Gift Aid

How Gift Aid works

Gift Aid is a government scheme which lets us claim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate. Or if you’re donating items, we can claim an extra 25% on top of the price it sells for in our shops.

Once you’ve signed up to Gift Aid, we claim the tax back on your donation.

It does not cost you anything to sign up to Gift Aid.

How Gift Aid helps us

The Gift Aid scheme helps raise even more money for our research.

In 2023 to 2024, we made £3.8m from Gift Aid on money donations and £15.8m on donated items. Imagine how much higher those numbers could be if everyone who is eligible signed up.

For example, if someone donated £400 to us, we could claim an extra £100 in Gift Aid.

That extra £100 would pay for one of the following:

• 16 sets of test tubes
• 6 hours of research by a scientist
• 1 DNA extraction kit.

Who is eligible for Gift Aid?

You can apply Gift Aid to your donations if:

• you’re a UK taxpayer
• the money or items you’re donating belong to you
• the tax you pay that year is at least equal to all your donations to any charity.

Gift Aid your donated money

There are 3 ways to sign up to Gift Aid if you are donating money:

Online

Complete our online Gift Aid form and tick the box that says ‘Yes’ to Gift Aid.

Post

Download and fill in the My Gift Aid declaration form and post it to:

British Heart Foundation, Compton House, 2300 The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, B37 7YE.

Phone

Phone our customer service centre on 0300 330 3322. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm.

Gift Aid your donated items

If you’re booking a collection or house clearance

Our online forms will ask you if you would like to add Gift Aid to the items you’re donating. You will need to mark the box that says ‘Yes’ if you agree to the terms and conditions.

If you’re donating items by post

When requesting your freepost label you can also download a Gift Aid declaration form. Complete the form and include it in your donation parcel.

If you’re donating items in store

A member of the team will be able to sign you up in store or you can download our form in advance and bring it in with your items.

If you’re already a Gift Aid donor:

1. Download our Gift Aid labels and print them out, or note down your Gift Aid donor number on a piece of paper.
2. Attach your labels to each of the bags or boxes you’re dropping off or sending in the post. Ensure the labels are clearly visible.

Gift Aid if you’re retired

You can Gift Aid donations if you pay income tax or capital gains tax providing you have paid enough tax during the year to cover the amount we reclaim on your donations.

If you live on your pension alone and do not pay tax you will not be eligible for Gift Aid.

Gift Aid if you’re a higher rate taxpayer

If you pay a higher rate of tax (40% or above) you can claim the difference between the higher and basic rate on the total value of your donation.

Change your contact preferences

If you're currently receiving letters about Gift Aid from us and would rather be contacted by email, you can change your preferences at mygiftaid.com.

We’re required by HMRC to notify you of the value of your donation before we can claim the additional 25% Gift Aid.

We’ll only notify you when we have sold goods that you have donated. We do not use your email or postal address for any other purpose.

If you do not want to receive these notifications, we will need to cancel your Gift Aid agreement.

Update your details

It's important to let us know if you stop paying tax or if you change your name or address, so that we can update our records.

If you have any questions about Gift Aid, or if your circumstances change, please get in touch.

Who you need to contact will depend on how you have donated.

If you’ve donated money

Phone: To update your details by phone, call 0300 330 3322. Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm (except Bank Holidays).

Email: to update your details by email, email [email protected]

If you’ve donated items

Phone: To update your details by phone, call 0800 250 0200. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am - 4pm (except Bank Holidays).

Email: To update your details by email, email [email protected]