Two years after the person who managed their Gift Aid stepped down, St Peter’s and St Paul’s, Bishop Hull realised it was time to catch up with their Gift Aid submissions. Their efforts to get back up to date paid off.
“We realised we were losing a lot of money by not claiming Gift Aid,” said Revd Phil Hughes. “We’d fallen behind by a couple of years, but once we gathered the necessary information and submitted the claim to HMRC, we received around £7,000 back.”
Despite initial concerns, the church found the process quite straightforward. “We added to the complexity because we chose to update people’s details, but it’s not as big a challenge as you may think.”
“Rather than simply submitting old paperwork, we took the opportunity to refresh our Gift Aid list and contacted everyone who had previously signed up and updated their details – which was a good move as some details were 20 years old. In doing so we even managed to get new people registered. It also resulted in a few more people giving via standing order, which means we have less cash to handle.”
St Peter’s and St Paul’s didn’t include giving donated via their contactless machines in their last submissions but that will change in the future. Phil says, “Our initial plan was to go for the easy 80% of our donations, but now we have done that we can look to include giving from our contactless devices.”
In answer to the question, “Is it worth the hassle?’ Phil says, "It absolutely is. And it’s not as complicated as it seems.”
Of course generosity takes many forms, and the church has also recently benefited from the gift of time and energy of many volunteers who took part in their Garden Tidy Up - and enjoyed a well-earned rest with sausage rolls afterwards. A big thanks to all who took part.