Beneficiary Gifts

Beneficiary, or virtual gifts, involve donors 'buying' a gift for a recipient from a catalogue or website but instead of the recipient receiving a gift, the donor's money is spent on a charitable activity or product.

They can provide a fun and altruistic way in which to engage donors by:

  • offering supporters a new way to engage with the charity;
  • capitalising on the public's desire to shop ethically via catalogues and online;
  • offering donors a new way of donating;
  • creating a new revenue stream;
  • acquiring new supporters;
  • testing catalogue products and direct mail asks; and
  • raising awareness of the charity among recipients.
Before starting a beneficiary gifts scheme, careful planning is needed. What will you offer? How many items are needed? Does the catalogue reflect beneficiaries' needs?

Honesty and transparency are central to fundraising through beneficiary gifts. If money is donated for a specific purpose, it must be used for this purpose.

Codes of Fundraising Practice

The Accountability and Transparency Code of Fundraising sets best practice standards for communicating openly and honestly with donors.

Depending on how you choose to market the gifts, other Codes will also be relevant, such as the Fundraising through Electronic Media and Direct Mail Codes.

Institute Information

More information about the types of questions to ask and issues to consider is available in the Beneficiary Gifts briefing paper. The document also includes cases studies from charities who already use beneficiary gifts as part of their fundraising mix.