and Gift Aid are the only members,
    • If it does not exist then ask Groups Support to create it with the Group Leader(s) and Gift Aid as members. 
  • Add members by Membership Number listed on Spreadsheet as follows:
    • Go into ‘Add members by membership number’ at bottom of list and add members from the Spreadsheet a batch at a time. (it is easier this way)
    • Check names for each batch.

Sending out the Email from Beacon

  • Make sure that you are still logged in as Gift Aid
  • Check that the email at the bottom of this document is still correct.
  • Copy this into Beacon
  • Do a dummy run sending the email to yourself.
    • Amend anything as necessary.
    • Send it again until you are happy all is ok.
  • When you are happy with the email send it out to everyone in the Beacon list.
  • They must return the whole email with all their details
    • If two members have the same email address Beacon says it only sends to one of the partners. This means you may have to send an email to the other partner once the returns come in. However, I am not convinced that this actually happens.
  • Returned emails will go back to RoundCube WebMail Account - GiftAid@ChepstowU3A.org.uk.
  • Ignore members not on email as it is not really worth the extra effort?

In RoundCube WebMail Account – GiftAid@ChepstowU3A.org.uk

  • Login
  • Check returns are correct.
    • They must return the whole email.
    • If not, ask to resend with correct reply. Put email in Zquery folder.
  • For each declaration:
    1. In serrated wheel on top RHS select: ‘Print this Message’
      • Save as a pdf to GA2024 with the file name Surname Forename eg Smith James
    2. In their Beacon membership record update GA date - use the date on the email or today’s date.
    3. You have to enter a title (Mr. Mrs etc.)
    4. Don’t forget to save the record.
    5. Move email to ‘Printed for PDF’ Folder on WebMail. 

To Finish Off

  • When all members have been completed
    • Backup to Memory Stick
    • Backup to u3a Hard Drive – send to whoever holds the backup memory sticks

Chepstow u3a Gift Aid Request

To: #FORENAME #SURNAME, Membership No. #MEMNO

#ADDRESSH

#TODAY

Chepstow u3a is a Registered Charity No. 702771 and can add 20% to your membership fee by claiming Gift Aid. Currently you are not signed up to allow us to do this. If you are a UK taxpayer we would be so grateful if you would read the Gift Aid Declaration below and then just send the email back to us. If you are not a UK taxpayer please ignore this email.

I AGREE TO GIFT AID

Gift Aid Declaration

I am a UK taxpayer and want to Gift Aid my current membership subscription and any subscriptions I pay in the future and any subscriptions I have paid in the previous four years to Chepstow u3a. I have read the ‘Gift Aid Notes’ below.

GIFT AID NOTES

You must understand that if you pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all your donations in that tax year it is your responsibility to pay any difference.

You must notify the Chepstow u3a Membership Secretary if you:

  1. Want to cancel this declaration at any time.
  2. Change your name or home address.
  3. No longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains.

If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HMRC to adjust your tax code.

January 2026

Click on Secretary to send a contact email