Once a Gift Aid claim is submitted, HMRC processes it and may occasionally reject it. Donorfy stores the rejection message so you can understand the reason and resolve the issue.
Locate the HMRC Rejection Message
Navigate to Financial, select Gift Aid, click Previous Claims.
Select the rejected claim.
Review the section titled Processing Messages from HMRC.
Any messages returned by HMRC during processing appear here.
These messages help identify what needs correcting before the claim can be submitted again.
Resolve the Issue Identified by HMRC
Based on the rejection message, you may need to:
Update Gift Aid Settings
Common setting issues include:
Incorrect authorised official details.
Incorrect organisation details.
Inaccurate HMRC reference or registration details.
Update these in Financial, select Gift Aid, then click Settings.
Correct Donor Details
HMRC may reject a claim for donor-related issues such as:
Invalid or unregistered postcode.
Missing or incorrect address fields.
Name inconsistencies.
Correct these directly on the constituent record or Gift Aid Declaration as needed.
What Happens to Rejected Donations
All donations from the rejected claim are automatically returned to the Active Claim.
This usually occurs overnight, but you can refresh the Active Claim manually.
Once the required corrections are made, you can:
Move the Active Claim to Ready to Claim and resubmit.
Wait until the end of the month for automatic processing (if Submit Gift Aid Claims to HMRC is set to Yes).
⚠️Important:
The automated Gift Aid Claims process is available with Starter, Professional and Enterprise plans. Essential subscribers, please contact us to find out more about upgrading.