Text Giving should not be used to collect mandatory payments for goods/services/entry into competitions/entry into virtual events/entry into physical events.
The reason for this is that transactions of this nature are considered to be 'payments' rather than 'donations' as your supporter would be receiving something in return for their donation. This has implications on things like whether or not Gift Aid can be collected.
According to HMRC's guidance on donations which can qualify for Gift Aid funds:
"3.4.5 Payments to a charity in return for services, rights or goods are not gifts to charity and so are not eligible for the Gift Aid Scheme. For example, the following cannot come within the Gift Aid Scheme:
- payment of school fees for a specific person
- payment to purchase books, jumble sale items, food
- payment for admission to events (jumble sales, concerts)
- payment for raffle or lottery tickets (including 100 clubs) - the payment to purchase a raffle ticket from a charity is not a gift but a payment for the right to enter the raffle - it does not matter that the chance or expectation of winning a prize is small or that the prize is of little value"
You can read the government guidelines here.
Using our Text Giving solution to collect mandatory payments from supporters also contravenes Donr's agreement with the UK mobile network operators which allows us to provide the service for the purpose of collecting donations.
Please ensure you use Text Giving to collect entirely optional donations only.
If you wish to run a Text Raffle, we have a fundraising solution to help you do just that. More information can be found here.