Donations and refunds policy

About donations

A donation is a voluntary gift to Legal website operator to be confirmed for which the donor receives no equivalent goods or services. Unless a particular appeal says otherwise, donations support our general charitable and parish purposes, allowing those responsible for the charity to apply funds where they are most needed. Payments for tickets, goods, hall hire or another service are not donations and may have separate terms.

Making a donation

Donation pages should identify the recipient organisation, the purpose of any appeal, accepted payment methods, whether the gift is one-off or recurring, and any material platform fee. Online payments are normally processed by a specialist provider under its own terms and privacy notice. We do not normally receive or store complete card details.

Recurring gifts

You may cancel a recurring card payment or Direct Debit for future collections using the provider’s controls, through your bank where applicable, or by contacting us. Cancellation does not automatically refund donations already collected. Allow enough time before the next collection for instructions to be processed.

Restricted appeals

Where an appeal is expressly restricted to a project or purpose, we will use the gift for that purpose. The appeal should explain what will happen if it raises too much, too little, or the project cannot proceed—for example, whether funds may be used for a closely related purpose or donors will be offered a return. A donor request written in a payment reference does not by itself create a restriction that we have accepted.

Refunds and payment errors

Charitable donations are generally final and are not purchases with a cooling-off period. However, contact us promptly if a payment was duplicated, entered for the wrong amount, made without authority, affected by a technical error, or if law requires it to be returned. We will consider the evidence, payment-provider rules, Gift Aid position and charity-law duties before deciding.

Trustees cannot return a valid donation simply because a donor changes their mind if they have no legal power to do so. We may also be required to refuse or return a gift where accepting or retaining it would be unlawful or not in the charity’s best interests. Approved refunds are normally made to the original payment method.

Gift Aid

Gift Aid can be claimed only when the legal requirements are met and we hold a valid declaration. The donor must be giving their own money and be responsible for enough UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax to cover the amount claimed; otherwise the donor may need to pay the difference to HMRC. Tell us if your name, address or tax status changes or if you want to cancel a declaration. A refunded donation will no longer qualify.

Donor care and vulnerability

Fundraising must be legal, open, honest and respectful. We will not deliberately pressure someone, exploit credulity or vulnerability, or ignore a clear request to end a fundraising conversation. If we reasonably believe a person lacks capacity to make the gift or the transaction may involve fraud, abuse or undue influence, we may pause, refuse or return it and follow safeguarding or reporting duties.

Privacy and acknowledgements

We use donor information to administer the gift, keep accounts, prevent fraud, claim Gift Aid where authorised, thank the donor and meet legal obligations. A donation does not automatically subscribe someone to marketing. Public acknowledgement, dedication wording or sharing donor details requires an appropriate lawful basis and, where needed, permission. See our privacy policy.

• Privacy policy: How donor information is handled

Questions, cancellations and refund requests

Contact parish.ourladyofwalsingham@northamptondiocese.org with your name, donation date, amount, payment reference, reason for the request and a safe way to contact you. Do not email full card or bank details. We may ask the payment provider to verify the transaction and may need proof that you were authorised to make it.

Fundraising complaints

Use our complaints procedure if you are unhappy with our fundraising or response. If the issue remains unresolved and falls within its remit, the Fundraising Regulator may be able to consider it.

• Complaints procedure: How we handle complaints