Challenge events fundraising pack

Challenge event participant Gift Aid guide

Find out all about participant Gift Aid and the importance of breaking sponsorship into the challenge cost and charity donation.

What is Gift Aid? 

Gift Aid is a UK tax relief that allows charities to claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer — at no extra cost to the donor. 

BUT … Gift Aid can only be claimed on voluntary donations, not on money that pays for a benefit — like travel or accommodation, which is why we have written this guide as it applies to your challenge.  

Why this matters for you - and us!

As part of your challenge, we want to make sure that your fundraising is compliant with Gift Aid and charity tax rules, especially if you’re using JustGiving.

First of all, just to say that ALL sponsorship payments are eligible for Gift Aid if you pay for the cost of the challenge yourself. This ensures that all the sponsorship money goes to the charity.  

For each of our challenges, the fundraising target includes your challenge costs (eg transport, accommodation, support, the event itself), which isn’t eligible for Gift Aid, as well as a donation to Katharine House Hospice, which is eligible for Gift Aid.  

If you subsequently claim Gift Aid on the sponsorship that covers your costs, HMRC could ask Katharine House to repay it — so we really need your help to make sure this is handled correctly. 

JustGiving: what to do 

Most participants use JustGiving to fundraise, which is great. But here’s how to do it safely.

You could personally cover the trip cost or raise the funds outside of JustGiving without claiming Gift Aid so that anyone who donates via JustGiving can tick the Gift Aid box if they are eligible.  
You could add a disclaimer to your JustGiving page by pasting in the following below.

Part of the sponsorship I’m raising will cover the cost of my participation in this challenge (eg the challenge costs, transport and accommodation). Therefore, if you are one of my early sponsors, Gift Aid may not apply as your donation may be covering the cost of the challenge. If you’re concerned, please check with me before donating. Thank you for your support! 