Firstly, thank you so much for serving on our welcome team and being involved in counting the offerings we receive. This is a really important role in church life and we need to ensure that money received is counted accurately, sensitively and discreetly.
We also need to ensure that our records are maintained in such a way that they are within the framework which HMRC give us and that we are obeying the relevant laws, particularly in relation to Gift Aid and claiming money back from HMRC. We also have responsibilities to our insurances and the Charity Commission.
The video above is a quick walk through to show you how to complete our offering sheet, so that we can stay within that framework.
Initial Instructions
We must be careful about who is counting the offering, they should be trained in our responsibilities in terms of Gift Aid and how we should handle the cash which has been given. This video represents the training process we are required to fulfil and will help you understand these responsibilities.
Every offering should be counted by two people, the person counting and the person checking the count shouldn't be closely related. So they should not be married or a close family relative. This helps us keep things extra transparent and makes sure there is no room for anyone to make any allegations against those counting or our charity.
When you complete the form please ensure that your writing is neat and legible, so that when we come to bank the offering we can easily see what has been given, by whom and who took part in the count. This will also enable us to easily re-check the totals.
How To Count The Offering
Identifiable Giving
The first part of the count process is to deal with money which has come from an identifiable person. As you go through the offering you should look for any cheques or cash which is obviously named. In our example count below we've got P. Blogs who has placed a cash gift of £100 in an envelope with his name on it in the offering. In addition J. Smith has placed a cheque in the offering for £100. To record these two gifts place the figures into the top section and put the total in both boxes. Identified giving is easy as if the person identified has a current Gift Aid Form then we can automatically claim the full Gift Aid amount from HMRC.
Unidentified Cash
So we move on in this example offering to the area which deals with unidentified cash. This is from givers who put cash in the offering which isn't marked. This is the area where it is really important to understand the difference between cash that we can claim Gift Aid on and cash that we can't claim Gift Aid on. The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme allows us to claim Gift Aid for certain unidentified cash.
On the right hand side of the sheet you'll see there are some important notes to help remind you. There are two main columns in this section. There is one for cash which qualifies for the Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme (GASDS) and there is a column for cash which does not qualify.
GASDS Giving
Cash giving which qualifies for a GASDS claim, is any donations in cash where it is reasonable to believe that an individual donation is less than or equal to £30. This means cash that's in the offering that you think is clearly less than or equal to £30 from on individual.
Here are a few examples:
We have a number of £10 notes which are loose in the offering, let's say it's £30 of individual notes, we're not quite sure who they are from that can go in the first column.
We've also got some £20 notes which total to £40, these can also go in the first column.
We've also a number of £5 notes which total £30, these also go into the first column.
To be clear these are individual gifts and we can't tell if they were given by one person, then they can all go into the totals in the relevant box in the GASDS column because they qualify for GASDS.
Non-GASDS Giving
However if you find an envelope with cash in it, in the offering, it's unmarked but let's say there is £800 in £20 notes. It's clear that this is from an individual giver and as it says in the notes any unidentified donations that are greater than £30 should be recorded in the Non-GASDS column.
Let's say there is another envelope and it's got 3x £10 notes in it, it's clearly from one giver, but it's not identified, but because it's no more than £30 you can put it in the first column the, GASDS column and you can adjust to totals in that column.
However, if there is an envelope which has £40 in it, let's say £40 in £10 notes, that's more than £30 it's clearly from one individual giver, so you can't put it in the GASDS column. It must go in the Non-GASDS column.
Ok, here's another example, there are a bunch of £20 notes in the offering, let's say 6x £10 notes bunched together, they aren't in an envelope but they are folded together and it seems likely that they are from one person, you should put this in the Non-GASDS column.
Finally, let's say there are a bunch of £50 notes in the offering, say 6x £50 notes bunched together, not in an envelope but clearly from 1 giver, you've got to put this in the Non-GASDS column, on the right hand side.
Final Totals
Once you've completed the count, total up the columns and make sure you do the total identified cash and cheques that you worked out earlier. If you are the first person to count the offering, fill in your name clearly and sign the form. Then the second person should make sure that they re-check the whole sheet and then sign to say that they have checked and confirm the amounts are correct.
Attendance Count
As part of the regulations for claiming Gift Aid we need to record the number of Adults and Young People in our meetings. Please make sure that you get a headcount of who is in the meeting and record that in the relevant box, we've also included a separate box for children under 16 as well.
Submitting The Offering
Once you've completed the form, put the notes and cheques into one of the envelopes stored in the welcome box alongside the giving sheet. If there is loose change please use one of the cash bags and pop that in the envelope too. Once you are happy seal up the envelope and give the offering to one of the people listed on the offering form.
If the welcome box is running low on envelopes, cash bags or giving sheets please let the church office know by emailing: info@jubilee.org.uk
Thank you so much for the way that you diligently serve in this important area of church life. It's really important and we really do appreciate you being part of the team. Thank you!
Example Sheet: