Charity fundraising - what do you do with a Direct Debit mandate?

[Bloodybridget]

This sounds completely dim, but despite working for many years in charity management I've never had to do it before. What do you do with a completed Direct Debit mandate - just post it to your (the charity's) bank? I've Googled everything I can think of but can't find an answer.

If you have been approved to receive Direct Debit you will have a massive ring binder of instructions. Is the person who normally does it away?

The person who was authorised to process DDs where I worked had a special gadget card reader on her computer and a smart ID card to activate it, and software which would parcel up the data and send it off. It is not to be attempted by someone who doesn't know what they are doing!

Alternatively if your DDs are processed for you by a 3rd party e.g. CAF they would do the complex stuff and you would just pass the mandates to them.

Thanks Fish, I do freelance admin for a small charity, am the sole UK employee. We just haven't had any donors doing Direct Debit before. I did phone our bank to ask about the design of the form but they seemed very casual about it and didn't say anything about me having to be authorised to process them. Guess I'll have to call them again.

If it's a small charity you are unlikely to be an independent direct debit originator.
are you sure you are talking about direct debits not standing orders?
I cannot imagine a bank being casual about direct debits. The rules are extremely strict.

It's very possible you won't have Direct Debits set up for the charity as it isn't a cost effective way to handle small number of donations. The vast majority of smaller charities only use standing orders - where the onus is on the donor to do the admin, not the charity.

Is there someone in the charity who works in finance you can speak to? Otherwise phone the bank (again) and ask them?

X-post, sorry FishWithABicycle!

Yes I will have to phone them again. No the rest of the staff are in Bangladesh so etc completely different.

Banking different! Trying to type with baby grabbing at me.

When I tried to get DDs set up for a charity I was working for, it was a huge effort and they turned us down. It sounds a bit strange that it has been set up so easily/without much input from you if you are the person that would do it.

Should it turn out that you cannot offer DDs then there are bureaux that will do it for you should you not know. I cannot remember who I ended up using but this sort of org - cleardirectdebit.co.uk/our-services/bureau-collections/what-is-a-direct-debit-bureau/ There is a generally a min monthly charge, so you need to think about the potential of increasing DDs across your donors to see if it is worth it.

Hope the bank clarify it for you.

Thanks MrsMargo, yes I'm starting to think I should never have started! I'm pissed off that when I called the bank they never suggested there was anything complicated about it. We're unlikely to get a large number of regular donors so probably standing orders will be better.