The giving page
A giving page is one appeal, like "New tents for summer camp, £4,000", with a progress bar and a link you share with parents and supporters. A specific ask does much better than a plain Donate button. Create one under Giving page in the menu, then copy its link into an email, a newsletter or your group's Facebook page.
Supporters can give monthly or just once. Monthly is by Direct Debit: they authorise it once, and it carries on until they stop it through their bank. A few pounds a month from a handful of families adds up to more than most one-off appeals, and the fees on it are lowest. One-off gifts are by card (including Apple Pay and Google Pay) or straight from their banking app.
The money goes straight to your group's own account. Tools for Scouting takes nothing from a donation. GoCardless or Stripe charge your group their usual small fee per payment, which on a very small one-off gift is proportionally large; another reason monthly is the better ask.
Before a page can take donations it needs three things, and the Giving page lists whichever are missing: your charity number, or the HMRC reference number you claim Gift Aid under if your group is excepted and has no charity number (the page shows it), Fundraising on a paid plan or a trial, and an online payments account. Connect GoCardless for monthly and bank gifts and Stripe for cards, from your group’s settings in Camp Planner. Either works; both is best.
Gift Aid. A supporter who is a UK taxpayer can tick a box and give their home address, which lets your group claim 25p from HMRC for every £1. They're emailed a copy of the declaration. An administrator sees who gave and can download a Gift Aid schedule: one row per payment, in the columns HMRC's claim spreadsheet uses, leaving out anything refunded. Check the names and house numbers, then claim through HMRC's Charities Online. Declarations are kept for six years, as HMRC requires. Online gifts aren't covered by the Small Donations Scheme, so each one needs a declaration to claim on.
Closing an appeal stops new gifts. Monthly gifts already set up carry on until each supporter stops theirs, so tell them if the money should go elsewhere.
Please don't name or picture a young person in an appeal’s description. The page shows only what you type, and it’s shared beyond the group.