Latest news with #charityfundraising
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
How Queen Camilla ended up pleased with a discarded sweatband: EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE
Prince William, keen to ditch the tradition of sprawling portfolios of royal patronages, is taking a forensic interest in a report from research body Giving Evidence. It shows when disgraced Andrew was forced to abandon his patronages, there was no financial difference recorded. A source reports William, keen to concentrate on a few causes of personal interest, believes this could be applied across the board. Those on committees value royal connections for the garden party invitations, a visit once in a blue moon and the slight chance of an MBE, but whether it makes any difference to donations is now very doubtful. Seems that William, who has long-questioned the point of hundreds of patronages, might have been right all along. There can be advantages to a front row seat in Wimbledon's royal box – other than the tennis. Ten years ago Andy Murray rashly celebrated a win by hurling his wristband in the direction of Queen Camilla. Unimpressed, she wrinkled her nose and eyed it with disgust but soon came up with a bright idea. She got Murray to sign it and then popped it on eBay to raise funds for an animal charity. It was sold for £2,100. Well-nourished Health Secretary Wes Streeting, appearing on ITV's This Morning, makes the mistake of mentioning presenter Ben Shephard's topless display, saying: 'I'm probably not going to be on the front of Men's Health magazine in quite the way you were.' Shephard declares: 'I've just had a message from the editor of Men's Health saying 'You're on! Wes Streeting, front cover'.' The visibly-embarrassed politician replies: 'Oh, God. You've stitched me right up. The office is going to love this.' Streeting, taking on the BMA, might peruse the King's 1982 speech from when he was elected president of the association. 'I received a letter from a member of the medical profession who said his fellow members were pleased I was honouring them by accepting,' Charles declared. 'He ended by reminding me the initials BMA stand for BIGOTED MORIBUND and APATHETIC! I shall watch my step as carefully as I can.' Looking back at Monty Python breaking up following lucrative reunion shows in London in 2014, Eric Idle takes aim at fellow member Sir Michael Palin, snapping: 'Michael said he was sad to see us break up? He was the first to leave! He's such a hypocrite... I can't believe Michael said he was sad. He turned down the opportunity to do it in America, in Australia, in South Africa. He turned down $30million!' Deep breaths, Eric. Live Aid performer Nik Kershaw claims Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant have never forgiven Phil Collins for his 'not very clever' drum playing in Philadelphia. 'They have never released the Live Aid footage for Phil on the drums,' says Kershaw 'The 40-year grudge. It is a bit of a shame ain't it?
Telegraph
30-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
MPs demand ban on fundraisers' ‘misleading' tips
MPs are calling for a fresh crackdown on 'concealed tips' on charity fundraising platforms. Fundraising websites have been accused of steering donors into giving 'voluntary tips' of as much as 19pc – fees which are not shared with charities. One of those fundraisers, JustGiving, made £24m profit in 2023, up from an approximately £3.8m-a-year profit before it introduced the tip model, according to its company accounts. The platform said it has raised more than £7bn for charities and good causes since it was founded in 2000. Labour MP Jo Platt, member of the culture, media and sport committee, said: 'Fundraising platforms play an important role in facilitating giving. But concealed tipping options and hidden charges are unnecessarily diverting money away from charities and misleading donors.' She joins several other MPs including Anneliese Dodds, Alex Sobel and Saqib Bhatti who have lodged Parliamentary Questions this year asking when the Government will address the issue. When donors use JustGiving, the online platform suggests a tip set to 19pc. The sliding scale, which allows the tip to be adjusted, cannot be set to zero. Instead, donors have to choose to input a custom amount, and set that to £0, to avoid making a 'voluntary tip'. It is possible to claim back the tip. The JustGiving website states that donors can contact its customer service team via email or an online form in order to ask for a refund. A survey of over 2,0000 people published this week by Strand Partners shows over three quarters of voters want the Government to address the issue. Two thirds said they wanted it to be easier to remove tip options when donating online. JustGiving deducts 1.9pc of donations, alongside a 30p payment processing fee. Charities using the platform can pay a monthly fee of either £15 or £39 plus VAT for an improved service, and the platform claims 5pc of Gift Aid refunds. After an automatic 5 per cent platform fee taken from donations was scrapped in 2019, the company's profits increased from around £3.8m a year to £19m. The company behind the platform, posted profits of £24m in 2022 and 2023. Other fundraising platforms make it easier not to add a tip to a donation. GoFundMe lets donors slide the scale to £0, rather than requiring a custom amount to be entered. A GoFundMe spokesman said: 'GoFundMe is the only major platform which processes Gift Aid for free and allows donors to move the voluntary contribution slider to zero per cent with one click. 'We encourage all other platforms to follow our lead and ensure donors can give safely without any nasty surprises.' A fundraising code of practice will be introduced from November 1 this year, overseen by the Fundraising Regulator, and will require platforms to be transparent about fees and 'tips', and to offer straightforward ways to remove the extra payments. A spokesman for JustGiving said: 'Following consultation with some of the UK's leading charities, in 2019 we moved to a voluntary contribution model, so that as much money as possible could go directly to charities and good causes. This is now standard practice across the industry. 'Today, anyone using our platform has the option to leave a tip on top of their donation to support the running of JustGiving, and this is not compulsory. 'When people do choose to add a tip, this goes towards investing in and maintaining the technology that helps our site continue to securely raise funds on a global scale 24/7.'
