CRunCH

What is the Public Ballot?

• The entry to the Public Ballot for VLM 2011 took place online in May and closed within 24 hours. If you entered you will be mailed your result in late September. If you are reading this after hearing that you have been successful, click on Own Place above. If you are awaiting your result, you are advised to follow the twin-track approach of applying simultaneously for a Golden Bond place (see below). If you get a place in the Ballot, and have also been offered a Golden Bond place, you will still run for the charity but will no longer be under the obligations of the Pledge you have signed up to (and the charity will then be able to offer your Bond place to another runner - hence the importance of letting us know if you do get a Ballot place). If you are not successful, or did not enter at all, your only route into the event will be via a Golden Bond place.

What is a Golden Bond?

• Officially, a Golden Bond is a package of five guaranteed places bought by a charity from the Marathon. Some charities own just one Bond while others own multiples and will field much larger teams on Race Day. Charities on the CRunCH site range in size from five runners to around 100.

What is a registration fee?

• A fee charged by most charities (usually £50) that covers some up-front expenses and is a sign of your commitment to the charity. Check with your charity for exact conditions – they are usually on the Pledge Form.

Is the registration fee refundable?

• No, but you are usually allowed to count the fee towards your sponsorship pledge. Where this is not the case, it will be stated clearly on the Pledge Form. Most charities will not ask you to pay a new fee if you drop out and then re-register for the next year's Marathon. Again, full details will be on the Pledge Form.

Why do some registration fees refer to VAT?

• If your charity is VAT-registered, it has to charge VAT on the registration fee alone. VAT does not impact on the rest of your sponsorship in any way. If the fee is allowed to count towards your total it will be the net figure (eg £50) with the VAT element (£8.75 while VAT is set at 17.5%) being taken by the taxman. Runners for charities that are VAT-registered cannot pay their registration fees via an e-giving pages; if VAT is not involved, then you will be asked to pay your reg fee via your e-giving page.

What happens to my Registration Fee if I get a Ballot place?

• It counts towards your overall sponsorship total.

What is Gift Aid?

• Gift Aid (GA) is a facility for charities to reclaim the tax paid by your sponsors from the Government (specifically HM Revenue and Customs - HMRC). GA is currently worth an additional 28% on top of the basic donation (but see below for details about changes to the GA rules from April 5, 2011). Anyone sponsoring you who is a UK-resident taxpayer is encouraged to tick the GA box on the charity's e-giving site or to tick the column on your sponsor form and then to provide a full UK address including postcode.

Who does not qualify for Gift Aid?

• Overseas residents who do not pay UK tax; UK residents who do not pay tax; companies. Even if a sponsor is a UK taxpayer. they will not qualify if they do not provide a UK address including postcode. This is why there is an important section on your sponsor forms asking you and your sponsors to ensure the form is filled in carefully at the time you sign up a sponsor. For the 2010 Marathon, less than 25% of the money raised on sponsor forms was Gift Aided. This means charities are potentially losing out on millions of pounds on offer from the taxman! By contrast more than three quarters of the money collected on e-giving sites qualifies for GA.

Can I claim Gift Aid on money I have collected from others and then loaded onto my e-giving site in my name?

• No, it is illegal to claim Gift Aid if the money does not come from your personal taxed money. You will be asked to declare the source of the money when making the payment via e-giving. Likewise, if using a sponsor form and sending a personal cheque, you need to make it clear if the money is a collection rather than your own donation.

Can I count Gift Aid towards my Pledge?

• No. GA is specifically excluded from your Pledge total as you are undertaking to raise a defined total before both expenses (e.g. cost of the place and of administration including charges levied by e-giving sites and credit card companies) and the bonus of GA. GA is not confirmed by HMRC until after you have submitted your money.

Can I claim Gift Aid on my registration fee when I pay it?

• No. Your reg fee is payment for a service (your acceptance on to the team) and that is why, if paying your reg fee via an e-giving site, you must NOT to tick the GA box when paying. However, if you make a further donation towards your Pledge total, you can elect for GA.

What are the Gift Aid changes in April 2011?

• The start of the new tax year is April 6, 2011 - 11 days before the Marathon. From that day the value of Gift Aid falls to 25% as a result of changes to the basic rate of tax (deferred from 2008). This explains why your charity will encourage you nearer the time to ensure that you get as many of your sponsors signed up (and paid up!) by midnight on Tuesday April 5. The value of GA on a £100 donation before that date will be £3 more than for such a donation given post-race. As always with GA, the calculations are done automatically on e-giving sites; if you are using sponsor forms, you will be asked to send cheques and cash (see below) to the address in YOUR SPACE so as to arrive no later than Monday April 5 to qualify for the extra GA.

To whom should sponsorship cheques be paid?

• In all cases, cheques should be made payable to your charity, not to CRunCH. The address to send them to is listed in YOUR SPACE. If you have cheques that can be paid in now, please send them in on a regular basis. When mailing cheques your should always keep a record of what you are sending (keep one copy and enclose another with the cheques). For added security, please use the Recorded Delivery (“Signed For”) service at the Post Office to guard against loss in the post.

Can I have collecting tins for a street collection?

• Street collections are not allowed under charity law unless the charity concerned has sought specific permission from the relevant local authority. However, there is nothing to stop you organising entirely private collections among friends, family and colleagues, and you may be able to get a tin or box for this purpose from your charity (please contact them direct). The rules for collection on private property – e.g. within a supermarket – are different: in that case you simply need the owners’ permission.

Can I have some headed paper from my charity to make my appeals look more “official”?

• Again, you will need to contact your charity direct. Each charity has its own policy on how - and by whom - it will allow its letterhead to be used.

How do I deal with cash or cheques payable to me, rather than the charity: can I open a bank account in the charity’s name for collecting money?

• Banking laws do not permit this. You can, however, open a “number 2 personal account” in your own name so that any money paid direct to you or in cash is kept separate from your own funds. Or you can deposit in your own account and then write a balancing cheque to the charity. But the best option is to persuade people to use your e-giving site or make out cheques payable to the charity. You can get sponsors to give you post-dated cheques to save time after the race. If you are already sitting on cheques that can be paid in now, please send them in ASAP as advised above. If a large sum of cash is involved, such as a collection in a workplace or gym, ask the host organisation to turn this into a cheque. If this is not possible, contact us for information about making a direct deposit into the charity's account at a bank local to you.

I am planning to organise a raffle as part of my fundraising - is that OK?

• Raffles involving the general public have to be officially licensed - which is a procedure that has to be organised by the charity. However there is nothing in law to stop you running an entirely private raffle among people you know - e.g. colleagues at work. For more information, contact your charity.

What use is made of the information I have supplied about myself?

• We give you our guarantee that this information will be used only in accordance with the Data Protection Act and we will not share your details with any third party without your express permission. See also our Privacy Policy.