Fact Sheet
Freedom Account Fact Sheet
The Freedom Account is an individual charity account, giving more flexibility when an employee wishes to donate to charity. Donations can be left in the account to build up and then paid out at a time which suits the individual. A wider number of charities, including annual, emergency or local charity appeals can be supported. Also, the account gives the freedom to make regular monthly donations to specific charities while the remaining funds stay in the account.
Please note that donations from your Freedom Account can only be made to UK registered charities and recognised good causes and cannot be used to buy goods and services from charities.
The Freedom Account allows you to build up your donations and whenever you wish you can make donations at any time, you can give to a wider number of charities including annual, emergency or local charity appeals. The account gives you the freedom to set up monthly standing orders to specific charities while the remainder of your funds stay in your account.
Charities Trust's website has a database of over 33,000 UK registered charities and good causes. If the charity you wish to support is not listed please email info@myfreedomaccount.org and once we have verified your nominated charity or good cause this will be added to our database, which will take a few days.
The Freedom Account provides both a charity cheque book and the ability to make donations online via the Charities Trust website.
The Freedom Account makes donations tax effective!
Your Freedom Account is a tax efficient way to manage your charity donations as you can donate via pre tax method - Payroll Giving, and post tax methods via Credit/Debit Card, Bank Transfer or by Cheque.
- Payroll Giving is a donation from your pay and these type of donations receive full tax relief at source. If you are higher rate tax payer Payroll Giving is the most tax efficient way to give to charity.
- Post Tax donations to your Freedom Account will claim from HM Revenue & Customs the Gift Aid from post tax income, the additional 25%, minus minimal 4% administration charge from the claim will be added it to your account.
Upon request Charities Trust can provide a charity chequebook free of charge, however there is an option to have a personalised Freedom Account charity chequebook available at a nominal charge, for further details or to order a charity cheque book visit www.myfreedomaccout.org or call 0151 286 5129. The Freedom Account also provides online access so you can view deposits, standing orders and charity donation history. To access your online account follow the steps below:
Steps to activate your Freedom Account online
- Visit www.myfreedomaccount.org and click the ‘Register Online Account' button on the right hand side. Fill in your details and click Create Account.
- Once you have submitted your details an automated email will be sent to the email address submitted in Step 1, containing a randomly generated password and confirmation of your website user-name.
- Upon receipt of the email, click the link to return to www.myfreedomaccount.org and log in with your user name and password, the log in function is located on the right hand side of the www.myfreedomaccount.org home page.
- After logging in you will land on the Member Homepage. On the left hand side, click on the option Create/Activate Account under the title Freedom Account.
- You will then see 3 boxes under the heading "Import your Freedom Account details". Enter the security details, and click Restore Freedom Account. Your Freedom Account is now fully activated and you have access to manage your account online.
- If you experience any problems with you online account then please email info@myfreedomaccount.org.
Freedom Account - Features
Donations out of your Freedom Account
1 Secure online donations are quicker and hassle free for you and your nominated charity or good cause, visit: www.myfreedomaccount.org and log in using your user name and password (see Step 1 above for details). Please note all online donations are anonymous the charity will not be given your name and contact details. If you want your charity to know you are the donor please use your charity cheque book and complete the relevant section with your personal details
2 Charity Cheques can be written and sent to a charity or good cause of your choice, or used to sponsor friends, family and colleagues for sponsored charity events.
3 Regular donations can be set up to as many charities or good causes as you wish; the remainder of the balance is then available for emergency disaster appeals, annual fundraising events or sponsoring a friend or colleague who is fundraising for a charity. You can access this option online, or confirm your selection by email sending to info@myfreedomaccount.org or write to Charities Trust to confirm the details.
Ways to deposit money into your Freedom Account
1 Payroll Giving - all donations are tax effective. Every £1 you donate direct from your pay costs you 80p (basic rate tax payer) or 60p (higher rate tax payer).
2 Cheques should be made payable to Charities Trust. Please write your personal GP Account No* on the reverse of your cheque and post this to Charities Trust.
3 Standing Order from your personal bank account to your Freedom Account. Contact Charities Trust on info@myfreedomaccount.org to request a standing order form.
4 Credit/Debit cards - online secure transactions can be made via www.myfreedomaccount.org. Alternatively, refer to your charity cheque book as it includes a slip for Credit/Debit card transactions which can be completed and returned to Charities Trust.
5 Online bank transfer can be set up from your bank account - you will need to quote Charities Trust as the beneficiary with the sort code 20:51:01 account number 90160733 and your personal GP Account No* as the reference.
6 Gift Aid - If you complete a Gift Aid declaration Charities Trust will claim Gift Aid on post tax payments into your account. Please allow up 48 days for transfer of Gift Aid funds to your account balance as Charities Trust can only claim Gift Aid from HMRC once a month and it normally takes 4 - 6 weeks for the funds to be paid.
*Your personal Freedom Account number (begins with GP_ _ _ _ _ ), can be found on the inside cover of your charity cheque book or when you access your account online. If you have lost or misplaced your account number email Charities Trust at info@myfreedomaccount.org and your account number will be emailed to you.
Statements
If you are a 40% tax rate payer, the Freedom Account is the ideal solution, as it provides all the evidence required for making a claim on monies given to charity against your annual tax return.
1 Quarterly statements are sent to you either by email or hard copy by post to the address you provided. For hard copy statements by post, there is a cost of £1.00 per quarter to provide this service. If you would like an email statement, please email info@myfreedomaccount.org.
2 Your balance can be checked at anytime, visit www.myfreedomaccount.org, log into your account to access this information.
3 Your donation history is available at anytime and provides a list of all of the monies you have donated to the charities you have nominated.
Charities Trust Charges *
As a charity, Charities Trust provides the Freedom Account services at minimal cost, a small administration charge is taken per donation into the account to cover operating costs:
Payments into your account (per transaction):
- Payroll Giving - 4%
- Bank transfers into your account - 4%
- Debit/Credit card transactions - 4% (inclusive of all bank processing charges)
- Standing order - 4%
- Cheque deposit - 4%
- Gift Aid - 4%
Donations out of the account:
- Free of charge both to the donor and to the charity
Also covered by the administration fee:
- Charity cheque book** - free
- Quarterly email statements - free
- Postal statements are charged at £1.00 per quarter
- Online access - free
* Charities Trust reserve the right to review and alter the charges but would notify you in advance if the charges were to increase.
** Personalised charity chequebooks are available at a nominal charge
N.B.
Please note that donations out of the Freedom Account can only be made to UK registered charities and recognised good causes and can not be used to buy goods and services from charities.
FAQ's
Is there a minimum donation?
The minimum monthly donation via Payroll Giving to a Freedom Account is £10 per month. However this will only cost you £8.00 (or £6 if you are a higher rate tax payer).
Can a charity claim Gift Aid on my Freedom Account donation?
No - If your donation is taken from source, which means direct from your salary before income tax is levied, your donation will have already received all of the available tax relief with no further tax recoverable on the donation. However, if you make additional donations from your post tax income, Charities Trust will claim back the Gift Aid. A small administration charge is made against the 25% Gift Aid claim. Once the claim has gone through the additional monies will be transferred to your account - this usually takes 6 - 8 weeks.
What happens if I write a Freedom Account charity cheque for more than the funds available in my account?
Charities Trust can only make payments to charities where there are sufficient funds in your Freedom Account so we ask you not do to this. However, if it does happen the charity cheque will be held until there are funds available to make the payment, we cannot guarantee that pending charity cheques will be redeemed in the order they were written.
I have seen charities ask for donations by CAF vouchers - is this the same as Charities Trust Freedom Account charity cheques?
There are a number of Payroll Giving Agencies. CAF (Charities Aid Foundation) is one of them. They offer a Charity Account facility which is similar. Charity cheques (or vouchers) from any Payroll Giving Agency can be used to make donations to any UK registered charity or recognised good cause.
Can I put completed charity cheques into a charity collection tin and/or envelopes?
Yes - the charity will forward the charity cheque to Charities Trust who will forward the donation out of your Freedom Account to the charity.
How quickly will the charity receive my donation?
Donations are passed on to charities at the end of each month. Payments by BACS are transferred in order to reach the charity's bank account on the last working day of the month. Cheque payments are sent out at the end of the month.
If I don't have an email address can I receive regular statements?
Yes - you can receive quarterly postal statements, however there is a quarterly charge of £1.00 to receive postal statements. The quarterly charge will be deducted out of your Freedom Account. Electronic statements sent to an email address are FREE of charge.
What if I am experiencing difficulties with my online Freedom Account?
E mail us on info@myfreedomaccount.org with as much detail as possible or telephone 0151 286 1594
