Lack of online donation facilities for many perservation & new build societies.

Given the number of new-builds currently proposed or under way I've become recently more active in making donations to such projects where I can (as well as to preservation efforts) but one thing that strikes me about so many of these projects, which undoubtedly rely on significant levels of cash inflow is how difficult they are to find online and how hard it is to make donations.

Most of these projects are solely reliant on cheques, cash transfers or onsite cash donations. I personally haven't written a cheque in about 15 years and where I live (Norway, Oslo) cheques have all but phased out in the banking system. Equally cash transfers overseas are fairly complicated, time-consuming and expensive. These restriction act as significant deterrents and limit the potential pools of donation revenue.

The question is simple. Why do so few preservation and new-build societies offer credit card or paypal facilities for donations? Often the websites for these groups are rudimentary and difficult to find, further limiting their exposure but I gather looking at some of the websites there's little knowledge or understanding within these societies on the potential of the internet or on how to implement such features.

The internet provides an unprecedented opportunity in the histroy of preservation for global reach and I'm sure that there are many, myself included residing outside the UK who would more readily donate if it were as simple as entering their credit cards online and clicking 'donate'.

It concerns me that so many wonderful and worthwhile projects are being hamstrung by their relative online obscurity and by limited cash inflow options. What are people's thoughts on this?

 

The 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust www.82045.org.uk is now enrolled in `Just Text Giving`. This is a very easy way of donating to a charity.

To give £5 for example - Just text Tank45£5 to 70070. You will receive a message and instructions about Gift Aid.

Simples!

 

As a resident of Norway, I doubt that the OP pays UK income tax and therefore Gift Aid wouldn't be possible.

The GWSR landslip appeal has a Paypal donation facility and will be grateful for all contributions. Go to http://www.gwsr.com/appeal/make-a-donation.aspx

 

I hadn't considered 'text giving' but it's certainly a fantastic option which more societies should look to implement at least as a complement to credit card and other payment systems. However it more than likely wouldn't work for me given my Norwegian mobile phone. Nonetheless I'll look into it.

The lack of Gift Aid isn't something that wouldn't deter me me from making donations. I merely wanted to raise this issue here. The lack of credit card, paypal or indeed 'text giving' is akin to tying one hand behind your back while boxing. Societies are unnecessarily limiting their inflow of donation money through not implemented such a small feature to their websites. Additionally they should get some advice on how to raise their website's profile in google searches and such like.

 

@daveb

I'll put my money where my mouth is and make a donation to the GWSR appeal. Thanks for the heads up!

 

There are several options available if they were to be utilised, such as "Just Giving" at http://www.justgiving.com/ (though they take 5% commission).

 

@daveb.
I've just made that donation to the GWSR landslip appeal.

@Richard66
Shame about the 5 percent commision on donations but justgiving appears to make it fairly easy and bullet-proof to establish online, credit-card and phone donations. Perhaps a worthwhile fee for such a service.

 

On behalf of the GWSR (of which I am a member), thank you very much. All donations are very welcome and gratefully received.

The issue with Gift Aid is that it can be a significant amount. Currently it's an extra 25%, and most organisations would rather get that if they can (and those of us who pay UK income tax would rather our favourite railway got it than the government). I do wonder whether this is a driving reason why there are so few sites with online donations. Yes, it would be better to get 125% of something than 100% of the same something, but it is equally better to get 100% of something than 125% of nothing.

 

No problem at all. While there's a couple of expenses on the table (related to trying to establishing a small business) and a few other donations I'd like to make I'll be sure to make another donation in the near future.

If I understand correctly, online donations make by UK residents aren't precluded from receiving gift aid so to be honest I don't see how it would prevent societies from establishing online donation systems. For UK residents, presumably the bulk of potential donors would still effectively be making a 125% contribution. Non-UK residents would make a 100% contribution. Certainly not-shabby and better than receiving nothing as you say (I've wanted to donate to a certain new-build project but the methods of donating are as old as the engine they're attempting to replicate!)

The ease of making an online donation and given it greatly expands the potential pool of donors is surely an argument for more societies should looking to implement it. Given the quality of the websites for many societies I do suspect few have sufficient knowledge to establish a proper web presence with online donation facilities (perhaps a member has rudimentary knowledge of how to establish a basic website but little else and perhaps too there's a suspicion of such systems generally.).

Given the many recent developments in electronic payment options for the internet and mobile services and applications, I do feel that many societies would at least benefit from implementing something like the 'Just Giving' service to their sites which does most of the hard work for them and would at least provide a few additional avenues to revenue. Having an online donation service makes the difference in donating or nor donating for me.

 

It's always been the case that, to be able to claim Gift Aid, you needed a signed declaration from the donor that they had paid at least that amount in income tax in the current tax year. So you needed them to send a form with their signature on it. It is possible for that form to say "all donations from now on", but perhaps it then gets difficult to marry up an existing declaration with a subsequent additional donation through, say, Paypal. I don't know if this is the case. I can see that there could be issues, but surely nothing which can't be addressed?

 

If you wish to donate to the lms patriot project we have paypal. I can't put a link as Im on my mobile. But its on our website

 

Beat you to it! Made a donation today. The Patriot is looking increasingly like a serious new build contender indeed.

@Daveb.
Thanks for the explanation of how Gift Aid works. Perhaps it is as you say, an explanation for why so few societies offer online payments. Still I would think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. A friend of mine recently attempted (and didn't quite make it) to circumnavigate the British mainland on foot to raise money for charity which aims to plant trees in the highlands of Scotland (the old Caledonian forest). Donations were made through Virgin Money Giving. For UK residents I recall it was possible to make credit card donation with gift aid. Surely then it can't be too difficult?

 

Done!

 

The Bluebell railway are urgently seeking donations for the Northern extension project. The railway needs to remove the contents of Imberhorne cutting (used as a rubbish dump) before 31st March 2012, when Landfill Tax comes into play, and costs will skyrocket. Various forms of donations are possible, but http://www.justgiving.com/Bluebell-Railway is one easy way to do it, as is https://www.paypal-donations.co.uk/pp-charity/charity.jsp?NP_ID=33495 . Please visit and donate, every pound will help, whether gift aided or not.
Thanks,
Daniel

 

Hello Daniel. I made a donation of £15 towards the Atlantic project when I was last at the Bluebell in late February. I've made a few donations this month and plan to make a few more after the next pay-day. I'll be sure to donate to the northern extension project, a worthwhile cause, then.

 

<Quote>It's always been the case that, to be able to claim Gift Aid, you needed a signed declaration from the donor that they had paid at least that amount in income tax in the current tax year. So you needed them to send a form with their signature on it. <End Quote>
HMRC permits online forms where the donor checks a box confirming they are allowing Gift Aid to be claimed for that relevant charity and includes their name and full address.

The Aln Valley Railway (www.alnvalleyrailway.co.uk) has recently setup an online facility where donors can pay via Paypal. The process includes asking if they want to allow Gift Aid to be claimed. The main downside using Paypal is the commission they charge. Advantage is that you don't have to have a Paypal account, you can use credit or debit cards too.
In addition, we have also enrolled up to shop2fundraise, which is an organisation that claims advertising revenue for purchases made through many online retailers (inlcuding Ebay, Amazon, Comet) and gives something like 70% to the railway. As long as you use their link (through our website) or the browser add-on, we get commission. It's not a rapid moneymaker and depends upon people remembering to go through the website when they purchase things but is still another form of revenue, especially for us as we're not quite operational yet.
MH.

 

I'll endorse knotty's comments about the lack on online payment facilities, which are a particular annoyance for anyone living abroad. Last year I wanted to make a donation to the A1SLT and all I could find was a pdf form to download. I've just checked their website and that's still the case. First, I've no printer at home, so I need to forward the form electronically to my wife to print out at work, then I need to walk to a post office and queue up to buy an envelop, fill in the address details, then queue up again somewhere else to buy a stamp for abroad, and then cross my fingers that the envelop and its contents reach their intended destination some time within the subsequent month. With all the palaver involved, it's much easier not to bother!

Eventually, during one of my UK visits I managed to print out the forms and send them off to become a covenantor, but it was frustrating not being able to do this online from Belgrade. As I normally get all my air tickets and UK rail tickets online now from here, it's about time some members of the railway heritage sector got their acts together to make online payments a 'piece of cake'. I went on the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway during a recent UK visit and, knowing that interest in the newly-opened line would be high, wanted to buy tickets online in advance, but that wasn't possible, so ended up buying tickets at Duffield and squeezing on like all the other punters. No doubt things will change in the fullness of time.

Steve

 

Don’t forget any merchandiser using a credit or debit card payment transaction will on average pay between 2% and 3% to the credit card company/bank on each transaction.