Gift Aid

Make your gift go further

Gift Aid is a way of increasing your donation without paying a penny more.

How Gift Aid works

Gift Aid is a government scheme that lets charities claim tax relief on the donations that you make to them. If you pay UK tax and sign up for Gift Aid, the government will give us 25 per cent on top of your donation at no extra cost to you.

So for every £1 you donate, we get £1.25 to help change the lives of children across the UK.

How to sign up

You can sign up for Gift Aid by:

  • ticking the Gift Aid box if you donate online
  • saying ‘yes' to the Gift Aid question if you donate on the phone
  • asking your sponsors to tick the Gift Aid box on your sponsorship form if you’re taking part in a fundraising event
  • downloading and filling in this form , sending it back to the address detailed on the form

You only need to sign up once. We will claim Gift Aid on all future donations until you tell us otherwise.

We will also claim Gift Aid on all donations you have made over the past four years.

Who can sign up

You can use Gift Aid if you pay tax in the UK for each tax year (6 April to 5 April) for which you have signed up for Gift Aid.

The tax can be income tax or capital gains tax (other taxes like VAT and council tax don't count).

Your donations will qualify as long as they’re less than four times what you pay in tax for that tax year. For example, if you sign up for Gift Aid on £400 of donations in a tax year, you must have paid at least £100 in tax for that year.

You must tell us if you stop paying enough tax, or if you didn't pay enough tax to qualify for Gift Aid in any of the last four years.

If you pay less income tax and/or capital gains tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all of your donations in a tax year, you are responsible for paying any difference.

Higher-rate taxpayers

We can only reclaim 25 per cent tax relief on your donation. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer, you can claim the difference between the higher tax rate and the current basic rate on your self assessment tax return.

More information

For further information about Gift Aid, see the HM Revenue & Customs website or the Institute of Fundraising website.

Remember to let us know of any changes to your tax status, including changes to your name and address, or if you wish to withdraw from Gift Aid. You can contact us at any time by emailing [email protected] or by calling 0800 008 7005.

Barnardo’s adheres to the Fundraising Promise and Fundraising Regulator Guidelines.