This is probably one of the aspects of Gift Aid which has the least focus. And yet it is probably the area which has the most potential for increasing Gift Aid.

Gift Aid Strategy Planning means taking a good hard look  at your Gift Aid recovery and seeing where it was good, where it was not so good and then drawing up plans for improvement. It also means having a timetable for doing this on a regular basis, so that a detailed picture can be built up and continuous improvements developed

Areas that to be considered will include

• Overall demographics of donors. This will include
  • Geographic distribution
  • Age make up
  • Sex
  • Marital/partner status
  • Employment etc.
• Donation history
• Fundraising activity analysis
• Media/publicity

The exactly nature of this strategic review will naturally depend on your charity and the areas in which your fundraising takes place. However, just undertaking such a review will undoubtedly highlight areas where improvement is possible, as well as question whether “we have always done it this way” is a good enough reason to continue doing so.