Earlier today I reported on the drop in the Gift Aid reclaim period from six years to four years:
www.fundraising.co.uk/node/178222
with effect from April 2010.
I still think this is a major development, and not for the best. But it doesn't seem to be attracting much attention or discussion here and elsewhere.
Have I missed something? Was this development known about beforehand? Was there any effort by sector bodies to try to stop it going ahead, or at least arguing for a staged introduction?
Wiping out a third of the potential Gift Aid income you can claim for in one go, and giving charities less than 12 months to prepare for this change, seems to be rather precipitous.
Or am I being naive? Although I see that the Government says that this move is not designed to single out charities, is this not the long-awaited response from the government that often (rightly) criticised the charity sector for failing to make the most of the Gift Aid opportunity? Was there an inevitability about this then, and that's why no-one seems particularly bothered?
