H.O.P.E. FUNDRAISING POLICY

H.O.P.E.’s  Registered Charity No: 20079840

Policy Statement

H.O.P.E. is committed to the highest standards of good practice regarding fundraising, ensuring that all fundraising activities are respectful, honest, open and legal.

Purpose and Scope

To clearly outline fundraising procedures and to detail practices adopted to ensure the organisation is exposed to minimum risk, is accountable to funders, and meets the expectations and needs of donors.  The Statement offers principles and guidelines to assist in all fundraising activities.  Such activities include: grant funding, corporate and private donations, and fund raising at special events.

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Principles

Any donations received will be used solely to further the organisation’s mission. All donations are solely for the use of HOPE, to run our service, our programmes and/or directly benefit our clients.

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H.O.P.E. will respect the rights, dignity and privacy of its supporters and service users and implement our principles of honesty, openness, and transparency. ​

• Not put pressure on anyone to make a gift.

• Not accept any personal gift or donation that is not directly for client benefit.

• The organisation will answer honestly all reasonable questions about its fundraising activities and fundraising costs and it will do so within a reasonable timeframe.  It will also ensure that all funds raised will be used for the purposes for which they were raised.

• The organisation will make information about its purposes and practices freely available. H.O.P.E. will abide by legal requirements.  This includes all accounting requirements, compliance with the Data Protections Acts 1988 and 2003, and compliance with the Charities Act 2009.

• H.O.P.E. Fundraising Policy and Audited accounts are available on our website.

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Roles and Responsibilities​

• The Manager of HOPE is responsible for the day to day activities of the organisation, and reports to a Board of Directors.  The Manager is responsible for ensuring that all fundraising efforts are respectful, honest, open and legal and that fundraisers are aware of and can communicate the purpose of the organisation and of the specific fundraising efforts they are involved in.

• Anyone fundraising in HOPE’s name must adhere to the standards outlined in this policy.

• Anyone dealing directly with HOPE funds must go through a vetting procedure. This will include Garda vetting and references checked.  No one outside of Manager, Administrator, and Management Committee can be signatories on the bank account or have access to H.O.P.E. bank accounts or credit card.

Procedures

H.O.P.E. will give the following commitment to all donors and funders:

They have the right to be assured that their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given, and that their names be deleted from mailing lists or databases if so requested.   In raising funds H.O.P.E. will accurately describe its activities and needs.

Grant Fundraising

In general (unless authorised by the Manager) applications for external funding will be completed by the Manager.  All conditions of the Grant will be upheld.

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Fundraising at events

At the event, cash should be held securely.  Monies should be counted in the presence of at least two people and a written record kept. 

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Donations

All monetary donations should be forwarded to the manager and financial administrator.  ​

• Cash received ought to be collected, counted and recorded by two individuals. 

• Wherever possible, cash ought to be banked immediately.  If cash cannot be banked immediately, handling procedures to be agreed in advance. Cash is never to be left unattended or in an unattended environment.

• For check donations they must be made payable to the charity, not to a named individual.

• Donations to be sent to the organisation’s offices and not the fundraiser’s home.

• The organisation will acknowledge this donation by sending a notice of appreciation.

• EFT, Paypal or any other electronic donations will be regularly checked and deposited in HOPEs bank account.

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Gifts In-kind

Gifts in-kind, non monetary such as supplies, professional services, food, may be accepted by the organisation.   Such gifts are reviewed by the manager to ensure that acceptance will not involve any commitments.

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Charity Tax Relief

H.O.P.E.’s  Registered Charity No: 20079840

Relief can be claimed. Here are some examples:   Example 1 PAYE Donor and self assessed:  Once the donation is over 250 euros, the Charity gets an additional benefit of 31% tax relief. Therefore if you donate 250 euros to H.O.P.E., we actually get the 250 plus 77.50.  Example 2 Corporate Donor: All donations over 250 euros can be claimed as business expenses, and are not eligible for tax.  The company gets the benefit of the tax relief in this case, usually at the rate of 12.5%.

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Reporting

The organisation will record and publish in the Statement of Annual Accounts details of individual gifts and donations.  These may be anonymous and will be reported as such.  Our Audited Accounts will be displayed on our website.   Donors will also be acknowledged on social media and in our Annual Report, unless requested otherwise.

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Complaints Procedure

A funder or donor has the right to complain using the  H.O.P.E. complaint policy.  The complaint policy is below.