Giving without spending

You could also try these creative ways to donate to charity without putting additional pressure on your own finances:

1 Donate using loyalty points

If you have a Tesco Clubcard, you can convert Clubcard vouchers into a donation to selected charities, including the British Heart Foundation, WWF and Cancer Research UK (secure.tesco.com/ clubcard/donate-to-charity). For every 50p of vouchers, the same amount will be donated. You’ll receive an email with confirmation of your donation.

2 Give as you shop

There are a number of ways you can help charities when you shop online. If you search for a store on Savoo (savoo.co.uk), and click through to the retailer’s website, or use a Savoo discount code when you shop, Savoo will donate up to 50% of its commission to the charity of your choice. Alternatively, try Give As You Live (giveasyoulive.com).

If you’re shopping on Amazon, switch to Amazon Smile (smile.amazon.co.uk). The site donates 0.5% of your purchase price to a charity of your choice.

3 Always add Gift Aid

Any time you donate to a charity, make sure you tick the box to add Gift Aid so the charity can claim an additional 25p from the tax office for every £1 you donate. ‘When UK taxpayers donate to a charity, the organisation can claim Gift Aid tax relief, which effectively increases the value of donations by an extra 25% – at no extra cost to the donor,’ CAF’S Taylor explains. ‘Every year, more than £500m of Gift Aid tax relief is left unclaimed, meaning it doesn’t end up with the charities delivering frontline services.’ If you make a Gift Aid declaration when you donate items to your local charity shop, it may be able to claim tax relief on the money made.

4 Bank charitably

Open a savings account with Charity Bank and you can help charities without having to part with any money. The bank uses its deposits to fund lending to charities and social enterprises. Plus you can earn up to 3.65% interest on your savings.

‘Charity Bank is not your average bank. When people save with us, the impact goes beyond the interest they earn,’ says Mark Howland, director of marketing and communications at Charity Bank. ‘The money you deposit could be lent to Refuge and help a woman escape an abusive relationship, or to Transforming Lives For Good (TLG), which supports children struggling with school exclusion, poverty and holiday hunger to give them a better future.’

‘TRY WAYS TO DONATE WITHOUT PUTTING PRESSURE ON YOUR OWN FINANCES ’

5

Sell pre-loved items for charity

The next time you have a clear-out at home, turn unwanted items into cash for good causes by selling them via ebay’s ‘ebay for Charity’ scheme (ebayforcharity.org). When you list an item, use the ‘charity search tool’ to find a charity, then select ‘Donate a portion to charity’ and choose how much of the money you make from your sale to donate (from 10%). After you’ve sent the item, you’ll get a receipt from the Paypal Giving Fund.

You can also donate the money you make selling your old tech, DVDS and books through Music Magpie (musicmagpie.co.uk) to one of its charity partners.

6

Give secondhand goods a second life

We all know we can donate things such as clothes, homewares and furniture to local charity shops to sell and raise money. However, some charities collect specific items to pass on to others to reuse. For example, Smalls for All (smallsforall.org) accepts pre-loved bras and gives them to women in need in Africa. The charity Computer Aid International (computeraid.org) refurbishes old tech such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones and distributes it to students, teachers and young adults throughout Africa and South America.

Finally, Community Repaint collects leftover paint to be reused or remanufactured in the UK. ‘There’s plenty of demand for reused paint from individuals and families looking to redecorate on a tight budget,’ notes Martin Pearse, who manages the Community Repaint Network. ‘There’s also demand from community groups and organisations such as primary schools and sports clubs for larger volumes of affordable paint.’ For more, visit communityrepaint.org. uk/i-have-leftover-paint.