Large and small charities have gained from Gift Aid tax relief scheme

Many charities have benefitted from a significant increase in income from Gift Aid donations last year.

IT specialists BMcAzurri said its customers who used the scheme saw a 22% increase in income in 2014 compared to 2013.

Gift Aid is a system of tax relief where a charioty can claim 25p for every £1 donated and the company designs systems to help organisations maximise their donations.

The rise in Gift Aid income across BMcAzurri’s portfolio of large and small charities is being attributed to a combination of greater awareness of the Gift Aid process and having the right IT system in place to handle it.

Many charities have seen significant increases in their shop estates as a result of having a successful gift aid retail system - the Salvation Army, for example, has seen its estate grow by over 50%.

Alastair Petrie from BMcAzurri said: “Second generation systems are more focussed and easier to use than the early systems which proved to be more cumbersome and clunky thus influencing the impact on the business and the attitudes of staff towards Gift Aid.”