Overview
UK charities can claim an additional 25% on eligible donations via Gift Aid – for example, a £10 donation becomes £12.50.
Donorfy integrates directly with HMRC to automate much of the Gift Aid process. It:
Identifies eligible donations.
Adds them to an Active Claim for your review.
Moves claims through Ready, Submitted, and Claimed/Rejected stages.
Tracks Gift Aid amounts for reporting.
This guide covers:
Setting up Gift Aid.
Donations eligible for Gift Aid.
Adding and confirming Gift Aid Declarations.
Managing Active and Ready claims.
Submitting, viewing, downloading, and reversing claims.
Gift Aid reporting.
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (SDS).
Error messages and FAQs.
Requirements
Plan requirements
The automated Gift Aid Claims process is available on:
Starter.
Professional.
Enterprise.
If you are on an Essential plan, please contact Donorfy to discuss upgrading if you want to use the automated Gift Aid integration.
⚠️Important:
Before you can submit Gift Aid claims from Donorfy, you must:
Be registered with HMRC to claim Gift Aid.
Have your Government Gateway / Sender ID and password.
Have your HMRC Gift Aid Reference.
You can start the HMRC registration process at:
https://www.gov.uk/claim-gift-aid-online
Setting Up Gift Aid in Donorfy
Once you are registered with HMRC and have your credentials:
Go to Financial, click Gift Aid.
Click the Settings tab.
Complete the following sections.
Organisation Details
Fill in the fields to match your charity’s registration:
Organisation Name.
Charity Regulator.
Charity Registration Number.
Year End Day.
Year End Month.
HMRC Submission Settings
These details tell Donorfy how to connect to HMRC:
User Id – your Government Gateway ID / Sender ID.
Password – your HMRC online services password.
Your HMRC Reference – supplied by HMRC.
Keeping your details secure
Your HMRC login details are stored securely. Donorfy will not use them to log in to your HMRC account directly; they are used only to submit Gift Aid claims via the HMRC interface.
Password length
If your Government Gateway password is longer than 12 characters, only enter the first 12 characters into Donorfy.
Authorised Official
Enter details for the main named person registered with HMRC:
Title.
Forename.
Surname.
Post Code.
Telephone Number.
⚠️ Important:
All details on the Gift Aid Settings tab must exactly match the details held by HMRC for your organisation. Any mismatch can cause a submission failure (e.g. Authentication Failure).
Save and Test Your Settings
Click Save Settings.
Click Test Sign On to check the Sender ID and password are valid.
If the test fails, correct your details in Donorfy, or confirm them with HMRC.
Once the test is successful:
Toggle Submit Gift Aid Claims to HMRC to Yes.
Click Save Settings again.
This enables the automated claim process in Donorfy.
You can disable submissions at any time by setting Submit Gift Aid Claims to HMRC back to No.
Donations Eligible for Gift Aid
Not all transactions are eligible for Gift Aid. For full HMRC guidance, see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-detailed-guidance-notes/chapter-3-gift-aid
Donorfy updates your Active Gift Aid Claim every night and only adds eligible transactions that meet all of the following conditions:
The Constituent has an active Gift Aid Declaration on their Timeline.
The Transaction’s “Potentially Gift Aid-able” switch is set to Yes.
The Date Paid is within 4 years of the end of the financial year in which it was received.
The Product is set to allow Gift Aid
in Settings, click Configuration, then select Products.
The Payment Method is set to allow Gift Aid
in Settings, click Configuration, then select Payment Methods.
The transaction has not been claimed before.
The transaction was not imported via the File Uploader as:
Previously claimed, or
Excluded from future claims.
The transaction is not blocked from a previous claim.
The donor’s Constituent details meet HMRC submission requirements:
First line of address present.
Valid postal address.
Title is less than 4 characters in length.
First and last name present (or initial and last name).
You can view transactions included in the current Active Claim via:
Financial, Gift Aid, Active Claim.
Adding a Gift Aid Declaration
Gift Aid Declarations are recorded on the constituent’s Timeline and can include an attached scan of the original form.
To add a Gift Aid Declaration:
Open the Constituent record.
Go to the Timeline.
Click Add, then select Gift Aid Declaration.
Check you have the correct constituent. If not, click Change Constituent and select the correct profile.
Complete the Declaration Details
Fill in the declaration fields:
Tax Payer Title, First Name, Last Name
Required fields for HMRC.
Campaign (optional).
Declaration Date – date the declaration was signed.
Declaration Method – choose from the drop-down list (e.g. online, paper, phone).
Declaration Start Date.
Declaration End Date.
The system will create a future end date which you can amend if needed.
If the declaration requires confirmation, see Confirming Gift Aid Declarations below.
Click Save Changes to create the declaration.
Attaching the Scanned Declaration
Open the newly created Gift Aid Declaration record.
Drag and drop the scanned document onto the declaration.
Click Save Changes.
🤓Tip: To filter a constituent’s timeline to only Gift Aid Declarations, use the filter option for Gift Aid Declaration on the left-hand side.
Confirming Gift Aid Declarations
If a constituent makes a verbal Gift Aid Declaration (for example, on the phone), you must provide them with written confirmation.
Donorfy helps you manage this via the Unconfirmed Declarations tab.
Preparing Confirmation Letters
Go to Financial then click Gift Aid.
Click the Unconfirmed Declarations tab.
Review the list of constituents who need confirmation.
Remove or update any that do not need a letter (see Changing Confirmation Status below).
Once you’re happy with the list, click Prepare Gift Aid Declaration Confirmation Details.
Donorfy will then:
Prepare a CSV file you can download and use for mail merge into confirmation letters.
Update the Gift Aid Declarations as confirmed.
Add an item to each constituent’s Timeline showing that confirmation was sent.
Changing Confirmation Status
If you have already sent confirmation, but the constituent still appears on the unconfirmed list:
Open the constituent’s record.
Find the Gift Aid Declaration on their Timeline.
Enter the date you provided the confirmation in the Confirmed On date field.
If a constituent does not need written confirmation (for example, the declaration method was recorded incorrectly):
Open the constituent’s record.
Find the Gift Aid Declaration on their Timeline.
Set Confirmation Required to No.
Resending a Confirmation
If you need to resend a confirmation letter:
Open the constituent’s record.
Find the Gift Aid Declaration on their Timeline.
Clear the Confirmed On date.
The constituent will then reappear on the Unconfirmed Declarations list, and can be included in a new confirmation run.
Moving an Active Claim to “Ready”
Normally, you do not need to move claims manually – this is automated. However, you may sometimes want to move the current Active Claim to the Ready to Claim tab early (for manual submission).
To do this:
Go to Financial, then click Gift Aid.
Click Active Claim.
Click Move Claim to Ready (button on the right of the Active Claim screen).
This will move the Active Claim into Ready to Claim.
If you cannot see the Move Claim to Ready button:
Check that your Gift Aid Settings are set to Submit Gift Aid Claims to HMRC = Yes.
Check whether there is already a claim in the Ready to Claim tab.
The Ready to Claim tab must be empty before you can move the Active Claim. Any transactions currently in Ready to Claim must be submitted first.
Once Ready to Claim is empty, Move Claim to Ready will become available.
Submitting a Gift Aid Claim
At the end of each month:
The Active Claim is automatically closed and moved to the Ready to Claim tab.
A new Active Claim is started for the new month.
If Gift Aid is configured and active in Financial > Gift Aid, an email is sent to system administrator(s) with details of the Ready to Claim claim.
You can also manually move an Active Claim to Ready (see the section above).
Submitting the Claim
Go to Financial, click Gift Aid.
Click the Ready to Claim tab.
Review the donations in the claim.
If everything looks correct, you can either:
Click Submit Claim to send it to HMRC immediately, or
Wait until month-end – Donorfy will automatically submit the claim.
Once submitted:
The claim’s status changes from Ready to Submitted.
It appears under Previous Claims in Financial > Gift Aid.
Claim Status Updates from HMRC
Donorfy regularly checks HMRC for claim status updates. HMRC responses include:
Acknowledged
HMRC has received the claim, but not yet processed it.
The claim remains in Submitted state in Donorfy.
Complete
HMRC has processed the claim.
Donorfy updates the claim’s state to Claimed.
Error
HMRC found a problem with the claim.
Donorfy sets the claim’s state to Rejected.
The error message is available in the claim’s status.
If you are unsure why the claim failed, contact Donorfy Support.
Viewing or Downloading a Gift Aid Claim
Once a claim has been submitted to HMRC, you can view and download it from:
Financial, Gift Aid, Previous Claims.
To download:
Go to the Previous Claims tab.
Select the claim you want to view.
Click the download button (cloud icon with a down arrow).
The downloaded report includes:
TaxPayer.
Payment Date.
Product.
Payment Method.
Department.
Fund.
NetAmount.
ToBeReclaimed.
TaxRatePercent.
ErrorDetails.
ReclaimStatus.
Constituent HouseBuildingNumber.
AddressLine1.
AddressLine2.
Town.
County.
Country.
PostalCode.
ConstituentNumber.
Reversing a Gift Aid Claim
If you have reclaimed tax on a donation and later need to reverse this (for example, the donor is no longer eligible), you can adjust it in the previous claims area.
Go to Financial, then click Gift Aid.
Click Previous Claims.
Locate the relevant claim and donation.
Find the Reclaim Status (e.g. Claimed) for that entry.
Click on Claimed and change the status to Reverse.
Confirm by clicking the tick.
When your Active Claim is refreshed:
You will be prompted to enter a reason for the adjustment (e.g. “Constituent no longer eligible”).
Enter the reason and click Save.
Gift Aid Reporting
When Gift Aid has been claimed (via HMRC integration or file upload), the amount claimed is added to the Transaction header.
You can see the amount claimed:
On the Transaction status area of a constituent’s Timeline.
By Each Claim Submitted
You can download each submitted claim from:
Financial, Gift Aid, Previous Claims.
The report contains:
Constituent details.
Payment Date.
Product.
Payment Method.
Department.
Fund.
Net Donation Amount.
Amount to be Reclaimed.
Tax Rate Percent.
Error Details.
Reclaim Status.
By Lists
Gift Aid is also reportable via Transaction Payment Lists using the Gift Aid Amount Claimed field.
Example: To show donations in a date range where Gift Aid was claimed:
Create a Transaction Payment List.
Add a filter:
Gift Aid Amount Claimed >= 0.01
Add any other filters needed, such as Payment Method, to identify:
Gift Aid claimed via Donorfy
JustGiving
CAF
Other third-party platforms that claim Gift Aid on your behalf
Add the Gift Aid Amount Claimed field to the list output.
Save, Preview, and download the list for further analysis.
🤓Tip: To see the amount claimed for a specific Gift Aid claim, use the Previous Claims area in the Gift Aid settings rather than a List.
By Dashboards
Dashboards can show a quick view of Gift Aid that is Ready to Claim.
Configure this via Dashboard tiles.
See the article on Setting Up Dashboard Tiles for more details.
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (SDS)
The Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (SDS) lets you reclaim tax on certain small donations without needing an individual Gift Aid Declaration.
⚠️ Important: Always check current HMRC rules.
The rules of the scheme change over time. You must check current HMRC guidance before proceeding.
At the time described in this guide, you can claim SDS on:
Cash donations of £30 or less
Contactless card donations of £30 or less, collected on or after 6 April 2019
From 6 April 2016, you can claim up to:
£2,000 in a tax year.
£1,250 for earlier years.
The Gift Aid claim process in Donorfy allows you to submit SDS claims for up to and including the previous tax year.
You cannot claim SDS for donations in the current tax year until that tax year has ended.
Scheme Eligible Donations
For SDS collection boxes or similar:
You can create a new constituent representing the collection box, or
Add the donations as anonymous donations.
🤓Tip: Create one or more dedicated Payment Methods for donations you intend to claim under SDS.
For example:
Collection Box (SDS).
Mark those payment methods as not eligible for standard Gift Aid. This prevents SDS donations from accidentally appearing in your normal Gift Aid claims.
Building a List of SDS-Eligible Donations
Create a Transaction List to determine the value of eligible donations in a tax year. Example filters:
Type = Allocation.
Gift Aid Status is Empty.
Allocation Amount ≤ 30.
Date Paid ≥ start of tax year (e.g. 06/04/2019).
Date Paid ≤ end of tax year (e.g. 05/04/2020).
Product = Donation.
Payment Method = Collection Box.
If you have more than one payment method for SDS, group them using brackets and OR logic.
Reclaiming SDS Gift Aid
You should make a claim when:
The total value of eligible donations exceeds the maximum allowed, or
You have received all donations for the tax year (often at year-end).
Steps:
Run your SDS List as often as needed to monitor totals.
When you are ready to claim, download the List or create a report so you have a record of the donations in your SDS claim.
Go to Financial, then click Gift Aid.
Enter:
The value of eligible donations you have received.
If the value exceeds the HMRC limit, you must enter the HMRC limit, not the full total.
The tax year you are claiming for.
Your SDS claim is then submitted alongside your main Gift Aid claim.
When your claim moves from Active to Ready to Claim, you will see a message confirming the SDS claim details.
When viewing a previous claim, any SDS claim information is shown in the status message.
Troubleshooting Errors and FAQs
If a donation cannot be included in a claim, it will have a Reclaim Status of Error and will be excluded from submission.
To view error details:
Open the relevant claim list (Active or Ready).
Use the column selector to add the Error Details column.
Review the error messages to see why each donation failed.
Once you correct the underlying data, the Error Details will be updated when:
The claim is refreshed manually, or
As part of the overnight refresh of the Active Claims tab.
Important behaviour :
Donations with errors in the Ready to Claim tab are not submitted to HMRC.
When a Ready Claim is submitted, error items are passed back to the Active Claim, where corrections can be picked up for the next submission.
Common Error Messages
Address Line 1 too long
HMRC allows up to 40 characters for the first line of address.
This includes house/building number or name and street/road name combined.
If too long, move some content into Address Line 2.
Postcode invalid
The postcode must be a valid UK postcode.
Correct the postcode on the constituent profile.
Address Line 1 missing
The first line of address is missing on the constituent profile.
Add Address Line 1 (e.g. house number and street).
Tax Payer Title and Name detail too long or missing
Problems with title or name must be corrected on the Gift Aid Declaration, not on the profile.
Open the Gift Aid Declaration on the constituent’s Timeline and update the Tax Payer section.
Title too long
The taxpayer’s title can contain up to 4 letters, no punctuation.
Example:
Mrsis valid;Mrs.is not.
There must be no trailing spaces.
This is the title in the Gift Aid Declaration, not the profile title.
Forename or Surname too long
Forenames and surnames can contain up to 35 characters each.
Shorten or correct them in the Gift Aid Declaration.
Missing Last Name
The Last Name is missing on the constituent profile and/or the Gift Aid Declaration.
Add a last name (or initial and last name) so the donation meets HMRC requirements.