This guidance sets out the key things that you need to know about our fundraising platforms and some specific things to consider before setting up a fundraising appeal page. In addition to reading our guidelines, please read the Fundraising Regulator’s good practice guidance.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICES 

Please note – Your fundraising efforts must be used to promote the organisation’s charitable objects for the public benefit.  

Fundraising Pages cannot be used for a purpose that leads to an actual or potential private/personal benefit for an individual, for example: 

 

• An event involving an entry into a raffle or prize draw. 

• An event where a “gift” equates to buying a ticket or where the gift amounts to a “payment for the right to go” e.g. a mission trip, conference, retreat, church weekend away. 

• Fundraising towards an individual’s leaving gift, or a retirement fund. 

• A cake sale (or similar) that directly charges for the food or drink being sold. However, events where a donation is suggested but is genuinely not required, rather than charging for goods, are likely to be acceptable for claiming Gift Aid and a fundraising page can be set up in support of such an event. 

• An event whereby the donor gains membership to a scheme. 

• Where funds are raised for a medical requirement for a particular individual. (Please contact Stewardship for this type of fundraising – it can be acceptable, dependent on circumstances). 

 

When fundraising for a specific project or purpose in a church or charity, for example renovation works, the following important points apply unless the charity has already set up a fund with Stewardship for the same project or purpose: 

• you must get in contact with the supporting Charity before creating the fundraising page to ensure that they are able to use the funds within their charitable aims. 

• Your fundraising page needs to be clear that if the fundraising target is not reached, or excess funds are raised these funds will be granted to the charity’s General Funds. 

• We recommend that you add the following sentence to your fundraising page: “Thank you for supporting this project. If we do not meet our target or receive more than we planned, these funds will be added to our general funds"  

Do not use fundraising pages to raise support for mission workers who serve in countries that are hostile to the Christian gospel, alternatively please contact us to discuss - 020 8502 5600 or [email protected]. 

 

1. Introduction

Stewardship (known officially as Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, registered charity number 234714 and registered company number 90305) is committed to following best practice and ensuring that those using our fundraising platforms do so too.

Stewardship is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.

We know that we have a duty, through our online platforms and services, to provide a place where fundraisers have every confidence that the money they raise to support a church, charity, Christian worker and Bible College Student, will reach their intended recipient in a correct and timely manner.

We also want to provide every confidence to anyone choosing to give using Stewardship, whether using our Donor Advised Funds, Giving Accounts, Guest Giver or other fundraising platforms, that we and those using our platforms are committed to responsible fundraising in adhering to best practice and legal guidelines.

 

2. Am I able to raise funds for a non-charitable cause using Stewardship’s platforms?

No. Unlike other fundraising platforms, Stewardship is a charity and our services follow a 'donor advised fund' model.  This means that when someone makes a gift on one of our platforms they are making a charitable donation to Stewardship (as the receiving charity) with an accompanying request that we make an onward charitable grant to their intended recipient (who we refer to as ‘partners’).

As such, we have a responsibility to make sure that all payments are a proper use of our charitable funds.

This means that all Partners on our platforms have already completed an eligibility process with us, whereby we complete an application and review process to confirm that they can receive funds from us.  It also means that all gifts received by Stewardship can be made using Gift Aid, if the gift comes from an individual who has paid enough tax to qualify.

 

3. Do you wish to fundraise for a particular project on behalf of a church or charity?

If you are raising money for a registered partner and you wish for the funds to be used in a specific way, for example, for renovation works, then you should let the organisation know ahead of time. This will allow them to confirm that they are happy to receive the money for this purpose and that the project is in accordance with their charitable aims.

If this is agreed and you decide to proceed with a specified purpose for the funds, then you should be clear with those using your fundraising page that if the specified purpose fails, or excess funds are raised these funds will be granted to the Partner's General Funds.

 

4. Who is organising the appeal?

If you are planning to personally organise, attend, or participate in an event to raise money, for example a quiz night, marathon or charity trek, then you must make this clear with those who may be asked to give via your fundraising page. Make potential donors aware what the event is, who is organising it and when, especially if money will be taken out of the raised funds for accommodation, travel or paying third parties.

 

5. What targets have you set for your fundraiser?

When creating fundraising appeals on Stewardship.org.uk (either as a supporter or as the partner benefitting from the appeal), we allow you to set a financial target as well as set a deadline on the page. If your campaign comes to an end and either you have not met your intended target or have raised more than the goal set, Stewardship will still allocate the funds to the chosen Partner and for the specified purpose. It is important that supporters are made aware of this.

 

6. How can people give?

There are multiple ways that someone can give when using Stewardship.org.uk:

• Debit or Credit cards
• Direct Debit
• Google Pay
• Apple Pay
• Or from an existing balance held within a Stewardship Giving Account or Donor Advised Fund.

Gift Aid can be claimed easily by anyone making a gift to Stewardship in support of your chosen Partner.

They can simply tick a box to confirm their eligibility for Gift Aid, this means that many of your donations received for your cause will be worth more than if you just collected cash.

If you are running any events to raise money for your campaign, for example quizzes, and are collecting cash at these events or receive other gifts outside Stewardship, then you can add this as a subtotal ("Amount raised offline") to display alongside amounts raised on your fundraising page.

 

7. Will fees apply to gifts?

We apply a small fee on every gift made through our platforms to cover the investments that we make as a charity in technology, security, compliance and more.

We are clear and transparent with anyone giving to Stewardship about these fees prior to confirming any gifts. We also recommend to all fundraisers that you also let people know how much of the money they give will reach the intended recipient through your activities.

Please see here for a full breakdown on our fees.

 

 8. Do I need consent and permission when using content and images?

Yes, in some circumstances, you may need consent for images used that have come from the web or even the Partner’s website. So please ensure that you have appropriate consent. It is your responsibility to ensure that the content you are uploading on your page (“Content”), including pictures, photographs, images, and any videos, is your original work and/or you have the right and/or licence necessary to upload it and it is not copyright-protected. If it is copyright-protected, you must obtain the copyright owner's written consent to use it. Stewardship reserves the right to remove any pictures, photographs, videos or copy from personal fundraising or Stewardship Crowdfunding pages at its sole discretion and without notice if their copyright status is in any doubt. Stewardship reserves the right to pass on any costs or fees incurred by copyright infringement to the fundraiser, as per our Partner Terms and Conditions and/or Giving Terms and Conditions for individual fundraisers.

The following sites allow the use of their images without the need for seeking consent and maybe a useful source for your fundraiser page, Freepik, or  Unsplash

If you suspect a breach of copyright on Stewardship.org.uk, please email us at e[email protected].

 

 

9.  What else do I need to know?

The following points are what we believe are common sense, but we must add them because you need to know about your conduct requirements when using Stewardship.org.uk.

• You must at all times use Stewardship.org.uk and its associated services in a responsible and legal manner, ensuring the content you provide does not breach any intellectual property rights of a third party or breach any right or duty owed to a third party.
• You must not upload offensive, obscene, racist, defamatory, misleading or deceptive content, including photographs, on to Stewardship.org.uk or its associated services. Stewardship reserves the right to remove or edit any content posted on Stewardship.org.uk or its associated services at its sole discretion and without notice, regardless of whether or not it is, in the opinion of any third party, offensive, obscene, racist, defamatory, misleading, deceptive or otherwise inappropriate. If you notice any such content, please email us at e[email protected].
• When building a fundraising page on Stewardship.org.uk, you must ensure that any information you provide to the public is accurate and not misleading. It is your responsibility to ensure that the content you are uploading on your page (“Content”), including pictures, photographs and any videos, is your original work and/or you have the right and/or licence necessary to upload it and it is not copyright-protected. If it is copyright-protected, you must obtain the copyright owner's written consent to use it. Stewardship reserves the right to remove any pictures, photographs, videos or copy from personal fundraising or Stewardship Crowdfunding pages at its sole discretion and without notice if their copyright status is in any doubt. If you suspect a breach of copyright on Stewardship.org.uk, please email us at e[email protected].
• You must not misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any other person or organisation.
• You must not use Stewardship.org.uk to send junk email or “spam” to people who do not wish to receive email from you.
• You must not interfere with, or disrupt, the service or services or networks connected to the service and introduce any computer virus (including any variant or similar malicious code or instructions) to the Stewardship systems.
• You must not attempt to modify, adapt, translate, sell, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the site or any other web site.
• You must not attempt to bypass the network firewall.
• You must not use any party of the site which you are not authorised to use or devise ways to circumvent security in order to access part of the site which you are not authorised to access (includes scanning networks with intent to breach and/or evaluate security, whether or not the intrusion results in access).
• You must not use or attempt to use the site for any unlawful, criminal, or negligent purposes (includes password cracking, social engineering, denial-of-service attacks, harmful and malicious destruction of data, and intentional invasion of privacy).
• You must not disclose any information relating to any donor except with the consent of the donor or as permitted by applicable local laws.

Stewardship reserves the right to cancel your access and delete any Stewardship.org.uk profile page or fundraising appeal page without notice in the event you fail to follow any of the above rules. Stewardship may also suspend or delete a page if the relevant partner is no longer receiving grants from Stewardship or is no longer active.

 

10. If need be, how can you make a complaint?

We strive to provide a professional and quality service, however, if we fall short of the standards you expect, we would like to know, please contact us on [email protected] or call us on 020 8502 5600 for further information about our procedure when making a complaint.

 

Last updated 21st November 2023