Advice for treasurers
Counting, banking and reporting the money raised is a vitally important part of your Christian Aid Week activities! Here's our advice on everything treasurers need to know which includes some coronavirus safety measures.
Before Christian Aid Week Group treasurers should:
- Contact representatives from each church in your Christian Aid group. Explain how to handle donations and deal with Gift Aid declarations and let them know they will need to count how many envelopes they collect, regardless of whether or not they are empty.
- Provide church reps with relevant paying-in stationery and a pre-paid return bag for Gift Aids if required. return envelopes. (We recommend writing your group or church name and reference number on stationery and envelopes before passing them on)
- If your group has a Christian Aid bank account, check that it has two up-to-date signatories and enter the account balance at 31 March each year on Form A.
If you are holding a house-to-house or delivery-only collections you should find someone willing to be an independent verifier to check collections, expense claims and payments to Christian Aid against Form A or Form A/B in Scotland. Details of who this can be are below.
After Christian Aid Week treasurers should:
- Remind everyone responsible for handling money to pay it in promptly and to report their fundraising total back to you.
- Where possible bank cheques and cash directly to Christian Aid using the Lloyds Giro. If this isn't possible, cheques can be returned to us in the pre-paid plastic bag alongside a completed Giro slip. You can request an acknowledgement for funds paid in at the bank by ticking the box on the reverse of the Giro.
- Ensure Gift Aid slips and sponsorship forms are stored securely (for example in a locked filing cabinet) and send them off as soon as you can.
- If you held a house-to-house or delivery-only collection, keep a record of the collectors’ names and addresses, with the streets they collected on and the amount raised, so that we can demonstrate that we have met our legal requirements. Please inform your collectors that you are doing this and store the list somewhere safe for seven years. Supporters in Scotland must return this information on Form B each year.
- By 20 July each year complete the Form A - return in hard copy or online. Currently for Scottish supporters the Form B must be completed and returned as a hard copy.
- Return all your Christian Aid Week paperwork to us in one bag. Place your Gift Aid Slips, charity vouchers, cheques, sponsorship forms, counterfoils and foreign currency along with your Form A (if you haven’t chosen to complete this online) in the pre-paid plastic bag provided in the treasurer pack no later than 18 July. Scottish supporters must submit the Form B in hard copy.
- Please write your group/church name and OR reference on the front of the bag
- Recycle leftover paying-in stationery.
- Please retain all other supporting documentation, including banking counterfoils, receipts and lists of collectors. Please store documentation securely for seven years, and in accordance with Data Protection guidelines
Hygienic cash handling safety measures
We have a number of ways supporters can give without handling cash:
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Setting up or donating to a digital envelope
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Through platforms like JustGiving.
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Via telephone on 020 7523 2269
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Using a contactless device available from caid.org.uk/contactless
After handling and counting cash donations, you need to ensure good hygiene practices are followed, such as washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds after handling cash donations or using an alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Sealed containers should be sanitised where possible or left for 72 hours before being emptied. Hand hygiene should be applied after handling cash.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands after handling cash.
Good practise – handling donations
- Envelopes and collecting tins must be opened in the presence of two or more unrelated people.
- The organiser or treasurer must be present when donations tins/envelopes or buckets are being opened. Donations must not be left unattended and tins and buckets must be sealed when in use.
- Keep clear records of your income and banking and always bank proceeds as soon as possible. This includes cheques which can be banked in the same way as cash. If your cheques are of a high value, we recommend banking locally or using an enhanced postal service.
- Please ensure the group or church name and OR reference number is present on all banking stationery, so that all donations can be accurately allocated.
- Gift Aid slips should be stored securely until they are transferred, for example in a locked filing cabinet, as they include donors’ personal details.
- When opening envelopes please make sure the gift aid declared is legitimate, that the correct amount is recorded on the gift aid slip and that gift aid is not inadvertently filed for CAFs and Charity vouchers
- Supporters in Scotland must follow the extra protocols as identified in the Public Charitable Collections (Scotland) Regulations 1984,information on this is included within the money return form (Form A) for Scotland including information about the issuing and opening of envelopes and cans and the recording of their contents
Completing your Form A or Form A/B in Scotland
Section 1 – completing your contact details
This should be the person acting as treasurer or completing the Christian Aid Week return. Please include your group or church name and OR reference.
Section 2- How do I classify our fundraising? Reporting on the money raised.
Please don’t include income raised online ie through Justgiving or the e-envelope on your Form A or Form A/B in Scotland.
- House-to-house – include the total amount collected door to door in Christian Aid Week envelopes
- Delivery only Collections – include all donations for envelopes delivered but not collected from individual homes
- Big Brekkie – include money raised through Christian Aid Week breakfasts (please show net amount. The net amount is the total after deductions).
- Public street collections – include money raised using buckets and tins in public areas such as supermarkets, shopping centres, railway stations and on the street (please deduct expenses relating to these collections and show the net amount).
- Church collections – include money collected in church services after any deductions (please show net amount).
- Youth fundraising – include money raised by youth and children’s groups (please show net amount).
- Other Christian Aid Week fundraising events – include money raised by events such as concerts, parties, dinners, fêtes or cake sales, and sponsored events such as bike rides, walks and swims, after any deductions (excluding the Kiltwalk and 300k Steps events which should follow the separate remittance advice sent to participants) (please show net amount).
Section 3 - Further information for House-to-house
Please record the total number of collectors involved and the number of envelopes that were collected through house-to-house activities. This should include the envelopes returned with nothing in them.
Section 4 – Listing church involvement
Where you can please share with us the names of churches involved in your fundraising and the amount they raised. We use this information to help provide the correct stewardship and support to our churches and groups.
Section 5 – Detailing payments and deposits
Please list the dates and amounts paid in and the payment method used
- CQ cheque posted to Christian Aid
- BP paid in at bank
- PO paid in at post office
Record any charity vouchers being careful to input the voucher details. Remember to tell us how the funds were raised for any CAF or charity vouchers received and include them in the total.
Section 6 - Christian Aid bank accounts
Some Christian Aid committees have bank accounts that are used to hold money raised for Christian Aid during the year (these should not be confused with church bank accounts). If you have a Christian Aid group bank account, please include a copy of a statement showing your balance on 31st March in your pre-paid plastic return bag.
Section 7 – Declaring expenses
Clearly mark any expenses for H2H and delivery only in the appropriate section of the money returns form (Form A)
Expenses relating to fundraising events or other activity (for example, hiring a hall or buying prizes) should be deducted from the money raised.
Important note: please ensure you deduct all expenses before paying Christian Aid Week funds to Christian Aid. Christian Aid cannot reimburse costs of fundraising at a later date.
Section 8 Verifying House-to-house and delivery-only collections
Where house to house or delivery only collections have taken place legislation set out by the office for civil society requires an independent person to verify the Form A/Form A/B in Scotland.
The duties of an independent verifier are:
- checking consistency of the amount raised through house-to-house collections with the money returns form (Form A)
- checking consistency of expense claims with the money returns form (Form A)
- confirming that all collections undertaken by your group have been accounted for
- checking that money has been paid to Christian Aid.
When all these duties have been carried out, the independent verifier should sign the money returns form (Form A) Once you have also signed it, you should return it to Christian Aid.
Who can be our independent verifier?
Your independent verifier should be someone who is not influenced, or perceived to be influenced, by either close personal relationships with you or by involvement in the financial administration of Christian Aid Week such as a spouse of a member. The Christian Aid Week organiser cannot be your independent verifier.
Your independent verifier should check the completed form alongside banking counterfoils and receipts, lists of collectors and any other relevant supporting documentation.
Section 9 - declaration
In the final section, the person filling in the form should sign to verify the Christian Aid week return.
Returning your form
To help make things easier you can now return all your Christian Aid Week paperwork to us in one bag! Please send us your Gift Aid Slips, charity vouchers, cheques, sponsorship forms, counterfoils and foreign currency along with your paying-in form in the pre-paid plastic bag provided in the treasurer pack. Please write your group/church name and OR reference on the front of the bag.
Please retain all other supporting documentation, including banking counterfoils, receipts and lists of collectors. Please store documentation securely for seven years, and in accordance with Data Protection guidelines.
Completing your form online
You can complete your money return form online, on our website.
By completing the online form, instead of using the paper version, you’re helping us keep our processing costs as low as possible.
When will I receive an acknowledgement of my payments?
Once we have received the Form A or Form A/B in Scotland or been informed that we have received all your payments for Christian Aid Week we will send your group or church a final acknowledgement. You can also request an acknowledgement through your bank giro slip for any payments you make into the bank.
How does Christian Aid reclaim tax paid by UK taxpayers?
For tax to be reclaimed by Christian Aid, the donor must fill in the Gift Aid declaration on their envelope with their full name and address, including postcode, and amount given. The people who open the envelopes should check the amount inside against the figure stated on the Gift Aid declaration. Where donors have completed their name and address but left the donation amount blank, enter the total donated on the form.
Please send all completed Gift Aid declarations each year using the Freepost plastic bag provided, being sure to write your group reference number on the bag or use one of your group stickers. We cannot claim Gift Aid unless we can match up the envelopes with the money paid in.
Please note that tax cannot be reclaimed on charity vouchers. If someone has filled in the Gift Aid declaration on an envelope containing Charities Aid Foundation vouchers or similar, please destroy and discard this declaration. For Christian Aid to claim Gift Aid on donations recorded on sponsorship forms, please follow the instructions on the forms, then return them along with your Gift Aid declarations using the Freepost plastic bag provided.
Can I pay in at the Post Office?
Please get in touch if you need a new Post Office paying-in card.
Please note that the Post Office has recently changed its policy and branches no longer have to accept loose coins from customers making cash deposits. For all denominations of coin below £1, only full bags will be accepted.
Payzone payments are no longer available – if you have Payzone card please destroy it.