Giving From the UK

Teachers College can accept charitable gifts from alums and friends in the U.K. The Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) serves as the mechanism for giving. The only requirement is that you must be a tax payer in the U.K. and/or the U.K. and U.S.—and your yearly earnings must exceed the U.S. foreign-earned income threshold, currently at $80,000.

The CAF American Donor Fund makes sense for you if you are:

a dual taxpayer, paying tax in both the U.K. and U.S.
a U.K. citizen making a gift to a U.S. charity
a U.S. citizen living in the U.K. paying U.K. taxes

Schedule – Payment is usually made to the U.S. charity within 6 to 8 weeks after the initial gift. This timing is used to recover the Gift Aid portion of the donation to ensure a consolidated payment.

Acknowledgement – In addition to receiving an acknowledgment from Teachers College, the U.K. donor receives a U.K. tax receipt from CAF for the gift.

Processing Fee – CAF charges a £50 minimum for gifts under £1,000. From £1,000 up, the fee is 5% on the first £15,000, 1% on the next £60,000 and 0% over £75,000. These fees are automatically deducted from the donor gift.

Eligible Assets – The only assets eligible for a gift through CAF are cash or appreciated securities. Please note that the Gift Aid tax option is not available for gifts of stock.

How it Works

Teachers College is registered in the U.K. with the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) as a recognized US charity. The donor must secure and complete three (3) American Donor Fund forms from CAF:

These forms can be downloaded at cafonline.org.

Please note that if you have previously made a donation via CAF, then you do not need to complete the Account Opening Form and Gift Aid Declaration unless there has been a name change or a new passport issued.

Benefits

Using CAF is a secure and easy way for U.K. and dual taxpayers to support charities in the U.S. with immediate tax benefits. The CAF American Donor Fund is a U.S. 501(c)(3) charity and therefore donations to the fund are classified as gifts to a U.S. public charity and qualify for a tax deduction in the U.S. as well as Gift Aid benefits in the U.K.

Gift Aid allows charities to be reimbursed for the tax you paid on the money donated. This is usually calculated at the basic tax rate of 20% of the gross amount of the gift. This means that your donation can be worth an extra 20p for every £1 donated at no extra cost to you.

Options

CAF Trust – If you wish to make a gift of at least £10,000 to charity, a CAF Trust is an easy way to give lasting support to TC. Your trust accumulates interest and the income goes to TC. You can also distribute the capital at a stipulated date. There is no appointing of trustees or registering with the Charities Commission, and there are no legal fees or other expenses in producing annual account reports.

CAF Charity Account – You can also contribute current funds to TC through a Charity Account. When you register, you can stipulate donations by mail, in person, by telephone or online. The account can be funded by a direct cash/stock gift. Appreciated securities are sold through CAF and are exempt from capital gains.

CAF Legacy Gifts – All you have to do is make a gift in your will to CAF and stipulate which charity receives the gift. Any sum you leave to charity is exempt from inheritance tax, reducing the amount of tax payable on your estate. Legacy gifts are not applicable for Gift Aid.