Border Collie Rescue - On Line - Funding our work
Where Border Collie Rescue gets its funding
Legacy
Border Collie Rescue gets over half its funding from legacies. In fact without legacies we would not be around today.This form of income is very important to us and helps us cover some of the larger liabilities of running a charity.
Legacies and bequests are gifts left in a will but we often receive funds from collections in lieu of flowers at funerals if someone requests this in their will or if the executor of a will decides to make this choice because they like our work.
Legacies to us as a registered charity are free of inheritance tax but we cannot claim gift aid on such donations.
We would like to channel some legacy donations into our centre appeal fund. This could be specified in a will.
Use the 'BCR Centre' button on the menu to the left to find out more.
We have a page on legacy giving. To view it please use the 'Donating by Legacy' button on the menu to the left.
Regular Standing Orders
From the point of view of running the day to day work of Border Collie Rescue, standing order donations form an important part. They offer the charity some security of income on a monthly basis.Other forms of income are unpredictable but a standing order is something that gives us more confidence to plan ahead.
We do not used direct debits. We prefer supporters to have control of what they give rather than us taking it from them.
Setting up a standing order places control in the hands of the donor. It can be stopped at any time without the need to tell us to stop it - although we would always prefer to be notified!
Standing orders can be as little or as much as the donor wants to give and can be set up for as long as the donor wants and are subject to gift aid so their value can be increased by 25% if the donor is a UK tax payer.
Standing order donations can be paid into our central fund or our welfare fund. Our central fund is used to pay any bills but our welfare fund is restricted to paying bills directly involved in the care of dogs we rescue.
The choice is down to the donor.
Use the 'Regular donations' button in the left menu for more information and for links to download standing order forms for both central and welfare funds and gift aid forms.
Single "One Off" donations
Single donations take many forms and we are using the word 'single' here to indicate that such donations are not set up as formal regular payments but occur as single gifts. We may get more than one a year from the same source.These can be paid into our welfare fund or central fund according to the donors wish and can also be specified to go to our work in Scotland, either for welfare or central use.
By default, unless specified, such donations are put into our central fund for use anywhere and for anything needed.
They can be given in cash, cheque, money order or paid into any of our accounts directly by bank transfer or even as a single payment using one of our standing order forms.
These donations are subject to gift aid if the donor is a UK tax payer and has filled out a gift aid declaration form.
We get single donations via CAF and Stewardship and many other sources through bank transfer and anyone can stipulate that a certain amount from their weekly wage comes to us if their employers operate a 'pay as you earn' scheme.
We also get single payments from companies like PetPlan if the person with the policy stipulates that a fixed percentage of their initial and subsequent premiums are paid to us by quoting our PetPlan code.
To find out more about making a single donation, click on the 'A 'one off' donation' button in the left menu.
Sponsorship donations
Sponsorship donations come from individuals or groups who choose to do something to raise funds for us by getting themselves sponsored. The use of the word 'something' is apt because if you have the will and the way you can get sponsored for just about anything. Just make sure it's fun and not an ordeal!The most common means of raising money through sponsorship is by taking part in a run or race or sporting event.
Marathons, half marathons, 10k runs and shorter runs are popular, followed by sponsored walks, with or without dogs!
Creating or participating in a sponsored is only limited by imagination. More or less anything (legal) goes!
We have a page outlining more about how to get sponsored or create and event and raise funds for us which can be accessed by clicking on the 'Sponsorship' button in the left hand menu.
As a rule, money raise by sponsorship does not qualify for Gift Aid unless a person sponsoring the individual taking part in the event also fills out a gift aid form.
Homing donations
Homing donations are those given by someone who adopts a dog from us.Although a donation is required at the end of the trial period, it is only if the client actually adopts the dog and we do not have a fixed amount.
The reason we have not stipulated a fixed donation is because we do not want to lose a good home because the person offering it does not have a lot of money. Over many years of re-homing we have found some very wealthy people spend as little as possible on their dogs whereas some people of lesser means would make sure their dog eats before they do.
We would rather accept a small sum and have them spend more on looking after the dog.
There is also a moral and ethical reason for not having a fixed donation - we are a charity.
Having charitable status means 'being for the benefit of the public'. Proof of public benefit is one of the factors considered by regulators when an organisation applies for charitable status.
Fixed financial donations when adopting a dog brings up the matter of exclusion.
We should not exclude anyone from benefiting from our services simply because they do not have a lot of money.
Dogs relate to people so before we offer anyone a dog we look at the people first and as long as they have the wherewithal and motivation to look after a dog properly we are happy.
Our job as a charity is to seek support to pay for our work and services, not ask our beneficiaries to do so.
Imagine asking beneficiaries of any other charitable service to cover the costs or even contribute to the costs of providing the service they need. It happens a lot in animal rescue and sometimes in other charity sectors but it's not exactly charitable.
Anyway, not having a fixed donation makes the matter of contribution extremely flexible as well.
We sometimes get donations well above the average given in our sector.
If we had a fixed amount, that's what people would give us.
Swings and roundabouts?
Release donations
A Release donation is one given by people who have to part with their dog.This is not something we demand in order to take on a dog but it is something people can volunteer to give us.
Often people are grateful that we are taking on responsibility for their loved companion or working colleague and they express their thanks with an accompanying financial contribution.
Again the word 'ethics' comes into play.
People passing their dog onto us are our clients and also our beneficiaries so we do not expect them to pay us to help them. As charity we are here to help them and their dogs and, again, the exclusion factor comes in.
We take in dogs without the need of a financial contribution.
Broadly speaking we have three sort of beneficiary's.
People passing dogs to us, the dogs themselves and people taking dogs from us. These are all clients.
We try to help all of them.
Raffle and Tombola
We raise funds at events by holding raffles or tombola's. These can be of great benefit because the prizes are donated so the cost is only the books of tickets.We hold tombola's with prizes suitable for anyone, tombola's specifically for children and tombola's with prizes for dogs.
We are always looking for prizes to use on our tombola's, items of reasonable value but not terribly expensive - but they do have to be new items, not second hand.
In view of the dog tombola's we do, small prizes of dog treats, tinned food, biscuits and accessories are welcome.
Raffles the same. We are always looking for raffle prizes but these need to be of greater value. The more valuable and desirable the main prize is the greater we can ask for tickets. Again these need to be new items.
If you have any unwanted presents or any items suitable for a tombola or raffle, have a look at the 'Working with us' section by using the link in the left menu. Then get in touch if you can help.
Donated Goods
We can and do sell donated good on our stalls. Bric-a-brac or useful items, second hand or new.The new items we offer for sale fall between tombola and raffle value but although donated goods do not have to be new they do have to be desirable, clean and intact or we just wont be able to sell them.
From the point of view of transporting them around to events and shows, being small helps a lot!
We are always looking for sensible items we can sell on a stall - not at car boots - stalls at events.
Have a look at the 'Working with us' section by using the link in the left menu. Then get in touch if you can help.
Trading
As a charity we are allowed to do a
certain amount of trading.
Trading being defined as selling goods at retail we have purchased at wholesale prices.
The limits of how much trading we can do is dependent on our overall income for the financial year and must not exceed 25% of the total income over that period.
This makes it difficult to predict because we do not know precisely what our income is likely to be over a year so keeping within the limit is not that simple.
If we go over the limit, technically HMRC could levy tax on the surplus but are only likely to if the surplus is large.
Other things that count towards trading are entry fees we may charge the public to come to events,seminars, talks or shows we run ourselves but that would only apply if we made a fixed charge.
If we asked for a donation it would not count as trading.
Sales of donated goods do not count towards trading income. Nor do tombola's or raffles or cash/cheque donations given at shows or put in our collection boxes.
If we wanted to trade on a larger scale we could set up a separate trading company or 'firm' (it does not have to be a limited company, it could be a subsidiary run by the charity through trustees and members).
Profit from this source would be liable to taxation unless all profits were clearly demonstrated to be dedicated to the charity but would involve us in keeping a separate set of accounts for the trading operation and quite a lot of extra work that would take away time the could be spent on the charity.
Trading through the charity within the limitations can go through our normal charity accounts which makes thing simple.
Income from trading is unpredictable so at the time of writing, we don't trade outside of the HMRC limitation.
Trading being defined as selling goods at retail we have purchased at wholesale prices.
The limits of how much trading we can do is dependent on our overall income for the financial year and must not exceed 25% of the total income over that period.
This makes it difficult to predict because we do not know precisely what our income is likely to be over a year so keeping within the limit is not that simple.
If we go over the limit, technically HMRC could levy tax on the surplus but are only likely to if the surplus is large.
Other things that count towards trading are entry fees we may charge the public to come to events,seminars, talks or shows we run ourselves but that would only apply if we made a fixed charge.
If we asked for a donation it would not count as trading.
Sales of donated goods do not count towards trading income. Nor do tombola's or raffles or cash/cheque donations given at shows or put in our collection boxes.
If we wanted to trade on a larger scale we could set up a separate trading company or 'firm' (it does not have to be a limited company, it could be a subsidiary run by the charity through trustees and members).
Profit from this source would be liable to taxation unless all profits were clearly demonstrated to be dedicated to the charity but would involve us in keeping a separate set of accounts for the trading operation and quite a lot of extra work that would take away time the could be spent on the charity.
Trading through the charity within the limitations can go through our normal charity accounts which makes thing simple.
Income from trading is unpredictable so at the time of writing, we don't trade outside of the HMRC limitation.
Things we do not do to raise funds
We do not employ professional fundraisers who charge a fee to raise funds for charities.We do not use online donation services that charge charities for using their platform and also charge those charities a percentage on funds raised through their platform. They are not there for charities, they are there for profit.
The one we do use does not charge us anything at all - no monthly fee, no commission, not even card processing fees.
We do not use online platforms that offer a small percentage of sales to a participating charity if their supporters shop through their platform. They are not there for charities, they are there for profit.
Our current view is that these platforms are taking advantage of the desire people have to support a cause. The service they provide is for their own benefit and in most instances the goods available from retailers on their platform can be purchased at a lower price elsewhere.
It may seem like they are doing everyone a favour by offering a commission to a charity on goods people would be buying anyway but this is a smokescreen. What they offer tends to be more expensive to cover commission and their own profits.
We will continue not to use these platforms until someone persuades us otherwise.
We do not collect and sell data or allow others to collect and buy data about people visiting our websites.
We do not allow 3rd party cookies (other than from Youtube if a visitors clicks a video to view it) and that includes analytical cookies, tracking cookies or behavioural cookies.
We always encourage people to clear their cookie cache every time they leave any website and you can visit our sites and use them with all cookies in your browser disabled.
Your data is yours and you should not be stalked around the internet by anyone wishing to make money from it.
If you are interested in adopting a Border Collie from us,
please do not write to us or email us - we want to speak to you before we start the process.
Please phone us during office hours. Details here.
Calls to our office and mobile will only be answered during our office hours