Help ME Research UK
ME Research UK receives no goverment funding, and relies on donations from other charitable trusts, and from donations and legacies from members of the public. As a registered charity, ME Research UK is tax-exempt, allowing us to realise your donation or bequest in full. If you would like to help ME Research UK by providing financial support for our important work, there are eight options.
- Make a donation by credit/debit card over the phone
- Make a donation online via the Charities Aid Foundation e-fundraising service
- Make a donation by credit/debit card or cheque by post
- Set up a standing order to make regular donations
- Donate via Inland Revenue Self-Assessment
- Donate by Payroll Giving/Give As You Earn
- Leave a legacy in your will
- Give shares or securities
Make a donation by credit/debit card over the phone
If you would like to make a donation by credit or debit card over the telephone, please call us on 01738 451234 between 9.00 am and 4.30 pm, Monday to Friday. We gratefully accept Delta, Mastercard, Switch and Visa cards.
Make a donation online
Online donations can be made using the Charities Aid Foundation e-fundraising service. This is a secure transaction environment managed by CAF on ME Research UK’s behalf. You can donate using a variety of methods, including Visa, Mastercard, Delta, Switch and Solo, and either make a single donation or set up a regular direct debit. Please click one of the links below (you may need to have cookies enabled on your browser):
Make a donation by credit/debit card or cheque by post
You can also make a donation by credit/debit card or cheque by post to the ME Research UK main office. Download a donation form (pdf 36 KB) here. Please make cheques payable to ME Research UK, and remember we have separate General, Research and Welfare accounts, so you can specify the area for which your donation is to be used. You may be able to help us further by completing the Gift Aid declaration form (pdf 11 KB) allowing us to reclaim the tax on your donation. The form has more details.
Set up a standing order
Regular donations can be made by setting up a standing order with your bank. Download our Standing Order form (pdf 41 KB), complete your details, and return it to ME Research UK.
Donate via Inland Revenue Self-Assessment
If you complete a Self-Assessment Form for Inland Revenue purposes, from April 2004 it has been possible to nominate a charity to receive all or part of any repayment due to you. Donations can be anonymous. If you would like to help ME Research UK using this method, the reference number you need to quote is XR38358. If you need further information, please contact the Inland Revenue helpline on 0845 3020203.
Donate by Payroll Giving/Give As You Earn
If your workplace has a Payroll Giving scheme, and you are taxed through PAYE, you can donate to ME Research UK direct from your wages, and it’s tax-free! For example, if you give £20.00 a month to charity through Payroll Giving, the tax relief means it will cost you only £15.60. Payroll Giving is also possible for people in receipt of an employment pension who are taxed using PAYE. It’s all very easy to organise. Just approach the Personnel or the Payroll Department at your work and, if they have a scheme, they will give you the relevant form. The Inland Revenue website has a list of Payroll Giving agencies and explains payroll giving in greater detail.
Alternatively, your employer may be running the Give as You Earn scheme, the UK’s largest and most successful payroll giving scheme administered by the Charities Aid Foundation. Under Give As You Earn, any employee or pensioner paid under PAYE can donate to any charitable organisation in the UK. If your employer is a member of the scheme, you can sign up online straight away — the Give As You Earn website will tell you if your employer is a member, and it includes a calculator so you can see how much your donation would be worth to ME Research UK. If your employer is not already a member, you can contact the Charities Aid Foundation for further information on signing them, and yourself, up to the scheme.
Leave a legacy
You can leave a legacy to ME Research UK in your Will. Legacies are important sources of income for many medical research charities, and have contributed greatly to advances in medical and scientific research in recent years. It is relatively simple to draft a Will or add an addendum to an existing Will, and by consulting a solicitor you can make sure your estate or part of it is inherited by the beneficiaries of your choice. As we are a charity, your gift would not be subject to Inheritance Tax or Capital Gains Tax.
There are a number of types of bequest you can make. You can leave a fixed sum of money (pecuniary legacy), a percentage of the remainder of your estate after other bequests have been made (residual gift), a particular item of value, a conditional bequest, or a revisionary bequest. We recommend seeking the advice of a solicitor, who will make sure the type you choose is fully in accord with your intentions and appropriate to your circumstances.
If you would like to leave a legacy to ME Research UK, please let us know by filling in our legacy pledge form (pdf 187 KB). Your pledge is confidential and not legally binding. It helps us greatly to plan ahead, but does not commit you in any way.
Give shares or securities
Giving shares and securities to charity is a great way of unlocking capital and passing it on to ME Research UK. Since April 2000, gifts of shares have been both eligible for full personal income tax relief and exempt from capital gains tax. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, a gift of £1,000 listed shares could reduce your income tax bill by £220, and by £400 if you are a higher rate taxpayer. In addition, no capital gains tax is payable on gifts of shares to charity. Similar relief also applies if you wish to donate land or buildings.
Who can give shares tax-efficiently?
If you are a UK taxpayer who holds listed shares, unit trusts or OEICs, you can donate them to charity and claim personal tax relief. Non-UK taxpayers can also donate shares but are not eligible for tax relief.
How does it work?
You can claim income tax relief equal to the market value of the shares on the day the gift is made, plus any associated costs such as brokers’ fees. If you are a higher-rate taxpayer and give a charity £1,000-worth of shares you will be able to claim a reduction of £1,000 in your taxable income when you complete your tax return for the year, reducing your tax bill by £400. No capital gains tax is payable on any increase in the value of the shares. In theory this could mean a further ‘saving’ of up to 40%. However, where shares have fallen in value the loss cannot be used to offset a capital gains tax liability.
- Value of shares donated: £1,000
- Income tax relief for higher rate taxpayer: £400
- Potential capital gains saving: £400
- ‘Cost’ to the higher rate taxpaying donor: £200
Shares or cash?
Whether you decide to give shares or cash through Gift Aid will depend on your individual tax situation. For example, if you have shares which have a large capital gains tax liability, you may be better off giving these directly to charity than selling them yourself, paying the tax and donating the proceeds.
Giving shares: the practicalities
If you intend to give shares you may wish to approach the charity you want to give to, in the first instance, as many charities will arrange the transaction or offer guidance. Alternatively, organisations such as Charities Aid Foundation can help — you can gift the shares to the Charities Aid Foundation which will sell them and pass on the proceeds to your charity of choice.
ShareGift
You can also use ShareGift, the charity donation scheme which exists to make it easy for you to give any number of shares to charity. It specialises in accepting small holdings of shares, particularly those which are not worth selling because that would cost more than they are worth, and it also helps people with larger gifts of shares for their favourite charities.
