A leading Edinburgh firm of solicitors and asset managers, Turcan Connell, today launches an app which allows users to calculate how much Gift Aid could boost their donations to their favourite charity. Free to download from the Apple App Store and designed for both the iPhone and iPad, Turcan Connell hopes that its launch will bring the message of Gift Aid to the fore and remind the public just how valuable their donations can be to a charity.
Douglas Connell, Turcan Connell Joint Senior Partner, commented: “When you consider that £750m* of potential revenue is lost to charities each year through Gift Aid not being utilised, it becomes clear how important it is to encourage donors to make best use of it. Our app has been designed to allow users to see at the touch of their screens how valuable their donations could be with Gift Aid. We really want people to make this the year of giving with Gift Aid.”
Naomi Ball, Gift Aid Manager at Cancer Research UK, added: “It’s encouraging that all areas of society are looking to promote Gift Aid, which is such a valuable source of income to the charity sector.”
Those who download the app can use it in two ways – either to see how much a charity will receive if they donate a specific amount or to calculate how much they need to give in order for a charity to receive a particular total amount. The app was designed in conjunction with Glasgow-based digital agency Innovation Digital.
Louise Keane, Turcan Connell Communications Director, added: “A key consideration when we were designing the app was to make sure that the interface was as streamlined and easy to use as possible. The beauty of this app is its simplicity but the message is nonetheless a very strong one – £750m is a significant sum from which charities could benefit if donors simply used Gift Aid. If our app encourages even a small percentage of those who currently don’t take advantage of Gift Aid to do so, then it will make a difference.”
*The £750m figure was estimated by the Charities Aid Foundation in their UK Giving Report 2008-9 (originally estimated at £742m and subsequently updated).
