Fundraising collections are a great way of raising money for Shelter, and we simply couldn’t do this without the support of volunteers. The safety and wellbeing of volunteers when receiving, carrying, and counting cash from collections or supporters is our main priority. The guidelines below will also help to make sure that Shelter is fulfilling its obligations as a registered charity, so that we can continue to raise and collect money in this way in the future.
Remember, if you have any questions you can contact the Community Fundraising team at Shelter who will be able to assist you. You can reach them by email at community@shelter.org.uk or phone at 0344 515 1190.
The basics
All cash handling must be carried out in a safe and secure environment.
Cash should be collected, counted, transported, banked, and recorded by two unrelated individuals who are not family members, partners or housemates. This does not have to be someone who attended the collection.
All cash received should be stored securely (ideally locked) until banked.
Cash should be bagged and banked in suitable bags and transported in a way that helps disguise the cash (such as a shopper or carrier bag).
Ideally, cash and cheques should be counted and banked the same day they are collected, or at least within two working days.
Children under 18 must not be left with any responsibility for handling money and/or responsibility for counting collected money.
If returning uncounted cash to Shelter, collection tins/buckets and seals must be intact.
What if I need to store the money overnight?
If you are collecting for us for an extended period, or when banking facilities are not open, you will need to safely store the collection bucket/tin overnight. In these instances, it may be unavoidable that you are left alone with the cash. We advise you to:
Store the money in a safe place within your home or office.
Ensure that the seals have not been tampered with before moving the money from your safe place.
If you feel they have been tampered with, please let one of the Shelter Community team know and we will advise you on what to do next.
Keeping yourself safe
If you are ever in the unfortunate position of being challenged while handling cash, we ask that you hand over the cash without resisting and report any theft or loss to the police within 24 hours of the incident, as well as informing the Community Fundraising team at Shelter.
Buckets and collection tins can become very heavy once full, so think about how you might split the load between volunteers.
Once your collection is over, please ensure that at least two of you will be available to deal with the money collected – as far as possible no one should be left to carry money by themselves.
If travelling to or from your collection by public transport, remember to carry bags big enough to conceal your collection buckets and tins. If you are using a car, remember to store your collection materials out of sight.
Making your payment
When it comes to paying in the money you have raised, you have several options.
Option one
After you have collected the money, empty the tins/buckets and bank any cash into your personal bank account. You can then transfer the money to us by cheque or by bank transfer.
If you wish to pay by cheque:
Write a cheque payable to ‘Shelter’ for the amount collected and banked.
Include any sponsorship forms you have used so that we are able to claim Gift Aid.
Please write your unique reference number from your welcome letter on the back of the cheque.
Please send the cheque to your contact at Shelter at this address:
Community Fundraising
Shelter
88 Old Street
London
EC1V 9HU
If you wish to pay by bank transfer:
You can transfer the funds to us directly, using the details below:
Account name: Shelter National Campaign for Homeless People Ltd
Sorting code: 30-00-02
Account number: 01167206
Please quote your unique reference number, so the team know it’s you.
Option two
Alternatively, after you have collected money, you can empty the tins/buckets and bank any cash into the Shelter bank account using the same details and reference as above.