GB2482146A

GB2482146A - Donation vouchers in booklet

Info

Publication number: GB2482146A
Application number: GB201012216A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Combs
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-07-21
Filing date: 2010-07-21
Publication date: 2012-01-25
Also published as: GB201012216D0

Abstract

A booklet comprising at least one donation voucher marked to facilitate its use as a means of giving thanks or dedication, whilst providing additional functionality to inform the third party of a bone fide charity donation having been made on their behalf. The voucher is connected by a first line of weakness to a record of donation which facilitates donor higher rate tax reclamation or similar. This in turn is connected by a second line of weakness to a declaration for use during the charity's automated tax reclamation processing. This in turn is connected by a third line of weakness to a stub. The stub is used to attach to a front cover which contains instructions, and a rear cover which provides descriptions and additional instruction. The rear cover is preferably attached at to a detachable envelope that prevents the need to hand over the booklet for the completion of declarations by donors, and facilitates secure retention of the declarations. Each voucher preferably contains a security mark to prevent copying and a unique identifier giving tangible auditing evidence and proof of donation.

Description

Donation Vouchers in Booklet This invention relates to donation vouchers in booklet, being an article of stationery, which is adapted to facilitate donation vouchers, each giving thanks or dedication to a third party, whilst providing additional functionality to inform the third party of a bone fide charity donation having been made on their behalf. Alternatively the donation vouchers can simply be used to make secure, tax efficient donations through a secure and convenient means that will not penalise the charity through high costs of tax reclamation. The donation vouchers in booklet is formed to enable the secure retention of detached purposefully sized declarations, in a detachable envelope, ready for posting to a charity or agent, and so allow the automation of the reclamation process of tax on the donations, complying with electronic storage and auditing requirements. Additionally the detachable records of donation have provision of spaces to capture various pieces of data to assist higher rate tax payers to reclaim further tax relief on their donations.

There are occasions where people want to give thanks or dedication to a dedicatee, the dilemma is the choice of a suitable gift which needs to be cognisant of the following: a gift that reflects the true value of the sentiment is often unaffordable; the gift may often be for a person that isn't known very well, and therefore the gift's suitability cannot guaranteed; it is difficult to choose a gift that offers a true reflection of the sentiments that wish to be portrayed.

A simple thank you or dedication message portrayed on paper can often suffice, however if it can be used as an opportunity to make a donation to charity on their behalf, then additional benefits are achieved, the giver feels good, the recipient appreciates the additional consideration and the charity benefits from a much needed donation. This brings with it, a number of issues that are currently not addressed in an integrated way; a simple method of portraying the thanks or dedication message; proof of donation; an effective and convenient means of making a donation; a cost effective method of ensuring the charity and donor benefits from any tax paid on the donation; the need for exclusivity of the voucher to guarantee its perceived value by the recipient. Other occasions exist where a person wants to simply give a tax efficient donation, through a secure and convenient means that will not penalise the benefiting charity through high costs of tax reclamation.

There exist a number of schemes for charitable donations such as the sale of greetings cards, whereby the recipient of the card is made aware of the sender's good wishes and also that a donation has been made to a charity. The proportion of the selling price of the card which reaches the charitable organisation, after production and marketing expenses, and profit margins is however from the point of view of the donor disappointing, and public awareness of the relative inefficiency of such cards as a means of donating is growing. Additionally receipts of small charity donations are often in cash or in such a form or level that makes the cost of the reclamation process prohibitive. Services are available from companies to carry out the reclamation process; however their costs often significantly impact the level available to the charity.

Charity contributions may also be made by postcard bank check reducing postage cost.

A combined greeting and cheque arrangement allows the usual detachment and record facility whilst conferring functions of a greeting type card.

A method of charitable fund raising utilizing pseudo securities exists where the donation value of the security is achieved by the depiction of a celebrity.

A gift account card comprising a check with erasable coated areas and a detachable value could be used.

However those arrangements do not have provision for giving thanks or dedication to a third party or allow the collation of purposefully sized declarations in a detachable envelope to facilitate automation of tax reclamation, or have features of this invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide donation vouchers in booklet which is suitable to enable giving thanks or dedication to a third party and to make known to the dedicatee or other third party the making of the donation, or simply allow a tax efficient donation to be made, through a secure and convenient means that will not penalise the benefiting charity through high costs of tax reclamation. It is also a preferred object of the invention to enable a plurality of vouchers to be bound in a booklet, so that each voucher may be detached in turn along with its associated record of donation and declaration, to facilitate the completion of the declaration without handing over the complete booklet, so providing a convenient and secure method of collating the declarations ready for posting, following completion of the final voucher in the booklet.

According to the invention, donation vouchers in booklet being an article of stationary comprises a plurality of sheet material having two faces forming the voucher with attached record of donation and declaration, being bound at the left hand edge to form a booklet with front and back covers, a detachable envelope to facilitate the collation of completed declarations. This arrangement obviates the need to pass over the entire booklet to donors for completion of the purposefully sized declarations, improving security, whilst providing a secure and reliable means of retaining completed declarations ready for posting and automated tax reclamation.

The voucher is arranged to contain:-Name or emblem of the charity / charities to which a donation can be made using the voucher; a space to indicate the amount of the donation; a space to enter a message to the dedicatee; an optional campaign message from the charity I charities; a unique identifier which may comprise an identification or serial number and/or a bar code; a security mark to confer value by confirming bone fide donation voucher &prevent copying; a space to capture date of issue; On the reverse side of the voucher is a space for the charity name or names and a message of gratitude and acknowledgement of receipt of the donation.

The donation voucher is attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness to a record of donation which is arranged to contain:-name of the charity I charities to which the donation is to made; a space for the donor's name; a space to capture the date of issue; a space to capture the value of the donation; a reproduction of the unique identifier that is on the associated voucher; tick boxes to indicate whether gift aid or other tax benefit is to be conferred on the charity; On the reverse side of the record of donation is a reminder that if the donor is a higher rate tax payer then they can claim the higher rate of tax portion of the donation via tax return.

The record of donation is in turn attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness to a gift aid or similar tax declaration which is arranged to contain:-Name of the charity I charities to which the donation has been made using the voucher; a space to indicate the amount of the donation; details and spaces to capture the name, address of the donor; "Post Code" and a series of boxes to orientate the collection of postcode data; a description of the qualification criteria for payment of tax on the donation to charity or other such message as may be appropriate from time to time including an optional tick box giving permission to the charity to contact the donor; a tick box to indicate whether gift aid or other tax benefit has been conferred on the charity; a unique identifier which may comprise an identification or serial number and/or a bar code; a space to capture date of issue.

On the reverse side of the gift aid or similar tax declaration are instructions that it should be placed in the envelope provided and have space for the charity / charities name.

The gift aid or similar tax declaration portion is purposely sized to satisfy the minimum and maximum size handling requirements of existing cheque, voucher and automated scanning processing equipment to maximise first time throughput without jamming.

The gift aid or similar tax declaration is in turn attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness to a stub that is used to bind the plurality of sheet material which may be paper, stiff paper or alternative materials including plastics, to the front and back covers.

The front cover is a rectangular piece of stiff paper, card or alternative material including plastic, arranged to contain;-optional space for name of charity I charities; "Donation voucher" and instructions on the administration of the donation voucher; Record of donation" and instructions on the administration of the record of donation; "Gift Aid declaration" and instructions on the administration of the gift aid or similar tax declaration; a range of unique identifiers used on the donation vouchers contained in the booklet; sized to cover and allow binding of the plurality of vouchers contained inside; The reverse side of the front cover is blank.

The rear cover is a rectangular piece of stiff paper, card or alternative material including plastic, arranged to contain;-optional space for name of charity I charities;

description of the use of the donation voucher;

description of the use of the record of donation;

instructions on the administration of the final gift aid or similar tax declaration & the detachable envelope; temporary attachment points for the detachable envelope; the reverse side of the rear cover is blank; sized to cover and allow binding of the plurality of vouchers contained inside.

The detachable envelope, which can optionally be sized to match the profile of the booklet, is temporarily attached to the donation voucher booklet to facilitate the safe and reliable retention of the plurality of gift aid or similar tax declarations. Once the final gift aid or similar tax declaration has been inserted, the envelope is detached from the booklet and used to return them to the charity or charities agent where automated reclamation processes can be used to reclaim tax or other fiscal advantage.

The intended use of the donation voucher in booklet is to allow a person who wishes to offer a simple thank you or dedication message portrayed on paper, an additional opportunity to make a donation to charity on a third party's behalf. Alternatively it can be used by a person who simply wants to give a tax efficient donation, through a secure and

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convenient means that will not penalise the benefiting charity through high costs of tax reclamation. The booklet affords charities a simple and convenient means of increasing the opportunities for donors to make such bone fide, tax efficient and cost effective donations by distributing the booklets to suitable outlets such as card retail chains, charity shops, partner retail outlets, charity events or the like. The donor will pay their donation and receive the detached donation voucher where they can either retain it, or complete the dedication and send it on to a third party. The charity representative detaches the gift aid or similar tax declaration, hands it to the donor for completion, it is returned to the charity representative who retains the declaration in the detachable envelope. The detached record of donation is completed by the charity representative, who then gives it to the donor for retention; so that they can use the details to claim the higher rate tax portion of the donation, on their annual tax return, optionally the unique indicia allows the donor to confirm that the benefitting charity has received the donation.

On completion of the final donation voucher, the envelope is detached, sealed & sent to the charity / charities or their agent where the automation of the formalities necessary to reclaim tax or other fiscal advantage takes place. The charities representative may retain an agreed proportion of the donation to cover their costs and provide a modest profit margin.

An embodiment of donation vouchers in booklet according to the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:-Fig. 1 is a front view of the donation voucher with attached record of donation & declaration; Fig.2 is a reverse view of the donation voucher with attached record of donation & declaration Fig.3 is a front view of the cover, reverse is blank; Fig.4 is a front view of the inside back cover, reverse is blank, also showing detachable envelope and attachments; Fig.5 is a front view of donation vouchers in booklet assembly; Fig.6 is a rear view of donation vouchers in booklet assembly Fig.7 is an inside view of the rear cover showing detachable envelope and attachments; Donation vouchers in booklet according to the invention comprises an article of stationery where the front cover 10 is a rectangular piece of stiff paper, card or alternative material including plastic, arranged to contain in print or otherwise;-.

space for name and or logo of charity / charities, at 11; "Donation voucher", at 12 instructions on the administration of the donation voucher, 13; "Record of donation", at 14; "Gift Aid declaration", at 15; instructions on the administration of the gift aid or similar tax declaration, at 16; the range of unique identifiers for the donation vouchers contained in the booklet, at 17; sized to cover and allow binding of the plurality of vouchers contained inside, at 18; The reverse side of the front cover is blank.

The rear cover 19 is a rectangular piece of stiff paper, card or alternative material including plastic, arranged to contain;-space for name and or logo of charity I charities, at 20; description of the use of the donation voucher at 21; description of on the use of the record of donation, at 22; instructions on the administration of the final gift aid or similar tax declaration & the detachable envelope, at 23; temporary attachment points for the detachable envelope, at 24; the reverse side of the rear cover is blank; sized to cover and allow binding of the plurality of vouchers contained inside, at 25.

The detachable envelope at 26 is temporarily attached to the donation voucher booklet at 24 to facilitate the safe and reliable retention of the plurality of gift aid or similar tax declarations at 27. Once the final gift aid or similar tax declaration has been inserted, the envelope 26 is detached from the booklet at 24 and used to return them to the charity or charities agent addressed at 47 where automated processes will be used to reclaim tax or other fiscal advantage.

The voucher at 28 is arranged to contain:-Name or emblem of the charity I charities to which a donation can be made using the voucher, at 29 a space to indicate the amount of the donation, and "Donation" at 30 "Dedication" and a space to enter a message to the dedicatee, at 31; an optional campaign message from the charity / charities, at 32; a unique identifier which may comprise an identification or serial number and/or a bar code, at 33; a security mark to confer value by confirming bone fide donation voucher and prevent copying, at 34; "Date of issue" and a space to capture date of issue, at 35; On the reverse side of the voucher is a space for the charity name or names and a message of gratitude and acknowledgement of receipt of the donation at 36 The donation voucher is attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness at 37 to a record of donation at 38 which is arranged to contain:-name of the charity I charities to which the donation has been made, at 39; "Name:" and a space for the donor's name, at 40; "Date of issue" and a space to capture the date of issue, at 41; a space to capture the value of the donation and "Donation" at 42; a reproduction of the unique identifier at 43 that corresponds with the one on the associated voucher; "Gift Aid to apply to this donation Yes / No" or similar and tick boxes to indicate whether gift aid or other tax benefit is to be conferred on the charity, at 44; On the reverse side of the record of donation, at 45 is a reminder that if the donor is a higher rate tax payer, then they can claim the higher rate of tax portion of the donation on their tax return.

The record of donation is in turn attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness at 46 to a gift aid or similar tax declaration at 27 which is arranged to contain:-Name of the charity / charities to which the donation is to be made using the voucher, at 48; a space, or optionally pre-printed, to indicate amount of the donation and Donation", at 49; details and a space to capture the name and address of the donor, at 50; details and a series of boxes to orientate the collection of postcode data, at 51; a description of the qualification criteria for payment of tax on the donation to charity or other such message as may be appropriate from time to time including an option of a tick box giving permission to the charity to contact the donor, at 52; details and a tick box to indicate whether gift aid or other tax benefit has been conferred on the charity, at 53; "I wish gift aid to apply to this donation" or similar at 54; a reproduction of the unique identifier found on the donation voucher which may comprise an identification or serial number and/or a bar code, at 55; words "Date of issue" and a space to capture hand written or stamped date of issue, at 56.

On the reverse side of the gift aid or similar tax declaration are instructions at 57, indicating that once completed it should be placed in the envelope provided, and have space for the charity / charities name at 58.

The gift aid or similar tax declaration portion 27 is purposely sized to satisfy the minimum and maximum size handling requirements of existing cheque, voucher and automated scanning processing equipment to maximise first time throughput without jamming.

The gift aid or similar tax declaration is in turn attached by a perforated or similar line of weakness at 59 to a stub at 60 that is used to bind the plurality of sheet material that makes up donation voucher, record of donation and declaration at 61 which may be paper, stiff paper or alternative materials including plastics, to the front and back covers.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment which is described by way of example only.

Claims

Claims Donation vouchers in booklet, being an article of stationery, which is adapted to facilitate a plurality of donation vouchers, each detachable to give thanks or dedication to a third party, whilst providing additional functionality to inform the third party of a bone fide charity donation having been made on their behalf; including booklet formation to enable the secure retention of detached purposefully sized completed declarations, in a detachable envelope, ready for posting to a charity or agent, and so facilitate the automation of the charity's reclamation process of tax or similar fiscal advantage on the donation, complying with electronic storage and auditing requirements.
2. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claim 1 comprising detachable declarations that are purposefully sized to satisfy the minimum and maximum size handling requirements of existing cheque, voucher and automated scanning processing equipment to maximise processing options and first time throughput without jamming.
3. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claim 1 where declarations have a series of boxes to orientate the confirmation of gift aid or similar with donor details and collection of postcode data and unique identifier, to optimise the scanning efficiency and improve first time throughput without errors.
4. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claim 1 comprising a detachable record of donation that facilitates the donor's reclamation of the higher rate tax portion of the donation, whilst the reproduction of the unique identifier that appears on; the donation voucher, record of donation and declaration, provides tangible auditing evidence and proof of donation.
5. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claim 1 comprising a security mark to prevent the usual concern of being copied, however in this case it infers value by confirming each voucher represents a bone fide donation to the named charity that will receive the donation money, rather than it being channelled to commercial or fraudulent uses.
6. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claim 1 comprising a front and back cover that provides descriptions and instructions on the administration of the contents and booklet.
7. Donation vouchers in booklet according to claims 1 through 6 that benefits from synergy of the fore mentioned features with physical portability to afford charities a simple and convenient means of increasing the opportunities for donors to make; secure, bone fide, tax efficient and cost effective to administer donations, by distributing the booklets to charity events and suitable outlets such as card retail chains and the likes.