As a DGR, you can authorise a business to collect donations from the public on your behalf. Banks, shops, and energy providers often participate in these arrangements.
They may help a donor by:
- setting-up direct debits from a customer's bank account
- facilitating a donation at the register (like adding $2 onto the shopper docket)
- adding a separate charge of a customer's statement (like their energy bill).
If you decide to do this, you and the business should confirm arrangements for issuing receipts to donors. For example, you may prefer to issue receipts and ask that the business supply details of the name, address and amount collected from each donor. Alternatively, you may agree to the business issuing a statement to each donor identifying the amount collected on your behalf.
Example – Supermarket collecting donations for a DGR
Following an overseas disaster, Local People Supermarkets wanted to become a collection point for the DGR Overseas Helpers. It was up to Local People Supermarkets to ensure that Overseas Helpers had an overseas gift fund for the disaster so that the funds donated by their customers could be used for that purpose only.
Overseas Helpers and Local People Supermarkets made the following arrangements:
- Local People Supermarkets' checkout docket included all of the following:
- Overseas Helper's name and ABN
- the amount that was donated
- that the gift was made for the specific disaster
- the date the gift was made.
- Local People Supermarkets staff told customers that they needed to retain their docket for tax purposes.
- Local People Supermarkets substantiated that the donation was forwarded to Overseas Helpers.