How can you make your donation go further?
Gift Aid
Since it was first introduced Gift Aid has increased in size to be worth almost £1bn a year to UK charities and their donors.
When an individual, sole trader or partnership gives money to Butterfly Conservation through Gift Aid, their donation – which is money they’ve already paid tax on – can be used to reclaim basic rate tax from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on its ‘gross’ equivalent – in short the amount before basic rate tax was deducted.
If a donor is a higher rate taxpayer, they too can benefit from the tax relief as they can claim back the difference between the higher rates of tax at 40 or 50 per cent and the basic rate of tax at 20 per cent on the total value of their gross donation.
Share Giving
There are almost 12 million people in this country who hold shares many of them are often unwanted. These shares regardless of their value or their number can be used to support Butterfly Conservation and its work with butterfly, moths and protecting their environment.
Donating your shares to Butterfly Conservation is not only a great way to help butterflies and moths, it could also be a shrewd financial decision - it's one of the most tax-effective ways you can give, there will be no capital gains tax on the shares you donate and you can claim income tax relief on the value of the shares.
| Value of Shares | Income tax relief claim | Cost to share donor | Value to Butterfly Conservation | |
| Basic Rate Taxpayer | £1000 | £220 | £780 | £1000 |
| Higher Rate Taxpayer | £1000 | £400 | £600 | £1000 |
Butterfly Conservation is a small organisation that is unable to deal directly with share giving but there are two ways to donate:
Donate through CAF - The Charities Aid Foundation can sell your shares for you and pass the proceeds on to Butterfly Conservation. You can nominate the charity to receive the income directly or you ask for the proceeds to be put into a CAF account and sent to Butterfly Conservation as a donation. CAF do take a small commission to cover the cost of selling your shares but most of the share value will come directly to Butterfly Conservation. Please visit the CAF website for more information.
Sell the Shares - If you have the resources to sell the shares yourself Butterfly Conservation would be very pleased to receive a cash gift.