Fundraising activities

Gifts in wills

Legacy Foresight research predicts income to charities from gifts in wills will rise to £4.2 billion per year between 2022-26 – a 26% increase from the preceding five years. More and more charities are moving into this market which is ripe for development in the heritage sector. To benefit, museums need to offer guidance to their supporters on why and how to make a gift in their will, and use all communications channels sensitively but consistently to reinforce the message that gifts in wills are essential to the future of the museum.

It helps to have a legacy policy, approved by trustees and describing how unrestricted legacies will be allocated. It can be off-putting if a potential donor thinks their money will be spent propping up the revenue budget – indicating that funds will be allocated to conservation, acquisitions, education or a long-term invested fund to create revenue will be much more appealing.

Online giving

Every museum should have a facility for online giving. You may have a ticketing platform that enables online giving, or you may need to use one of the many web-based platforms such as:

In deciding which platform to use, check the following:

Cost – for smaller museums having a large standing charge is usually a bad thing.
Flexibility to brand the giving pages – the more you can make the pages look like part of your own website the better
Capability to run different appeals at the same time and to offer one-off or regular/multiple gifts.

Only use your ticketing system if it is set up to manage Gift Aid.

Regular giving

Gifts that you receive on a monthly or annual basis, particularly if they are unrestricted, are hugely useful because the organisation can plan ahead. Even relatively small monthly amounts can create significant gifts. For example, £10 a month over 3 years (including Gift Aid) raises £450. Don’t forget to thank and steward these donors.

Crowdfunding

The loosest definition of crowdfunding just means raising funds from a large group of people, usually via the internet. This can take the form of a fairly traditional appeal to an existing database of friends and supporters via email, and social media, directing people to your online giving page to make a donation. At the other end of the spectrum it can involve setting up complex tiers of benefits and gifts which people select according to their level of support. This can be very transactional in nature. By using platforms such as the Art Fund’s Art Happens, organisations hope to extend their reach – this potential has to be weighed up against the resource required to set up the campaign.

The Big Give specialises in match funding appeals. The Christmas Challenge has established itself as an interesting focus to encourage major donors to provide the initial match fund pot.

Before deciding what sort of appeal you are going to run, think carefully about your demographic. Do they need to be offered gifts and benefits in return for their donation? Or will they approach your appeal philanthropically? Think also about return on investment – fully fledged crowdfunding campaigns take considerable time to prepare, require extensive social media support and the cost of delivering benefits can eat away at the value of donations.

These appeals should only be run if they form part of your fundraising strategy. You mustn’t ask your existing supporters for funding too often so don’t be lured into an extra activity unless it’s absolutely right for you. Sometimes it’s better to say no!

Other online schemes

Along with other charities, museums can sign up for schemes such as Amazon Smile and Easyfundraising whereby small sums of money are raised each time a supporter makes a purchase through the platform. Be aware that supporters can get confused and/or tired of being asked to help in different ways. Adding more options to your website or email can detract from your main fundraising activities so make sure this really is the right method for you.

Onsite and print

Donation boxes & cashless donation points

Donation boxes deliver two benefits:

Their presence, highlighted by clear charitable messaging, helps reinforce the message that the museum is a charity or other not-for-profit
They can attract useful unrestricted funds.

AIM has published a Quick Guide: Donation Boxes in Museums which gives detailed information on how to make your donation boxes work as well as possible. The Guide was updated in 2019 to include information on contactless giving boxes. At that time, the key operator in the contactless giving market was Good Box, and a number of museums have installed their devices. At the time of writing, the company is under administration.

Feedback from museums on contactless giving has been mixed with most saying they have been disappointed in results, particularly given the running costs of the device. It appears that in most venues cash boxes are still performing better.

Research has shown that the type and location of donation boxes makes a marked difference to the donations that are received. Despite the relatively high initial outlay, it is worth investing in a transparent box which shows the donations inside (with some notes visible at the start of every day). You can experiment with the best location, but it should be a prominent position, probably near the entrance and exit. The charitable message tells your supporters what their money will do and can motivate them to give. Training staff/volunteers to ask visitors for donations can have very positive results.

Text giving

Text giving could be considered when you are aiming to raise quite small but spontaneous donations, for example at an event. The maximum amount that can be given is usually capped because the donation is added to the donor’s mobile phone bill. The process for capturing Gift Aid is complicated and the donor can be irritated by further texts or phonecalls asking for the necessary information.

If you are interested in setting up text giving, potential operators include:

QR codes

QR codes have grown in popularity and can be used in numerous ways, including on print and display boards to direct people to fundraising pages. Some giving platforms, such as JustGiving and CAF, offer QR codes as part of their service. It is also possible to use one of the free QR code suppliers online.

Gift Aid

If you are a charity, you can apply to HMRC to register for Gift Aid. With registration, you will be able to increase the value of donations by 25%, subject to the permission of the donor and their tax status.

Original gift from donor	Gift Aid reclaimed from HMRC	Total value to the charity
£1	25p	£1.25
£25	£6.25	£31.25
£50	£12.50	£62.50
£100	£25	£125
£1,000	£250	£1,250

If you are not registered for Gift Aid, do it now! Not only will you raise more money, but you will communicate to your supporters that you are a charitable enterprise. Always include the Gift Aid logo (assuming you are registered) on donation boxes, fundraising pages on your website and any fundraising leaflets.

Gift Aid can be claimed on donations from individuals, but not from trusts or companies. You can reclaim tax on the ‘gross’ equivalent of all donations where your donor has provided a Gift Aid declaration. Payments made in return for goods or services (e.g. raffle tickets or event admission) do not qualify. Museums can offer the donor a modest token in appreciation of their gift, but there are limits on the value of this benefit.

If a donor is a higher or additional rate taxpayer, they can claim relief equal to the difference between the higher rate of tax and the basic rate of tax. They do this on their income tax return.

It’s important to set up good systems for collecting and storing Gift Aid declarations and making regular claims to HMRC for payment. Online giving platforms do this on your behalf, but Gift Aid on donations paid to you directly will need to be claimed manually.

Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)

This scheme allows charities to claim Gift Aid on cash and contactless donations of £30 each or less, up to a maximum total of £8,000 resulting in a reclaim of £2,000. Donor Gift Aid declarations are not required for this scheme, meaning money in your donation boxes still qualifies for the bonus.

For further information on Gift Aid visit the HMRC website.

Fundraising regulator

The independent regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has published a Code of Fundraising Practice. This sets out the responsibilities that apply to fundraising carried out by charities and third party fundraisers.

The code aims to:

Promote a consistent, high standard of fundraising
Make sure charitable institutions, their governing bodies and fundraisers know what is expected of them
Set out the standards the regulator uses when considering complaints
Provide a benchmark for organisations and fundraisers to assess their practices against so they can identify necessary training and monitor and set policy priorities for their fundraising
Develop a culture of honesty, openness and respect between fundraisers and the public.

The following four values support all standards in the code.

Legal: All fundraising must meet the requirements of the law.

Open: Fundraisers must be open with the public about their processes and must be willing to explain (where appropriate) if they are asked for more information.

Honest: Fundraisers must act with integrity and must not mislead the public about the cause they are fundraising for or the way a donation will be used.

Respectful: Fundraisers must demonstrate respect whenever they have contact with any member of the public.

More information can be found at Fundraising Regulator.

Charities can register with the Fundraising Regulator as a way of showing your supporters that you are committed to fundraising in a way that is legal, open, honest and respectful in line with the Code of Fundraising Practice. Once registered you can display the Fundraising Badge on your website and fundraising materials.

Click here to go back to the introduction and contents page>>