Giving to charity Other ways of giving

Set up a regular payment

Charities love regular donations because it gives them an income they can count on. As a regular donor you also feel more involved as you'll usually receive updates on what the charity is doing and what your money is being spent on.

Give shares or other assets

You can give assets such as land, property and shares to charity tax efficiently.

Capital gains tax

These gifts won't attract capital gains tax when you donate them but if you have made a loss on the asset you won't be able to use that loss to offset any capital gains tax you might have to pay on other assets.

Income tax

You can usually claim income tax relief on any assets you donate. 

Essentially, the value of the asset you give will be deducted from the amount of income you'll have to pay tax on. So if your income is £40,000 and you donate assets worth £5,000, you'll pay tax on only £35,000 during the tax year that you donate.

Donating shares

You can donate shares to Share Gift, which will sell them on the stock market and distribute the proceeds to charities. This is a good way to donate shares if you have a small number of shares that would cost more to sell than they're worth.

Remember a charity in your will

Legacies give you the chance to make a real difference even after you're gone, and most gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax. You can either name a particular charity in your will or leave a sum of money to your executors with instructions as to how this should be distributed.

Your solicitor will be able to give you information on how charitable legacies can be including in your will.

If you change your mind you'll have to make an amendment to your will.

Most charities can offer you guidance and information about leaving a legacy, or you can contact Remember a Charity, an organisation that encourages people to leave legacy gift.

Charity savings accounts and Charity Bank

Several building societies offer accounts that pay up to 1% of your balance to charity each year. Interest rates on these instant access accounts tend to be low though.

Charity Bank is an alternative for altruistic investors. Both a charity and a bank, it pays a good interest rate – 4.5% on its Isa, for example – and puts your money to work by lending to
charities and community projects.

The CAF Legacy Service

As an alternative to naming a specific charity in your will you can make a gift through your will to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), and let them know which charities you wish your money to go to.

This service is more flexible because it allows you to change your list of charities at any time without needing to update your will. You can find out more about the Legacy Service at the Charities Aid Foundation.

Will Aid

If you haven't made a will yet, then this year is the perfect time because you can give to charity at the same time. Every other year, in November, Will Aid runs a campaign through thousands of solicitors in the UK.

The campaign will be running in November 2010 when thousands of solicitors throughout the UK will waive their fee to draw up a basic will. Instead you'll be asked if you would consider making a donation to the campaign.

All money raised by the solicitors are given to the Will Aid charities. You can find out more at Will Aid.

Give to charities in your local area

Many charities operate in local communities and, in some areas, community foundations have been set up to support local causes, especially to link local donors with local needs.

Cards and gifts

Many charities sell their own Christmas cards, and some of the larger ones produce gift catalogues, often throughout the year as well as at Christmas.

If possible, buy your cards and gifts direct from the charity because that way it receives a higher percentage of the profit. For more information see the .

Alternative gift schemes

If you're really stuck what to get someone who has everything for Christmas, give on their behalf to someone who doesn't have everything. The Charities Advisory Trust, Oxfam and Save the Children all run 'alternative gift' schemes where your money buys a specific item or service. 

Many 'gifts' help to tackle poverty in communities around the world, for example you can buy two dozen chickens for £12, tools for farming for £30 or 5 bags of seeds for £10.

The person you are buying the gift on behalf of will receive a card describing the item. Buying gifts this way can save someone's life.

Gifts in kind

There are thousands of charity shops in the UK which rely on donations of good quality, re-saleable items of clothes, books and bric-a-brac. This way of giving costs you nothing, but is a significant benefit to the charity. And you're helping the environment too by passing on re-useable items.

But please only donate things you'd be willing to buy yourself. Charity shops are spending £4.5 million a year on waste disposal for things they can't sell like single shoes, dirty underwear or even false teeth.

Give your time

You can find out more about volunteering through TimeBank, a charity set up by the founders of Comic Relief or at Do-It.

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For more advice on income tax, read the .