frequently
asked questions

Appealing to parents, the school community, and local businesses is a fantastic and increasingly popular way to raise the funds needed for those ongoing campaigns and “nice to haves” that make school such an enjoyable place to work and learn - especially when current budgets may only stretch just enough to cover the education provision. Unsurprisingly though, fundraising can quickly become a time-consuming and costly process.

DonateMySchool - as the UK’s first and only dedicated crowdfunding platform for all schools - is making it simple for schools like yours to fund one-off inspirational campaigns such as a stunning new IT suite or collect regular donations for things like school trips and classroom equipment.

We take out all the hard work for you, including:

• We provide a full suite of tools to help spread the word of your campaign
• A dedicated campaign webpage including photos and even a video
• Easy, one-click social media sharing including Facebook and Twitter
• A bespoke double sided campaign leaflet to print off and distribute
• Real-time tracking and reporting on your campaign’s progress
• We even collect Gift Aid on your behalf - which can boost qualifying donations by 25%.

Either. A typical crowdfunding campaign can be employed to collect one-off donations towards funding a specific project. However, a Regular Giving campaign provides a steady flow of funds that can be invested to fulfil a wishlist of campaigns. Of course, the wishlist can be added to from time to time, so that parents and the wider school community can clearly see how their contributions are making a difference to the school and their children.

CHOOSE YOUR CAMPAIGN TYPE

“CROWDFUND A PROJECT” OR “REGULAR GIVING”

CROWDFUND A PROJECT

• Projects can be as diverse as laptops, a minibus, music rooms, libraries, STEAM labs – almost anything!
• Gifts are sourced from the immediate school community;
• Easily extended to the wider local and business communities;
• Donations plus Gift Aid are passed to the school on completion of the campaign;
• Works in parallel with all fundraising initiatives;
• Engages the whole school community.

REGULAR GIVING

• Fund a wishlist of campaigns;
• Regular donations are (typically) made by the immediate school community;
• No Standing Orders or Direct Debits to set up;
• All monies received plus Gift Aid are passed to the school each month;
• Simple messaging e.g. £1 per day funds a new laptop;
• Maintains the fundraising momentum;
• Campaign can be topped up with a “Boost” to get a specific wishlist item over the line.

Most schools have a wishlist of campaigns to fund. If you are unsure of which campaign type to select then we would recommend collecting monthly donations through a Regular Giving campaign. Regular Giving with DonateMySchool offers significant advantages:

• The school (or PTA) receives a steady stream of regular donations and Gift Aid.
• There is no need to start from scratch for each new campaign that requires funding. The fundraising momentum is maintained.
• It is flexible. Anyone can still choose to make a one-off donation to your campaign for any amount, at any time so you don’t lose out on any contributions.
• DonateMySchool can run a “Boost” campaign from time to time top up regular donations, for example to get the next item on the wishlist over the line.
• Less work for you and the school! There is no need to breach Department for Education guidelines as there are no Standing Orders or Direct Debits to set up and manage. All donations are made through our secure online platform, and we collect the Gift Aid for you.

Our basic service provides you with all of the tools to run your own successful crowdfunding campaign, and to collect donations through our secure online portal, including:

• A full suite of tools to help spread the word of your campaign
• A dedicated campaign webpage including photos and even a video
• Easy, one-click social media sharing including Facebook and Twitter
• A bespoke double sided campaign leaflet to print off and distribute
• Real-time tracking and reporting on your campaign’s progress
• A suite of guides to help you to prepare, launch and run your campaign successfully
• We even collect Gift Aid on your behalf - which can boost qualifying donations by 25%.

If you choose to collect regular donations then there are no Standing Orders or Direct Debits to set up and administer. Simply direct your crowd to DonateMySchool to make a one off donation or set up a regular gift. Donations and Gift Aid are transferred directly to your bank account each month.

Our unique Premium Service is all of the Basic Service plus our professional team provide support from inception to success. Our Premium Service option recognises that it requires a major commitment in time to successfully raise funds. Our team of fundraising professionals will work with you to develop and refine the campaign content and message. We will help to deliver a structured comprehensive communication programme to the school and the wider community throughout the campaign, via digital, print, social media and press releases. Our team will actively monitor your campaign’s progress and pro-actively provide support. You also have access to our helpdesk at your convenience. Our Premium Service is unique – no other fundraising platform offers this!

CHOOSE YOUR SERVICE LEVEL

BASIC OR PREMIUM

BASIC SERVICE

DonateMySchool provides a comprehensive toolset to create and run a successful campaign:

• A dedicated campaign webpage with a unique URL
• Live campaign tracking
• Easy social media sharing
• Double sided colour leaflet to distribute
• Secure platform and Sagepay payment portal
• DonateMySchool collects Gift Aid on your behalf
• Our guides on how to create and run a successful campaign

PREMIUM SERVICE

Our Basic Service PLUS our dedicated team partners

with the school to deliver success. We will:

• Help create your campaign content
• Create a suite of communications including email, social media and even a press release
• Schedule and co-ordinate the delivery of a comprehensive communication strategy
• Actively monitor the campaign’s progress and provide professional advice in order to maximise success
• Access to our campaign helpdesk

WITH DONATEMYSCHOOL’S “PREMIUM SERVICE” OUR DEDICATED TEAM USES A PROVEN PROCESS TO ENGAGE THE SCHOOL’S COMMUNITY USING PROFESSIONALLY WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS DISTRIBUTED VIA A COMPREHENSIVE SUITE OF CHANNELS.

WE MAXIMISE PENETRATION AND ENGAGEMENT TO DELIVER SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES

Of course, designing a webpage to spread the word about a fundraising campaign is relatively straightforward. However, working with DonateMySchool offers many advantages, saving you and your colleagues significant time and money.

Using our highly automated platform, DonateMySchool provides a comprehensive end-to-end service for your fundraising campaign:

• You are provided with a suite of tools and media for your campaign. You can provide details of your school and its fundraising campaign; upload suitable images, and even a video so that you can tell your audience how funds will be used.

• We provide all the tools that you need to spread the word about your fundraising campaign:

  • We give you a bespoke campaign webpage with a unique URL so that your audience can find details of your fundraise easily.
  • Each campaign page includes a PDF leaflet that can easily be printed off and distributed with no additional work.
  • And we also give you a simple one click button to spread the news of your campaign on all the main social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.
• We provide a payment gateway from one of the UK’s leading providers, Sagepay, so that everyone can make donations safely, and securely.
• If you want to collect regular donations your community can simply tick a box and we do the rest - no need for to set up cumbersome Standing Orders or costly Direct Debits.
• For your assurance, all donations are held in our ring-fenced client bank account at Barclays, in accordance with FCA guidelines.
• DonateMySchool submits reports to the Inland Revenue and collects Gift Aid on your behalf - you don’t need to do anything.

Furthermore, our Premium Service option recognises that it requires a major commitment in time to successfully raise funds. Our team of fundraising professionals will work with you to develop and refine the campaign content and message. We will help to deliver a structured comprehensive communication programme to the school and the wider community throughout the campaign, via digital, print, social media and press releases. Our team will actively monitor your campaign’s progress and pro-actively provide support. You also have access to our helpdesk at your convenience.

Your campaign on DonateMySchool.com could be up and running in a matter of just a few minutes - leaving you free to deliver an outstanding learning experience.

No. Whilst your school or PTA does not have to be a registered charity, if it is we can collect Gift Aid on your behalf that could boost donations by 25%.

Yes. We make it simple for you to register on our secure website and your campaign could be live in a matter of minutes.

There are two parts to the registration process and we require information for each:

1. The individual who completes the registration on behalf of the school.

DonateMySchool will undertake a simple check to verify the ID of the person registering the campaign on behalf of the school in accordance with government and FCA requirements. We do NOT carry out a credit check, and no entry will be recorded on your credit file. We do not access any personal data or information – we simply check that you are who you say you are. In order to complete this simple check, we ask you to provide:

• Your full name
• Your home address
• Your date of birth
2. The school on behalf of which you are registering a campaign.

DonateMySchool requires some information in order to undertake requisite due diligence:

• The type of organisation that you are registering on behalf of e.g. a school or academy, a Multi-Academy Trust, or a PTA or Friends association
• The school name, address and website
• If a Multi-Academy Trust is selected then the details of that Trust, including name and address
• If a PTA or friends association is selected then the name of that association
• The Registered Charity number, if applicable
• The company number (for example, for an Academy) if registered at Companies House.

Our secure platform makes it easy for you to upload your school’s logo, photos and appeal text to create a great looking webpage for your fundraising campaign. You can even provide a video to tell your audience about your school’s campaign.

You will need to provide:

1. A campaign name
2. The fundraising goal

3. To populate your campaign detail, the more information you can provide to tell your story, the better. This should include:

   • A description of your campaign and how the money will be used – up to 2,500 characters
   • Images – a main image, school logo, and a gallery of (for example) project images
   • An optional link to a campaign video uploaded to Youtube. This is optional and if you choose not to provide a video you can still launch your campaign – or choose to add it later!

Anyone! The more people that you tell about your campaign, the more likely you are to reach your target, and faster. Tell them how much you are looking to raise, and how the funds will be used and how they can contribute.

This useful mindmap could help you to idenitfy the breadth and depth of the school community to reach out to:

DonateMySchool provides you with all the tools to reach out to your school’s community as you choose. Your school will have its own webpage with a unique URL. We also provide you with a two-sided A5 PDF leaflet that can be printed and distributed by hand or post. Each campaign page has social media buttons that make it easy for anyone to tell their own network about the fundraising campaign or their donation with just one click.

DonateMySchool provides your school with all the tools required to spread the message:

• A dedicated campaign webpage with a unique URL
• Instant one-click sharing across all the major social media platforms
• A bespoke double-sided A5 leaflet to print off and share

Each school will have its own methods of communicating with its community and it is important that every means available is used. For example:

• A weekly newsletter - whether that is a hard copy or email
• A dedicated email, either direct or via a popular communication service such as ParentPay or ParentMail
• Print the A5 leaflet and distribute via pupils, or post. There are plenty of online printing services. We have found www.Instantprint.co.uk to be competitive and fast.
• A PTA or Friends association can be a useful conduit to spread the word too.
• A telephone campaign to reach former pupils using a service provider such as www.teleraise.com.
• The local press – especially if you are seeking funds from the public, or local businesses
• Rotary Clubs and Round Table groups, and the local Chamber of Commerce
• Social media is especially useful – we provide the tools for your community to easily share the news of your campaign across all of the popular social media platforms - and even their donation should they choose to.

The more often the campaign is shared, the more likely the school will reach its target quicker.

DonateMySchool provides your school with all the tools required to spread the message:

• A dedicated campaign webpage with a unique URL
• Instant one-click social media sharing
• A bespoke double sided A5 leaflet to print off

Each school will have its own methods of communicating with its community and it is important that every means available is used. For example:

• A weekly newsletter - whether that is a hard copy or email
• A dedicated email, either direct or via a popular communication service such as ParentPay or ParentMail
• Print the A5 leaflet and distribute via pupils e.g. in their Book Bags. There are plenty of online printing services. We have found www.instantprint.co.uk to be competitive and fast.
• PTA or Friends associations can be a useful conduit to spread the word too.

Of course, you may wish to seek donations to your campaign from the wider community. The local press, and social media groups are useful, and it may even be worth reaching out to the local Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary or Round Table groups.

The more often the campaign is shared, then the more likely the school will reach its target quicker.

Yes, InvestMySchool provides a Q&A forum, where they can ask questions. All questions and answers are visible to all users of InvestMySchool.

A prompt response is both courteous and positive.

Your school can choose to run a campaign to accept regular donations from its community. Donators simply insert the amount that they would like to regularly donate and confirm that they would like to make a monthly donation. Their bankcard is then debited by that amount each month. If they want to change the amount that they donate, or stop donations, then they can make those changes online.

If you or your PTA are a registered charity and can supply your charity and HMRC reference number, then we can collect any Gift Aid on your behalf. This can then be paid, along with any donations, directly in to your nominated bank account.

Yes, HMRC allows agents, nominees and collection agents to make repayment claims on your behalf.

Agents, nominees and collection agents can only claim for your charity or CASC if you’ve informed HMRC that they’re authorised to represent you.

You’ll need to tell HMRC that an individual or organisation is authorised to make a claim on your behalf by completing form ChV1. Save the application form (ChV1) on your computer and complete it on screen. Include the agent’s details in the ‘Changes to the nominee and collection agency details’ section. Then print it, sign it and send it to the address on the form.

Click here for more info

Unlike other fundraising platforms there is no set-up fee to launch your campaign, nor a subscription to pay. That means there is no risk to launch your campaign.

Whether you choose to run a campaign to fund a project or to collect regular donations, there is a competitive marketing fee of just 3% of all donations including Gift Aid for our Basic Service.

If you prefer to take advantage of all the extras that our Premium Service offers,then a marketing fee of just 5% applies.

Whichever service level you choose, there is a 1.5% payment processing fee on the money donation only.

Simple, fair fees - no hidden charges!

We believe in keeping our charges simple and transparent. Unlike some other fundraising platforms, we do not charge to simply register a campaign. We do not ask your donators to make a "contribution to our operating costs" - we think that this deters people from donating to your campaign - or at least to think twice about how much they donate. Nor do we charge an additional payment processing fee.

Our Basic Service is comparable with the service provided by other fundraising platforms and our marketing fee for this is a competitive 3% of all funds raised, including Gift Aid. Simple and fair. And if you opt for our unique Premium Service, where we help to create and manage your campaign, our marketing fee is just 5% of funds raised.

Whichever service level you choose, there is a 1.5% payment processing fee on the money donation only.

See how our fees add up (or don’t!) for £10,000 campaign in the table below:

No, you’re not! We are aware of the frustration often experienced by the usersof some fundraising platforms at the complexity and lack of clarity of their fees – even the so-called “not for profit” platforms. It is often almost impossible to calculate the total cost of running a campaign!

Of course, we are a business – we have costs to cover, and shareholders to account to. So we do charge to provide our service. But we believe in clear, transparent and fair fees. Our marketing fee is all-inclusive. There are no subscription fees, payment processing fees or fees to donate. We have benchmarked our fees versus all the major fundraising and firmly believe runninga campaign on DonateMySchool offers fantastic value.

DonateMySchool will transfer relevant net funds to the client organisation on or around the 15th day of a calendar month as follows:

Regular Giving Campaigns - donations for a calendar month to a “Regular Giving” campaign are transferred directly to your nominated bank account on or around the 15th of the calendar month immediately following the calendar month in which the donations were made.

“Crowdfund a Project” campaign - donations are transferred on or around the 15th of the calendar month immediately following the calendar month in which the campaign was closed.

Note that Gift Aid is transferred to you directly from HMRC so is dependent on their processes and service levels.

Note that DonateMySchool reserves the right to retain funds if, in its exclusive opinion, it has been unable to satisfactorily verify that the recipient bank account belongs to the client organisation until such time as it has been able to do so.

Yes. We make it possible for you to keep track of all individual donations and how much is being raised. We are unable to provide individual donator names.

DonateMySchool can extend your campaign term – simply advise us of your extended deadline. Alternatively, you can choose to draw down any funds raised. Please note that by registering a crowdfunding campaign on DonateMySchool, the school has made a contractual commitment to ensure that all donations provided to the school’s crowdfunding campaign will be used for the purposes set out on the crowdfunding page and other campaign material.

Yes. For example, if your campaign is funded quicker than expected and that there may be an opportunity to raise donations beyond your original target, then just let us know and we can update your campaign page accordingly. Your campaign webpage and material must clearly explain how any funds raised in excess of your original target will be used.

By registering a crowdfunding campaign on DonateMySchool, the school has made a contractual commitment to ensure that all donations provided to the school’s crowdfunding campaign will be used for the purposes set out on the crowdfunding page and other campaign material. If you choose to accept donations beyond your original campaign target then your campaign webpage and material must clearly explain how any excess funds raised will be used.

Yes. We take our responsibility seriously and fully commit to the Fundraising Promise and the Codes of Fundraising Practice.

Karadoo Finance Limited, the owner and operator of DonateMySchool, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 777371).