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Is it a charity or some ones hobby of keeping pet
"What registered charities are not allowed to do is to take advantage of their status by trading significantly. The Charities commission typically interprets that as meaning that not more than 20% of a charity's income should come from trading activities. So while it's true that a charity must have "exclusively charitable purposes" that doesn't significantly restrict the ways in which a charity may raise funds in support of those purposes. This whole ferret racing rubbish is quite simply that. Rubbish. One ferret collector has claimed that ferret racing isn't deemed charitable and her reasons makes no more sense than claiming that raffles aren't deemed charitable. There are no such things as "charitable activities" in other words. There are charitable purposes and activities, like ferret racing, undertaken in support of those charitable purposes
Please contact the charity commission direct to find out who is telling the truth and do not believe all the people who make excuses as to why they can not register, so are you giving money towards a registered charity or to help with someone's hobby of keeping pets?
Posted with the authours permission"
Check out the following
"What would you do if 40 ferrets lived in your home?
From the Bolton Evening News, first published Wednesday 16th Apr 1997.
http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/1997/4/16/830306.html"
Is it a charity or some ones hobby of keeping pets
As the show season is underway and you find yourself going to village, town or county shows, etc., and handing out money to help with rescued animals. Is the person who is making the collection a registered charity or could this be part of some one's hobby. In the case of some one's hobby, why should the public give money to someone who is collecting animals and not rehomeing them but keeping them as part of a private collection.
[At the time of first posting about what some people do with money collected in the name of ferret welfare, NO ferret rescue anywhere in the UK was a registered charity even though some of these ferret rescues make out to the public that they are charities or do charitable work, since updating this page one or two ferret rescues have now become registered charities.]
I search the UK charity commission web site, to find out how many ferret rescues were registered as charities, the result was that not one with the word ferret or ferrets in the title came up in the search, so that would lead me to believe that no ferret rescues is registered with the charity commission. I know that other rescue centres are around that take in ferrets, but I find it strange that no ferret rescue is registered, by the way it cost nothing to register with the charity commission as a charity, all you have to do is be willing to open your books to them to find out where your money is going
If we had a registered national ferret rescue it could help with the veterinary cost of spaying, castration or vasectomies like the charities that exist for cats and dogs?
When I got in touch with the charity commission and I was told, "If the organisation raises over £1000 in a 12 month period, then it has an obligation to seek registration with the commission" "This includes money donations, donations of food or kind". This means that any rescues that collect less that £1000 in a 12 month's period of food, money or the kind has no need to register.
Starting up a Rescue
It is important that no one start up a rescue without first having a nest egg from which to withdraw. When the word is out that you have a rescue, the animals will start to come. By registering yourself as a rescue it will be assumed that you will have the money to provide care where others could not, and this includes emergency medical care. I know that like myself some rescues have started from scratch with no funds, straight from home, with no help from the public and practically nothing to start with and have somehow survived.
In order to keep a rescue operating, there has to be a continuous cash flow. The best way to do so is by fund rasing, but if you are a small rescue, it may be impossible.
You need to keep up to date records of where the funds raised go, as nothing makes a rescue look bad than not opening the books to its members, the public, or to people who want to make a donation and would like to see where their money is going. By keep accurate and up to date records. You should make sure to separate your own personal expenses from those of the rescue, the rescue should not be their to pay your food or phone bills.
The success or failure of your rescue will depend of the number of volunteers, try to get as many as possible so that one or two people do not end up doing all the work. You need to be able to delegate work so that if you need to have time away, the needs of your animals will be taken into consideration, feeding, cleaning, grooming, etc.
Your rescue needs to set your self a realistic goal and something to stand for, how many animals are you going to rescue each year. If you reach that point, are you going to be able to say "NO", or have a situation where you may need the help of other rescues to be able to continue your work? You need to put your goal in writing so that every one can see it, then once you have reached that goal you can then say we are full and if we take in more animals we will become over crowded. No rescue will run successfully if the goal is disregarded and more animals are taken in. If you are looking for congratulations each time you take a pet in or rehome a pet then maybe you should look at why you are rescuing animals.
Anyone who takes donations at events or accepts donations of just £2.74p per day over a year will be taken over the £1000 barrier.
The UK Charity Commissioners are appointed under the Charities Act 1993 principally to further the work of charities by giving advice and information also checking for abuses.
Aims:- To give the public confidence in the integrity of charities. Website:www.charity-commision.gov.uk
"The following was taken from Registration Application Form"
[Application for Registration as a Charity]
What are the main advantages of being a charity?
The main advantages are that charities:
* do not normally have to pay income/corporation tax (in the case of some types of income), capital gains tax, stamp duty, and gifts to charities are free of inheritance tax;
* pay no more than 20% of normal business rates on the buildings which they use and occupy to further their charitable purposes;
* can get special VAT treatment in some circumstances;
* are often able to raise funds from the public, grant-making trusts and local government more easily than non-charitable bodies;
* can formally represent and help to meet the needs of the community;
* are able to give the public the assurance that they are being monitored and advised by us;
* can seek advice from us;
* can get information from us, for example, our range of free publications.
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