Money matters

Setting up a bank account

You should have a bank account to pay money into that is separate from any personal account of the people involved in fundraising. It should have two authorised signatories. If you call the account something like “Event/Activity X in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust”, it means that it will be easier to identify the money as being for Teenage Cancer Trust. You will then be able to tally the note of cash donations that the people counting it have signed with the statements for the account. Ideally, you should pay cash into the bank before paying any expenses – do at least ensure that you keep cash payments to a minimum. For more information see expenses. You obviously need to ensure that the cash is kept securely between being collected and being paid into the bank. As far as it is practicable, try to pay cash into the bank within a maximum of 48 hours after it was collected.

CAF vouchers

In addition should you receive any Charities Aid Foundation vouchers, other charity vouchers or any matched giving applications please send them to:

Dawn Gibson
Regional Finance Manager
Teenage Cancer Trust
3rd Floor
93 Newman Street
London W1T 3EZ

Again please always attach the completed Reply Slip.

Counting money

It is always best to make sure that there are two of you present when you count any cash donations. You should then keep a written record of how much you have raised, and both sign it, so that you have a note in case there are any queries later about it.

Public collections

Remember that if you are collecting money from people face to face (e.g. on the street, or door to door) you will need to apply to the local authority for a licence – it is illegal to carry out a collection in a public space otherwise. If you are carrying out a collection on private land (e.g. a supermarket forecourt), you will obviously need to get permission from the landowner, and to liaise with them regarding date, time and numbers of people. The licence will need to be in your own name, rather than Teenage Cancer Trust’s.

There are legal requirements about the types of containers you use when carrying out a public collection, and Teenage Cancer Trust would be happy to provide you with containers for a collection that comply with the requirements.

Gift aid

The amount of money that Teenage Cancer Trust can raise via gift aid makes a big difference to Teenage Cancer Trust’s overall funds. Please ask donors to sign gift aid declarations, if they are able. This enables us (and higher rate taxpayers) to claim tax back from the Government and increases the overall benefit to Teenage Cancer Trust.

We can provide you with gift aid forms. You will need to ensure that donations go direct to Teenage Cancer Trust if they are to be eligible for gift aid – please ensure that donors make any cheques payable to Teenage Cancer Trust, and that they send donations to the PO Box for a particular appeal or to the Teenage Cancer Trust head office.

Gift aid can only be recovered on donations – there are complex rules about recovering gift aid where someone has received a benefit (e.g. entry to an event) in exchange for their donation.

Collecting and managing money

Sending the money to us

When you raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust, you are under a legal obligation to ensure that the money gets to us – you should send it to us within 30 days of the event or activity you are engaged in. If your fundraising takes place over the longer term, you need to send the money to us at the end of every month, so that we can properly account for it.

If there are expenses associated with your event or activity, you need to be very clear to donors that it is only the profits or proceeds which will go to Teenage Cancer Trust. Please also ensure that you keep receipts of your expenditure for at least two years, so that we can account for them if necessary.

Please send money to:

Teenage Cancer Trust
3rd Floor
93 Newman Street
London
W1T 3EZ

Please always attach a copy of the Reply Slip.

Event expenses and payments

You will obviously need to make sure that the costs of your event or activity are covered. Remember that you may be able to obtain premises and equipment hire, and the supplies that you need, for free or at a reduced rate if you let suppliers know what the event is for and where the money is going.

If expenses are being deducted from the money you raise, ideally you should make sure that the money is paid into a bank account first (rather than being paid from cash collected from donors), and then expenses are paid by cheque or card from that account. At least try to keep cash payments to a minimum.

If you need to operate a petty cash float, ensure you can reconcile the amount with the total drawn from the bank, and that receipts are provided.

You also need to keep all expenses receipts for at least two years, so that you have a record of the money raised as compared with the cost of the activity/event.

Your budget for the event/activity should include the cost of any insurance you need.

• Do be careful about the language you use when you are raising funds. If the expenses are to be paid from the money you raise, then you need to let potential donors know – and say, for example, that it is the profits which will go to Teenage Cancer Trust. If you say “All money raised will go to Teenage Cancer Trust”, you need to make sure you can cover costs without using the money that people donate.
• Do keep a clear written record of all the money you receive, all the expenses you pay, and the money that you send to Teenage Cancer Trust. If you send that statement or record to us with the money, or email it to us when you have transferred the funds into Teenage Cancer Trust’s account, it will be much easier for us to keep track of what you have raised.

Fund restrictions

We understand that many of you will want to raise funds for a particular unit or ward that forms one of Teenage Cancer Trust’s projects.

Obviously it is incredibly helpful and a powerful fundraising message, to focus on the needs of a local area and the teenagers living within it. Nevertheless, charity law requirements mean that you need to be clear about what will happen to the money you raise if for some reason it cannot be used on that particular appeal.

You need to state clearly that, although you are fundraising for a particular project, appeal or area, any part of the money raised may be used for Teenage Cancer Trust’s work elsewhere. The Charity Commission recommends that you use one of the following two types of wording:

“We are raising funds for [describe the Teenage Cancer Trust project]. If for any reason that project does not go ahead, or there are surplus funds left over after it has been completed, we will use the money for similar projects elsewhere in the UK.”

In that way, if we receive more donations than are needed for a particular project (or if for some reason that project does not go ahead), we can use the money elsewhere – otherwise there is a risk that we will need to give it back to the donors.