4.Processing donations
Clear policies and
4.1.Cash
You must not leave unsecured cash unattended.
You must count cash in a secure place.
You must make sure that all cash you have collected is counted and recorded by two unrelated people, wherever possible.
You must make sure that cash donations are placed in a sealed container or collecting box. If you are collecting in Scotland or Northern Ireland, or in a licensing authority which follows the model regulations in England and Wales for street collections, you must do this.
You must make sure the promoter of the collection (for example, a charity’s fundraising manager) and one other responsible person or an official of a bank are present when you examine and open collecting boxes for licensed
For collections on private land, if it is not practical for you to open and count collecting boxes, you must have effective procedures and instructions for the person who owns or manages the site to count, record and bank or deliver the money in the boxes.
If you do not bank cash immediately, you must put it in a safe or other secure place.
You must bank cash as soon as possible. To help with this, you must have a procedure for banking donations, including who does it and when.
You must check that the cash you have banked matches your income summaries, as soon as possible. If possible, someone who is not involved in counting or cashing up the money must do this.
You must send the charitable institution (or institutions) the full amount taken from all collecting boxes without taking any expenses or fees, unless these have been agreed beforehand.
If you are a professional fundraiser or commercial participator, you (and people fundraising for you) must not take any money from cash you (or they) receive.
You must meet any extra rules local authorities set about making deductions from collections.
Further standards for cash
In Scotland, for collections licensed by the local council which will be carried out using a collecting box, you must only accept donations by allowing the donor to put them in the
If you receive cash in
4.2.Tills
You must make sure that all money is put into the till immediately.
You must only give change from the till, never from your personal money.
4.3.Floats
A person you have nominated must sign for your floats.
You must keep floats and any money made from sales separate from the cash handler’s personal money.
If you use money from a float for petty-cash spending, you must record this separately and keep any receipts.
4.4.Receipts
If you do not use a sealed collecting box, the collector must issue and sign a receipt for the donated amount.
If you are collecting on a private site, you must give the person who owns or manages the site a receipt if they ask for one. The receipt should include the address of the site, the box number, the date and the amount collected.
4.5.Cheques
You must either bank cheques or send them to your fulfilment house (if you use one) as soon as possible.
If you are sending cheques to a fulfilment house or external organisation for
You must not give change in return for cheques.
You must not issue a refund for a cheque donation until the cheque has cleared and the money has appeared in your organisation’s account.
4.6.Charity cheques and vouchers
Charity cheque and voucher accounts allow donors to make donations as a lump sum or regular amounts into an account which can then be used for making
You must bank or cash in vouchers as soon as possible, ideally the next working day, unless the agency issuing the vouchers asks you to do otherwise.
4.7.Card transactions
This section applies to transactions both where the donor is present and when they are not. The steps you need to take to make sure payments are secure will vary depending on the number of transactions that are made.
You must meet the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS).
For more standards on
You must use extra security measures such as Verified by Visa and 3D Securecode for online transactions if you have the resources for this.
If you are charged for transferring payments, you must record the total donation amount as income, and record the charges in your accounts as ‘expenditure’.
4.8.Direct debits
The procedures and rules to do with direct debits will vary depending on the bank you use. The Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme provides consistent standards and protection to customers.
If you have signed up to the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme, you must meet its standards.
4.9.Gift Aid
If you want to make a tax relief claim under the