Because Gift Aid is linked with tax and HMRC, charities have concerns about fines if they claim incorrectly, and donors can be concerned Gift Aid will be used by HMRC as a way of looking into their tax affairs.

For peace of mind, Swiftaid checks to make sure all donations going through the system are eligible for Gift Aid and only shares information with HMRC that’s necessary to process Gift Aid.

Paper forms cause problems and slow down the Gift Aid claiming process. Common errors are; rather than leaving boxes that aren’t being filled in blank (as the guidance states), charities are putting lines or “N/A” in the boxes. This causes problems when forms are being processed by HMRC.

Swiftaid completely removes the need for paper forms and the likelihood of mistakes with its one-time digital sign up flow. Providing donors enter their name and address correctly – There should never be a reason for error!

Spreading awareness and educating donors about Gift Aid can be a hefty process. Awareness plays a huge part in the £564m that goes unclaimed each year. This UK tax relief has been around for over 30 years, and yet, when donors are asked why Gift Aid wasn’t added to their donations, 24% say they had not even heard of Gift Aid!

As well as processing Gift Aid, Swiftaid will help charities and donors spread awareness for Gift Aid. Charities registered with Swiftaid also benefit from a network of donors. For example, if a donor registers with Swiftaid to boost donations at one charity, they won’t need to register with Swiftaid again to boost donations at other charities registered with the service.

Some charities don’t apply for Gift Aid, as they feel it will be too much work to put a compliant systems in place that helps donors Gift Aid their donations.

Swiftaid helps by creating more opportunities for donors to Gift Aid their donations with ease, no matter how or where they choose to donate.