CAF Charity Account

Open a Charity Account and we'll give you £25*

Nearly a third of charities are reporting a fall in donations in the current economic slowdown. And yet the demand for their help and services continues to grow.

Open a CAF Charity Account by 31 November 2008 and we'll give you £25 to donate to any registered charity of your choice. Simply quote 'Winter offer' during the application process to be eligible.

Opening a CAF Charity Account brings together all the tools you need to make giving to charity easy, flexible and secure in these times of need.

Read on for five great reasons why you should open a CAF Charity Account, or apply online now.

* Offer applies to the first one hundred customers to open a Charity Account.

If you're a UK taxpayer*, opening a CAF Charity Account can actually give you more to donate to charity. With Gift Aid, we reclaim basic rate tax on all the money you put in your account and add it to your balance.

Because CAF is a charity we make no profits, we only take a small fee** to cover our costs - you end up with 23p more to give for every pound you put in your account.

All charities can use Gift Aid to reclaim tax on donations, but many don't - it can cost more in admin expenses than the tax benefit is worth. The CAF Charity Account is an easy way to make sure that every penny you donate has been Gift Aided: saving you time, saving charities' money.

* A UK taxpayer who will pay enough in Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the relevant tax year to cover any tax reclaimed on your donations.

** Each time you fund your account, we take a contribution of 4% on sums up to 16,000 and 1% from 16,001 to 89,500. 1% of this goes to the NCVO.

If you shop online or bank online, why not give online, too? With the CAF Charity Account, you can login at any time to make a donation, check your balance or top up using a credit or debit card.

You'll also get a 'charity chequebook' which you can use to make donations from your account in person or by post - you can even use them for sponsored events and to give to places of worship.

And if you want to support charity regularly, you can set up a standing order direct from your CAF Charity Account to the causes that matter to you.

We understand that not everyone who gives to charity wants the world to know about it. You may not even want the charity to know your name and address.

With the CAF Charity Account, you can choose to make your gifts to charity anonymous. Your donations can still benefit from Gift Aid, but we won't pass on any of your details to the charities you support.

You can choose to make your 'charity cheques' anonymous, too - and all your information is protected under the Data Protection Act.

That means you won't have to worry about receiving unwanted communications from the charities you choose to help.

With the CAF Charity Account you can give to any UK-registered charity, including thousands of schools, hospitals, places of worship and community groups like Scout packs.

We guarantee that the charities you support through the CAF Charity Account are legitimate. For charities in the UK, we check they're registered with the appropriate authority. We can even validate the status of charities overseas.

Only genuine charitable organisations can redeem 'charity cheques' from a CAF Charity Account, so you'll be certain that your money is going to a bona fide organisation.

We know that no one likes automated phone exchanges - and that's why you can call our customer service team and speak to a real person, between 8.30am - 5.30pm, Monday - Friday.

Whether you want to make a donation over the phone, ask about a feature of the CAF Charity Account, or just check your balance, our advisers are on hand to help you.

And if you'd rather send us an email, you can do that too - we'll always aim to get back to you within 48 hours.