Preston-based KR Group has held a Gift Aid-a-thon for children’s hospice Brian House, contacting more than 1,000 supporters in just 90 minutes which has resulted in a cash boost worth more than £6,500.
During the event, a team of volunteers called existing charity donors to find out whether they were eligible for Gift Aid. Gift Aid allows charities to reclaim tax from the government on donations made by eligible UK tax payers, and the staff at Brian House and Trinity Hospice believed there could be thousands of pounds of unclaimed Gift Aid available to the charity.
The KR Group volunteers called more than 1,000 people who have supported the charity in the past four years on behalf of Trinity and Brian House to talk to them about Gift Aid, and how it can be used to make their donations go further at no cost to them.
Anyone who was spoken to as part of the initiative and gave verbal agreement for Gift Aid to be claimed will be sent a declaration form in the post by Trinity Hospice.
Following on from this the charity has seen an uplift in phone calls to the fundraising team with donors wanting to donate again or update their Gift Aid preferences.
Simon Thompson, CEO at KR Group, said: “We found out that Brain House had a database of people they would love to contact to see if they were eligible for Gift Aid but they simply didn’t have the resource to do it. With our highly trained team of customer service representatives and experienced colleagues from across the business we knew this was something we would be able to help with.
“It was a fantastic achievement to dial every single number on the list in just 90 minutes, although there were a few unanswered calls along the way, 375 donators said yes to Gift Aid which is worth more than £6,500. I would like to thank all of our volunteers for participating, giving up their free time and making the calls which they did so enthusiastically.”
Head of Fundraising at Brian House and Trinity Hospice, Linzi Warburton, said: “We are so grateful that KR Group allowed us access to their offices to make all of these calls. We knew that the existing donations which had been made to Trinity and Brian House could go further through Gift Aid – all we needed was the donator’s declaration which states they are a UK Tax Payer. Gift Aid is such a valuable source of income for all charities, and costs absolutely nothing to all those generous people who have supported us in the past.
“The staff at KR Group who gave up their time for free to help us contact our supporters were fantastic! This was a huge undertaking and has resulted in more money to help us provide our outstanding services to everyone on the Fylde coast who needs them.”
