The London Buddhist Centre is now able to claim Gift Aid on all types of donation that it receives from UK taxpayers. As well as claiming Gift Aid on regular direct debit donations, we can now claim on donations of goods to Lama's Pyjamas and Jambala (the LBC's charity shops), and on cash donations ('dana') at LBC events. This means that we can raise an extra 25p for every £1 that you give to us.

This extra money will make a huge difference to the LBC. We already claim £5,000 of Gift Aid on regular standing orders and one-off donations, but we estimate that we could raise an extra £15,000 every year by claiming Gift Aid on cash dana and on goods sold at our charity shops.

But in order to claim Gift Aid on these donations, we are required by HM Customs and Revenue (HMRC) to document each donation and where it came from. So we've set up a new system that enables us to collect this information. This page explains how our new Gift Aid system works, and what you need to do so that we can claim the extra Gift Aid on your donations. 

The London Buddhist Centre is dependent on the generosity of hundreds of people - and this is as it should be. Generosity (or 'Dana' as it is called in Sanskrit) is fundamental to the practice of Buddhism. In acting generously we move beyond a narrow self-concern towards a broader and truer perspective on life. Each generous act, however small, is an acknowledgement that we don't exist as isolated entities. It's an acknowledgement that we affect each other and the world around us by all that we do. This connection is part of what makes us human, and a recognition of this truth is essential to our own happiness.

Thank you for your generosity in supporting the LBC, and we hope that you'll sign up and become an LBC Gift Aid Donor.

Jnanavaca

Chairman of the London Buddhist Centre

Click here to Donate now

Becoming an LBC Gift Aid Donor

If you are a UK taxpayer, then the LBC can reclaim the basic rate tax that has already been paid on all your donations, increasing their value by 25% at no extra cost to you. But before we can claim Gift Aid on your donations, we need your consent. So anyone who wishes us to claim Gift Aid on their donations has to become an LBC Gift Aid Donor, by filling out an LBC Gift Aid Donor Declaration Form.

The form asks for basic details (name, email, address), and you only have to fill the form out once. When you complete the form, which you can do at the LBC or at our charity shops, you'll be given your unique LBC Gift Aid Donor ID number on a specially printed business card. We'd like you to keep hold of this card, which will help you to remember your Donor ID number, because whenever you make a donation to the LBC we'll need to make a note of your number so that we can record that donation as having been made by you.

Gift Aid for Cash Dana

When you attend one of the LBC's cash dana events - such as festival days, and evening classes on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays - we invite you to make a donation on the door, by putting cash in the dana bowl. But if you're an LBC Gift Aid Donor we can now claim an extra 25% on top of your donation, as long as we record how much was donated and where each donation came from.

So from now on, when you put your cash donation into the bowl, you'll also be invited to fill in a very simple form, stating your LBC Gift Aid Donor ID number and how much you donated. At the end of the year, we will be then able to tell HMRC how much each LBC Gift Aid Donor gave us in cash dana, and they will give us an extra 25% on top of all those donations.

Gift Aid for Lama's Pyjamas and Jambala

Gift Aid can also be claimed on the sale of items donated to our charity shops, but the process is slightly more complicated.

When you donate items to Lama's Pyjamas and Jambala, you will be asked to provide us with your LBC Gift Aid Donor ID number. Your items will be tagged with your unique Donor ID number, and when we sell those items on your behalf, our system will document each sale so that we know how much we raised and who donated the item.

HMRC then requires us to get in contact with our Donors from time to time, to let them know about items that we have sold on their behalf. We are legally obliged to offer you the proceeds of sale from your donated goods, and if you wish to reclaim the proceeds from the sale you have 21 days to do so. If we do not hear from you we will assume you wish to donate the money to the LBC and be able to claim a further 25% of Gift Aid on them. At the end of the year, we will be able to tell HMRC how much each we sold at our charity shops on behalf of each LBC Gift Aid Donor, and they will give us an extra 25% on top of all those donations.