Gift Aid on subs

Claim Gift Aid on subs and raise more money for your guiding adventures

Did you know you can claim Gift Aid on your unit subs?

Gift Aid is a great way to bring in additional income to your unit - you can get an extra 25p for every £1 you receive in subs.

Before getting Gift Aid on your subs payments, you'll need to register. Follow our instructions on how to register for Gift Aid with HMRC. You only need to do this once.

Collect Gift Aid declarations from parents

Parents must fill out a Gift Aid declaration form so that their subs are eligible for Gift Aid.

The Starting... Rainbows/Brownies/Guides/Rangers leaflets contain a form with a Gift Aid declaration. By signing this form, new parents give permission for Gift Aid.

Parents of current unit members

Some parents may have already signed the Gift Aid declaration on the Starting.. forms when their daughter first joined. In this case, you just need to start claiming.

If a parent did not sign the Gift Aid part of the Starting … leaflets when their daughter joined, ask them to complete a Gift Aid declaration form.

Any claims can be backdated by four years - so you could raise quite a lot of donations by asking parents of existing members to backdate a declaration to their daughter’s start date, or by four years.

Once a Gift Aid declaration has been signed, it's valid until the donor tells you otherwise. You should keep the form for at least 7 years from the date it was first signed. You must also keep the form for six years after the last Gift Aid claim was made, which might be later than the date it was first signed. 

Gift Aid can only be claimed on subscription monies paid by an individual UK income taxpayer.

Tips for asking parents to sign the form

  • Give the form to parents when you ask them to pay subscriptions. Include an envelope to make it really easy for them to send back the form with their next payment. 
  • If subscriptions are paid weekly, give parents the form with an explanatory leaflet one week and ask them to bring the signed form back the next week.
  • If they lose their form, simply ask them to sign another one.

Keep track of Gift Aid documents

Make sure you set up a file to keep track of all forms and documents related to Gift Aid in your unit. In this file, you should have:

  • A spreadsheet that details which girls in your unit have Gift Aid declarations signed by their parents
  • Any correspondence with HMRC, including claims made
  • A record of subscriptions received to support the Gift Aid claims made - filed alphabetically by each girl's name.

If you already have a unit accounts spreadsheet, just add a column to record whether you have a Gift Aid declaration for each girl.

Although it may seem time-consuming, when this process is up-and-running the money coming into your local unit could rise by up to 25%.

Making a claim

Claims can be made online, on paper or via your own database. It's best practice to claim once a year, at a time that works with your accounting period. But claims can be submitted more than once a year and at any time that suits you.

If you decide to claim more than once a year, it needs to be for at least £100 Gift Aid each time.

Learn how to claim

For full details of how to claim, download our Gift Aid information pack.