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Interest free finance available to all UK charities

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Tengo Software are delighted to announce that we are offering interest-free credit to all UK Charities.

There is very little to be pleased about when Covid is causing lock-downs and reduced revenue-flow for your Charity. Tengo has been supporting its customers since the start, and now can help non-customers too, who want to take advantage of lock-down to improve systems, or save money by replacing expensive Charity Shop software and Fundraising CRM contracts with a cheaper alternative that is being used by many charities all over the UK – see some of the things our users have to say here.

The interest free finance is available to any UK Charity on purchases of Hardware and Software Licences combined.

If you would like to discuss the options available and find out more, please contact us today!

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HMRC confirm procedure on end of year Gift Aid letters due to Covid-19 Coronavirus

HMRC's stance on the end of year Gift Aid letter deadline in view of Covid-19 Coronavirus restrictions
HMRC’s stance on the end of year Gift Aid letter deadline in view of Covid-19 Coronavirus restrictions

Many of our clients have contacted us as they’re worried about meeting HMRC’s deadline for sending out annual Gift Aid letters, given the current situation regards the Covid-19 Coronavirus. As a result of the virus many Charities have the bulk of or all of their staff working from home, and many have also been furloughed until such time as charity retailers are allowed to begin trading again.

Until now there had been no confirmation from HMRC on whether the rules would be relaxed in light of the fact that it would be technically very difficult for charities to comply with the deadline. Tengo have spoken to the Retail Gift Aid and Digital Donations Lead at HMRC Charities, and have had it confirmed that it will be acceptable for charities to send out the letters ‘as soon as they possibly can’, and that in light of the current situation, the deadline is therefore flexible. Here’s the full official response that we have in writing from HMRC:

Continue reading HMRC confirm procedure on end of year Gift Aid letters due to Covid-19 Coronavirus
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A guide to sending end of year Gift Aid letters for donated goods

end of year gift aid letters
Posting end of year Gift Aid letters.

When you sell donated goods on behalf of people bringing them in to your Charity Shops, HMRC require you to contact anyone with end of year Gift Aid letters who has generated £20 or more’s worth of sales to let them know how much money has been raised. For those with less than £20 worth of sales, you need to contact them every 3 years.

Each tax year, this must be done by no later than the 31st of May. Full guidelines along with a template letter can be found on HMRC’s website here. The letters can be sent by email or by post.

It can be quite a task to aggregate all the data and complete the mailing of end of year Gift Aid letters – but Tengo Software’s Charity Shop Software makes the process as easy as it can be.

Continue reading A guide to sending end of year Gift Aid letters for donated goods
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How to claim Gift Aid in Charity Shops on Donated Goods

If you’re new to the Charity Retail world, and you want to know how you claim gift aid in charity shops, here’s a short guide to the process of claiming Gift Aid on donated goods.

how to claim gift aid in charity shops

One key thing to note about claiming gift aid on donated goods, it’s the person who donates the goods to the charity against which a Gift Aid claim is made. To claim Gift Aid in charity shops on donated goods, you need to track each item that is donated with a unique reference, and record this when it’s sold – then collating the information in to a submission to HMRC to claim the Gift Aid revenue.

Continue reading How to claim Gift Aid in Charity Shops on Donated Goods
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Boost for the elderly in Lincolnshire through Tengo working with Age UK

Age UK’s services for the elderly

Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire use Tengo Software’s charity shop EPoS and CRM systems, and found that their expertise were invaluable. The system is now helping the charity to raise invaluable funds which are being redirected back to the elderly in the communities they support.

Amanda Sowerby, Operations Director at Age UK Lincoln & South Lincolnshire, had the following to say about the software and their experiences with Tengo as a whole through the installation and training process, and ongoing support:

Continue reading Boost for the elderly in Lincolnshire through Tengo working with Age UK
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Berkeley Castle boost ticket sales with Tengo Software

Berkeley Castle have been with Tengo Software since 2015, using their visitor attraction EPoS and on-line ticketting platform TripGiving.UK. They have boosted ticket sales by using the system to sell tickets to their amazing charitable visitor attraction both on-line and in person on-site, as well as handling donations.

Jackie Pennington, Operations Manager at Berkeley, had the following to say about the service:

“TripGiving has been a great addition to our website, the system works seamlessly with our tills and enables our visitors to purchase their admission tickets in advance of their visit.  This benefits us in many ways;  it speeds up the admission process, enables UK tax payers to gift aid their ticket whilst making their on-line purchase and also gives us an indication of anticipated visitor numbers for upcoming events. We also take our online donations through the system, as it is cheaper than other options. I would recommend this facility to other attractions!”

Jackie Pennington, Operations Manager, Berkeley Castle
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Tengo help the NHS to raise funds through Gift Aid

Find out how Tengo’s software is helping NHS charities in the UK – written by Tim Diggle, Head of Charity, Leicester Hospitals Charity, and Alison Reynolds, Volunteer Service Co-ordinator, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

Till in use at Glenfield Hospital shop
Till in use at Glenfield Hospital shop

We had a charity shop at one of our hospitals for 25 years that used the very basic system of writing each item sold into a book and working out the totals and change in your head. This shop was run solely by volunteers and was doing very well but the system left people open to making mistakes and there was no gift aid being claimed in the shop. In 2017 we recruited a charity shop manager, rebranded the shop we had, opened a second shop and decided to implement retail gift aid into both shops.

Continue reading Tengo help the NHS to raise funds through Gift Aid
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GDPR – The ICO announces that the UK is reforming Data Protection laws In May 2018

It was announced on the 31st October by the ICO which provides clarity on the direction the UK is taking when it comes to the new data protection regulations. The Information Commissioner announced what many of us have been suspecting, that the UK is effecting the new GDPR regulations in May 2018 as originally planned.

Continue reading GDPR – The ICO announces that the UK is reforming Data Protection laws In May 2018

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Wildlife Trusts gain funds and cut down admin with Tengo Software

Tengo Software at Wildlife Trusts
Northumberlandia, who use Tengo’s EPoS & Back Office software

Tengo Software are proud to be working with Wildlife Trust visitor centres up and down the country, helping them to generate more revenue, whilst saving time and money on administration.

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How Age UK use tengo software to generate extra revenue

Tengo Software till in use at Age UK Hipperholme
Tengo Software till in use at Age UK Hipperholme

Age UK first installed tengoPOS and tengoCloud charity Gift Aid EPoS and Back Office systems from Tengo Software in 2006. Since then sites all over the country have benefitted from the system that allows the organisation to claim Gift Aid on the sale of items that are donated to them.

The system is really simple to use, the donor simply gives their name and post code, and the items are tagged or labelled with a unique scan-able reference. When the item is sold, Age UK are able to claim Gift Aid on the donation with the original donor’s details. The system is integrated with HMRC so that Gift Aid claims can be made simply and quickly on line.

Continue reading How Age UK use tengo software to generate extra revenue