• What is Gift Aid?

    Gift Aid is a wonderful scheme set up by the Government to boost the income of charities like Rainbows. If you are eligible all you need to do is quickly complete our short gift aid form and we can get 25p from the taxman for every pound you donate! No strings, no cost to you, it really is as simple as that – but it means so much to us.

    Who better to explain it than our very own Sam and Alex!

     

  • Will it cost me anything?

    Absolutely not. You simply donate as normal and Rainbows will do the rest.

  • Do I need to give you lots of personal information?

    No, we only need your name and address and a signature. An email address is also helpful to keep our costs down by saving on postage. Nothing more is needed. We promise we will never pass your details on to anyone else.

  • How does the Retail Gift Aid scheme work?
    • Step 1 – By signing the Retail Gift Aid form you agree that Rainbows can act as an agent and sell your items on your behalf.
    • Step 2 – Once these items are sold, we will write to you to make sure you want the charity to treat the proceeds as a donation.
    • Step 3 – Anything you donate in this way is therefore worth 25% more thanks to Gift Aid.
  • Anything else I need to know?

    You must be a UK taxpayer in order for us to claim Gift Aid on your donation. This means you must pay enough income tax or capital gains tax to cover what we will claim from HMRC. If you are not a UK taxpayer, we would still love you to bring your items and donations to our shops, but unfortunately you won’t be able to sign up to the scheme and we will not be able to claim the additional 25% gift aid.

    If you become a gift aid donor and later stop paying tax (for example if you stop working) it is important that you let us know. It is also important that you let us know if you move house or change your email address as we have to be able to get in touch with you each year.

  • This sounds great, what do I do now?

    Ask us for a Retail Gift Aid form when you bring in your first donation. We will give you a card with your donor ID which you bring with you next time you bring items to the shop. Then, each time you bring items, show us your card and we will print special labels for your bags, there’s no need to fill in any more forms.

    We’ve tried to keep this as brief as possible – after all, tax isn’t the most exciting of topics! We like talking about it though, so if you have any more questions, we’re always really happy to speak to you. Please talk to the Shop Manager or email our Retail Team.