Donations To Jersey Charities Fall By A Third

Donations to Jersey charities, upon which tax refunds have been claimed, have fallen by a third since 2021.

The figure is revealed in a Freedom of Information request by the Association of Jersey Charities.

It asked for the data relating to the net donations made to Jersey charities on which tax refunds were claimed. 

Tax refunds of 25% can be recovered by charities if islanders give more than £50 in the space if a year, pay income tax and complete a form registering their donation. 

The Association of Jersey Charities (AJC) found: 

• In 2021, £16.8 million was donated
• In 2022, £14 million was donated
• In 2023, £11.2 million pounds was donated.

This means that charity donations where tax refunds were claimed have fallen by around 33% since 2021. 

This new information follows the association's previous research on the difficulties local good causes are experiencing.

Its member survey published last December noted: 

• 89% of charities have seen their costs rising.
• 57% have seen a drop in their fund raising income.
• 55% have seen an increase in demand for their services.

Kevin Keen, chair of the AJC said:

"We think this is caused by the cost of living crisis, which is finding its way to the charities, with interest rates going up and islanders finding they have less money in their pockets to give to charities. 

Charities do try and keep their costs low, some have got reserves and will call on those reserves , but some of the younger charities haven't got these reserves.

Some have just got through Covid-19, and it's these ones that are really feeling the pain now.

He says donors can help by filling in the simple paperwork that will increase value of their gift:

"I'm not sure enough people know about this form. We all moan about the taxman, but what they have done is make it very easy to make a donation and increase the value of that donation by 25%. 

This form can be downloaded from the government website, and you don't even have to donate it all in one go.

If you donate £50 over the course of a year to a Jersey charity and you are a taxpayer, then the taxman will send 25% of that donation to the charity.

This can make a big impact - if your donations are down 20% as an example, a 25% donation increase because people are being tax efficient when they give, can help make up that difference."