Introduction
Donations from individuals and organisations are essential for the work of Leicester Animal Aid. We welcome and are very grateful for the support we receive from our supporters. Without these donations, we would not be able to continue to help cats and dogs at our Centre or support people and their pets in the community.
It is our responsibility and aim to raise and accept funds to support the Charity’s mission, however, there are some situations where it may be necessary to refuse or return donations. This may be due to a conflict of interests, to maintain LAA’s work as an independent Charity, to protect LAA’s reputation, to ensure LAA’s donations are within the law and to protect vulnerable people.
Information and advice
This policy has been created using advice provided by The Charity Commission and the Fundraising Regulator.
The Charity Commission’s advice on “Accepting, refusing and returning donations to your charity” can be found here.
Leicester Animal Aid reports directly to the Charity Commission. You can view our reports on their website here.
Leicester Animal Aid is a member of the Fundraising Regulator and adheres to the Code of Fundraising Practice. You can learn more about the Fundraising Regulator here and how we follow their code here.
Decision making
The Leicester Animal Aid Board of Trustees has overall responsibility for decision making and their role is to ensure the best interests of our Charity and those we support.
The Trustees have agreed upon this policy to help guide their decision making and the decision making of LAA staff and to ensure due diligence and appropriate risk assessments relating to accepting donations for the Charity.
Day-to-day decisions will be made by the General Manager and the Fundraising Team, who will assess, based on this policy, whether donations can be accepted or need to be reviewed by the Board of Trustees before acceptance.
Procedures for following policy
The Fundraising team to undertake “know your donor” due diligence with new donors and fundraisers giving or raising a value of £10,000 or more, escalating to General Manager if there are any concerns. A copy will be recorded on our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database and sent to the General Manager.
The Administration and Accounts Team will be trained, and have procedures in place, to notice unusual or new donations from anonymous or organisations unknown to LAA.
If there is further concern, the General Manager will raise with the Board of Trustees
Decisions will be recorded with supporting information on our CRM database and a copy sent to the General Manager.
"No go" organisations and industries
There are a number of organisations and industries that LAA will not accept donations from as we believe their work contradict the aims of the Charity. This reflects LAA’s Investment Policy.
“No go” organisations and industries include:
-
Animal testing
-
Punishment based animal training
-
Businesses that create or promote animal training punishment devices (e.g. shock or prong collars)
-
Hunting and shooting
-
Fur trading
-
Intensive farming
-
Tobacco
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. The Trustees will consider other organisations on a case-by-case basis and may not accept donations from organisations where they believe there to be a conflict of interests.
Fundraising and vulnerable people
The Charity has a policy for fundraising and vulnerable people. Please see our full policy here. Fundraisers adhere to this policy and any concerns are passed to the General Manager and then if required, to the Board of Trustees.
Equality Act 2010
Individual donors are protected by the Equality Act 2010 and this will be taken into account. Businesses are not protected by the Equality Act 2010 but do need to adhere to it.
Returning donations
The Charity will not usually return a donation that has been accepted that is in line with this policy.
The Charity will aim to refuse donations rather than returning a donation made that is not in accordance with this Policy. A donation may be returned in the following circumstances:
1) The donation has come from illegal sources.
2) When a donation does not comply with the Charity’s vulnerable people policy
3) When a donation cannot be legally given, e.g. the donor doesn’t own the donation
4) If a donation is required to be returned if not used e.g. a grant where the full donation should be spent
Anonymous donations
LAA follows the Charity Commission guidance for anonymous donations. Donations over £25,000 (including money, shares and goods) where LAA cannot identify the donor will be reported to the Charity Commission as a Serious Incident.
We understand that some donors wish to remain anonymous and The Charity Commission state that charities can accept anonymous donations where there are no suspicious circumstances.
LAA will undertake a “Know your donor” procedure for gifts of £10,000 or more to help protect the Charity from donations that may be linked to, or are the proceeds of, criminal activity or from activities that contradict our aims and values as a Charity.
Money laundering
The Charity aims to avoid money laundering through due diligence checks. However, LAA understands that charities are targets for money laundering and will question unusual donor requests as per the Charity Commission’s advice.
Restricted donations
The majority of donations go to one of the following funds:
1) General unrestricted donation to the Charity
2) Community Pet Support Scheme
3) Veterinary Support Scheme
4) LAA’s Veterinary Fees
5) Enrichment activities
6) Team and Animal Wellbeing
However, the Charity does accept donations towards other restricted funds and will create further restricted funding for specific donations such as a legacy or major gift.
We may refuse donations with restrictions that cannot be met, but will aim to communicate with the donor, or executors in the case of a legacy, taking further advice if required.
Fundraising "on behalf of" vs "in aid of"
All businesses that fundraise for Leicester Animal Aid are doing so “in aid of” the Charity’s work, not “on behalf of”.
The Charity will take into consideration the factors above when agreeing to accept donations that have been raised “in aid of” the Charity and this will be raised in initial discussions with businesses.
Any businesses that wish to join Leicester Animal Aid’s Business Club will need to agree with the terms and conditions prior to becoming a “LAA Business Club Sponsor”.
Partnerships
Any Charity or Corporate Partnership will be entered following a review of the benefits and risks to all parties.
Certain partnerships will require an agreement before entering. For any corporate partnerships for a large business that should be registered with the Modern Slavery Contact Database must have a Modern Slavery Statement to be considered for partnership.
Businesses may require a more in-depth due diligence check depending on the sector and size of the company, e.g. evidence of a satisfactory Modern Slavery Statement.
If you want to speak about a Partnership with Leicester Animal Aid please contact [email protected]
Contact
If you have any questions or want further details, please contact [email protected] or visit our Contact Us page.
This policy is effective as of July 2025.