Page 2 | To be really pissed off with justgiving

badger2005 · 2023-05-15T12:16:25+00:00

They took an extra £80 from my donation, as a kind of 'tip' to themselves! Now I know, I should have been more careful to check everything at every stage, but I did not expect this. I had put in my donation amount, and then I clicked on agreeing to giftaid it, and at this point they just added it on! I've emailed to ask for a refund, but the emails I get back don't fill me with hope. Lots of 'Hope things are now resolved. If not, please do this extra things' - I think they are waiting for me to give up. Looking on trustpilot I'm not the only one this has happened to! Please be v careful to double check at every stage if you make a donation via justgiving - and if you are setting up a donation page then please use some other platform!

Original poster

badger2005 · 15/05/2023 18:14

Yes Systemagic, but I'll believe it when I see it, as their email about the refund says: "Unfortunately our finance team are currently working through a backlog of refunds, so there may be a slight delay with the refund reaching your account."
I wonder why they have a backlog of refunds...?!

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JaneJeffer · 15/05/2023 18:17

Happened to me as well. Only a small amount but I was annoyed because I hadn't agreed to it.

KrisAkabusi · 15/05/2023 18:30

So this extra 15% gets rolled in with that and yet you do actually need to pay for this extra 15%.

No you don't. You can click the down arrow beside the 15% and set it to a different percentage or zero.

Eleganz · 15/05/2023 18:37

howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 15/05/2023 14:32

I noticed at a national trust property recently the entry fee was £13, but if you wanted to add gift aid entry was £15.

I thought gift aid was about the govt giving back the tax paid by the visitor to the charity, not lobbing a couple of extra quid on the entry.

This is very different to the justgiving tip.

The reason why they charge more for gift aid entry is because HMRC say they have to. You can't claim gift aid on a purchase (such as entry to an attraction or merchandise), so HMRC say that you can't gift aid the entry price if it is the same as everyone else as it is just a purchase. However, if you volunteer to pay extra because it is gift aid, then this shows to HMRC that this is a genuine donation so allows the NT to claim the whole cost of your donation and you get free entry as a perk.

It is stupid, but it is charity tax law I'm afraid.

Eleganz · 15/05/2023 18:38

I'm mixed about justgiving tips - they do provide a platform which clearly has huge benefits to charities but has a running cost. However charging relatively high percentages of each transaction is quite grabby and probably generates more revenue than they actually need.

RachelSq · 15/05/2023 18:43

howdoesyourgardengrowinmay · 15/05/2023 14:32

I noticed at a national trust property recently the entry fee was £13, but if you wanted to add gift aid entry was £15.

I thought gift aid was about the govt giving back the tax paid by the visitor to the charity, not lobbing a couple of extra quid on the entry.

This is different, this is related to the tax rule of “getting something” for your entry fee so you need to pay more for it to class as a donation (which enables the lot to be Gift Aided).

It’s the way it is due to the tax rules of Gift Aid, not the NT being greedy!

Elphame · 15/05/2023 18:51

Systemagic · 15/05/2023 17:01

This is because of HMRC rules about gift aid on entrance fees to charitable attractions.

If someone gives at least 10% as a donation on top of the entrance fee, then the charity can claim gift aid on the whole amount (ticket + donation).

If you just buy the ticket then they can't claim any gift aid at all.

So you can see why the attraction would want to offer it as an option, but it's not compulsory.

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The NT seems to assume that you will pay the higher amount and that's what they try and put through! I've had some really dirty looks when I want to just pay the entrance fee. Their prices are high enough already.

Bananah · 15/05/2023 19:08

Systemagic · 15/05/2023 17:01

This is because of HMRC rules about gift aid on entrance fees to charitable attractions.

If someone gives at least 10% as a donation on top of the entrance fee, then the charity can claim gift aid on the whole amount (ticket + donation).

If you just buy the ticket then they can't claim any gift aid at all.

So you can see why the attraction would want to offer it as an option, but it's not compulsory.

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This doesn’t seem accurate. According to the website you don’t need to pay any extra?

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

I’ve also been stung by this recently. I’ve done gift aid for years and it’s always been just tax claimed back on what I’m already paying. ie it doesn’t cost me any extra. But lately charities have been charging an extra couple of quid if you select gift aid. So now I don’t select it any more.

Tax relief when you donate to a charity

Tax relief on donations, Gift Aid, payroll giving, leaving a gift in your will, keeping tax records; find a charity; donating land, property or shares

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

NollyNilly · 15/05/2023 19:45

Bananah · 15/05/2023 19:08

This doesn’t seem accurate. According to the website you don’t need to pay any extra?

https://www.gov.uk/donating-to-charity/gift-aid

I’ve also been stung by this recently. I’ve done gift aid for years and it’s always been just tax claimed back on what I’m already paying. ie it doesn’t cost me any extra. But lately charities have been charging an extra couple of quid if you select gift aid. So now I don’t select it any more.

Show quote history

It's completely accurate https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gift-aid-what-donations-charities-and-cascs-can-claim-on

Gift Aid donation claims for charities and CASCs

Find out about the types of fundraising donations that charities and community amateur sports clubs (CASCs) can and cannot claim Gift Aid on.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gift-aid-what-donations-charities-and-cascs-can-claim-on

gogogoji · 15/05/2023 19:57

£80. EIGHTY??? How much was your actual donation?

ididntknowthat11 · 15/05/2023 22:43

Yes, it happened to me too, but for a much smaller amount.

When it then asked for feedback I just said I thought that was very sneaky, but I didn't have the energy to pursue it further.

I would for £80 though. They will be hoping you just give up, but don't.

AuntieJoyce · 15/05/2023 22:49

i used just giving for the first time in a long time yesterday and it was difficult to find a way to opt out of the 15% tip. And then further down the page, when I changed my payment method to PayPal it changed it back and added it on again! So I had to opt out again. Very sneaky

AuntieJoyce · 15/05/2023 22:51

KrisAkabusi · 15/05/2023 18:30

So this extra 15% gets rolled in with that and yet you do actually need to pay for this extra 15%.

No you don't. You can click the down arrow beside the 15% and set it to a different percentage or zero.

The Version on my iPhone didn’t allow me to set it to zero. I had to click on something different with very small print.

Hyppogriff · 15/05/2023 23:05

I had exactly the same with just giving the other day too - v annoying !!

Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:33

gogogoji · 15/05/2023 19:57

£80. EIGHTY??? How much was your actual donation?

I think that £80 would work out as 15% of the total once giftaid was added. So it was (for me) a large donation for a particular thing that I wanted to donate to - and that absolutely does not mean that I am happy to also give £80 to justgiving itself!

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Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:34

AuntieJoyce · 15/05/2023 22:49

i used just giving for the first time in a long time yesterday and it was difficult to find a way to opt out of the 15% tip. And then further down the page, when I changed my payment method to PayPal it changed it back and added it on again! So I had to opt out again. Very sneaky

Yes - and I worry that lots and lots of people will be making donations without noticing this. It is sad that giftaid is profiting in this way.

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Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:34

Hyppogriff · 15/05/2023 23:05

I had exactly the same with just giving the other day too - v annoying !!

Solidarity Hyppogriff (and I like your username!)

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Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:37

ididntknowthat11 · 15/05/2023 22:43

Yes, it happened to me too, but for a much smaller amount.

When it then asked for feedback I just said I thought that was very sneaky, but I didn't have the energy to pursue it further.

I would for £80 though. They will be hoping you just give up, but don't.

Yes, I reckon that they find that if they send a couple of random chat-bot generated emails back when you complain then you'll probably give up. But of course for £80 I have to pursue it. They now do say they will give it back, but imply that it might take some time. I don't remember agreeing to offer them a loan - they should pay interest!

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Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:38

Eleganz · 15/05/2023 18:38

I'm mixed about justgiving tips - they do provide a platform which clearly has huge benefits to charities but has a running cost. However charging relatively high percentages of each transaction is quite grabby and probably generates more revenue than they actually need.

I think I would be okay with some running cost being added, but it would have to be a very small amount per transaction - and (importantly) I would want them to be really really upfront about it and make it really obvious what's happening. I feel like they are trying to sneak it past us and that's what's so bad.

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Original poster

badger2005 · 16/05/2023 09:39

JaneJeffer · 15/05/2023 18:17

Happened to me as well. Only a small amount but I was annoyed because I hadn't agreed to it.

Exactly - it would be different if they were careful to make sure that you couldn't miss this.

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Lcb123 · 16/05/2023 09:42

You should have checked. I use it regularly and it’s very obvious

Another76543 · 16/05/2023 09:43

I had exactly the same the other day. As soon as I ticked the gift aid box, it added on a “tip” of 15%. It’s almost designed to make it look like the extra is the added amount the charity will receive through gift aid, as the “total amount” is only shown in tiny font. Thankfully I noticed just in time but a lot of people won’t. It’s very sneaky.

Another76543 · 16/05/2023 09:44

Lcb123 · 16/05/2023 09:42

You should have checked. I use it regularly and it’s very obvious

The screen format has definitely changed since I last used it. Last time, it was quite clear that the extra was a voluntary tip. This time, I noticed that it was done in a different way and looks like it’s been designed to trick people in my opinion.

LivingDeadGirlUK · 16/05/2023 09:45

Systemagic · 15/05/2023 16:51

I don't agree that Justgiving were trying to sneakily steal money from you. Sounds like they also haven't dealt with your enquiry yet, so may still refund you.

The text that donors see is below. The optional fee defaults to 1.25% but you can change it to something else, or remove it completely if you don't want to contribute.

Justgiving used to charge a platform fee to the charities as well as the per-transaction cost. They now just charge the transaction cost to charities, and have introduced an optional extra fee for donors, to cover their platform costs.

Fundraising platforms are invaluable to charities, many of whom are very small and couldn't hope to develop equivalent fundraising page functionality on their own websites. The platforms do need to invest in order to keep up with technology and to be resilient, otherwise the fundraising sector and the fabulous fundraisers themselves suffer when a platform folds, like when Virgin Money Giving suddenly closed down a couple of years back. There are other platforms out there, all using different payment models and with different pros and cons for charities, but Justgiving still does a very solid job.

That is deliberately designed to be misleading, totals should be big and bold, not greyed out and tiny.

SoShallINever · 16/05/2023 10:46

They stung me too OP. I was so annoyed at the time as I'm rarely caught out by these "scams".