Giving to Heriot’s

Gifts of every size make a genuine difference to Heriot’s and will enrich the lives of pupils in need, both today and in the future.

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Heriot’s is a school like no other, made special by the support given to local children who have lost a parent through the Foundation. For 400 years, the school has educated 5,500+ pupils in this category: we need your help to ensure this vital work continues.

In addition to a fully-funded education, Heriot’s provides specialist bereavement support for bereaved children. Nothing can make up for the complex effects of a loss of a parent on a child’s life and as such Heriot’s strives to create a supportive and inspiring environment in which children can flourish

Currently, the Foundation’s finances are not secure. It costs £820,000+ to fund Foundation places each year and the demand exists to increase this number. In order to increase numbers of Foundation and Bursary pupils the school relies on your donations.

To ensure no child misses out on this support at an incredibly difficult time in their young lives, please donate today.

You can donate online, over the ‘phone or in person. You could set up a monthly or annual donation or even leave Heriot’s a gift in your will. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference in the lives of bereaved children; something of which we can all be rightfully proud.

Fundraising Guarantee

Our supporters are at the heart of the work undertaken by the Development Office.

Fundraising is the life blood of charities. We could not fulfil our charitable mission without the support of generous and committed donors. We value your support and understand the need to balance our duties to beneficiaries with our duties to donors.

The George Heriot’s Trust is committed to good fundraising practice. We operate in an open and honest manner, so you can feel comfortable when communicating with, or donating to, George Heriot’s, and are able to trust that we protect your data and use your generous gifts wisely.

Our fundraising guarantee to you

We will comply with the law as it applies to charities and fundraising and we commit that we will guarantee to adhere to best practice as outlined in the Fundraising Code of Practice.

We will monitor fundraisers, volunteers and third parties working with us to raise funds, ensuring that they also comply with this Code of Practice.

We guarantee to operate in line with the values of the Code; to be Legal, Open, Honest and Respectful in all our fundraising. To promote and underpin these values, we commit to the following standards:

We will be clear about who we are and what we do
We will give a clear explanation of how you can make a gift and change or stop a regular donation
If you do not want to give or wish to cease giving, we will respect your decision
We will respect your rights and privacy
We have a procedure for dealing with people in vulnerable circumstances and it will be published on our website or will otherwise be available on request
We will hold your data securely
We will communicate with you in accordance with your selected preferences.

Gift Aid

Gift Aid is a great, free way for you to boost your donations to Heriot’s, enabling your generous donation to achieve even more.

All gifts from UK taxpayers are eligible for Gift Aid, enabling us to reclaim an additional 25p for every £1 that you give.

Once you have made a Gift Aid declaration to us, you do not need to do anything further unless your circumstances change. We then claim the Gift Aid relief directly from HMRC, topping up your original donation. Gift Aid declarations can also be made to cover donations made in the previous 4 years if you haven’t done so before.

In addition, if you are a higher rate tax payer you can reclaim the balance between standard and higher rates of tax. Examples of how this could affect your giving to Heriot’s are in the table below.

To complete a Gift Aid declaration, you can download a form here. Please then forward your form by email to development or by post to Development Office, George Heriot’s School, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh, EH3 9EQ

Your gift to Heriot’s	Total value of your gift to Heriot’s	Actual cost of your gift for 40/45% taxpayers
£100	£125	£75 / £68.75
£500	£625	£375 / £343.75
£1,000	£1,250	£750 / £687.50
£5,000	£6,250	£3,750 / £3,437.50

Tax efficient giving

Payroll Giving

You could take advantage of payroll giving schemes at your workplace. Eligible donations are made after National Insurance but before Income Tax, reducing the cost to you of your donation.

In Scotland, to donate £1 through payroll giving, you pay:

81p if you’re a starter rate taxpayer
80p if you’re a basic rate taxpayer
79p if you’re an intermediate rate taxpayer
59p if you’re a higher rate taxpayer
54p if you’re a top rate taxpayer

In England, to donate £1 through payroll giving, you pay:

80p if you’re a basic rate taxpayer
60p if you’re a higher rate taxpayer
55p if you’re an additional rate taxpayer

Inheritance Tax

By leaving 10% or more of your estate to charity you can reduce the amount of Inheritance Tax you pay from 40% to 36%. More information can be found in our Legacy Giving section.

Capital Gains Tax

You do not have to pay Capital Gains Tax on land, property or shares you give to charity. However, you may have to pay if you sell them to a charity for more than they cost you, but less than their market value.

In all cases, we recommend speaking to an independent financial advisor who can guide you depending on your individual circumstances.

Giving from the United States (BSUF)

Donations made to George Heriot’s School from the US can now be made tax efficiently if made through the British Schools and Universities Foundation (BSUF). Heriot’s will send you a formal acknowledgment once we have been informed of your gift by BSUF.

British Schools & Universities Foundation (Federal Tax ID 13-616-1189) is a charitable organisation approved by the US Internal Revenue Service under code Section 501(c)(3).

There are three ways to give from the US:

Donate by Check/Cheque – Make your check/cheque payable to British Schools & Universities Foundation together with a transmittal letter saying that you wish your donation to go to George Heriot’s School.

Donate By Wire – Please contact Anita Harrison by email, anita.hairston@ubs.com . Please ensure any donation is allocated to George Heriot’s School.

Donate Online – You can donate online via Network for Good. Please ensure your donation is allocated to George Heriot’s School. Please note online donations via BSUF through Network for Good incur a 3% fee. To make your donation visit BSUF and make your donation online.

Unless otherwise stated, your gift will support George Heriot’s Foundation400 Fund. If you would prefer your gift to support a specific fund, for example the 2024 ‘We are all George Heriot’ Bursary Campaign, please email development@george-heriots.com for further information.

Every donation helps George Heriot’s School to deliver the founder’s vision and ensures the legacy of the Foundation continues.

Postal address for BSUF:

The British Schools and Universities Foundation

641 Lexington Avenue, 15th Fl.

New York, NY, 10022-4503

Fundraising Policies

Fundraising Complaints

If you feel we have not adhered to these standards, or think we could do better please contact our Director of External Communications via enquiries@george-heriots.com and they will deal with your complaint responsively.

We commit to ensuring our complaints process is clear and easily accessible and we will provide clear and evidence-based reasons for our decisions on complaints.

However, should you be dissatisfied with our response, you will be able to take this further by contacting the Scottish Fundraising Standards Panel: www.goodfundraising.scot

Communicating with you

We will communicate with you in the ways that best suit you, whether that be by email, ‘phone or in writing. If you prefer we contact you less we will respect your wishes and only send you the news that is of interest to you.

If you no longer want to hear from us, we will respect your wishes and cease our communications.

Our communications policy can be read here.

Should you wish to update your communications preferences at any time, you can do so here

Your information and data

We will only use your data for the purposes of thanking you for your gifts, re-connecting you with old class-mates, inviting you to events and reunions, updating you on the work of the School and making occasional requests for donations.

Your information will be stored safely and securely. We will not sell or share your data to third party organisations or other charities.

We will make the information we hold on you available to you if you make a request to us in writing.

Gift acceptance

To ensure the primary functions of the school are not compromised by the acceptance of donations, we follow a strict Gift Acceptance Policy. This enables us to fundraise effectively and efficiently while protecting the reputations of the School and our supporters.

We are pleased to accept donations which are given in good faith, but should you wish to find out more you can view our Gift Acceptance Policy here.

Individuals in vulnerable circumstances

Everyone should have the opportunity to donate if they are able to. George Heriot’s Trust recognises that some of the many people we engage with through our fundraising activities will not always have the capacity, at the point of the interaction, to fully understand the nature of the donation they are being asked to give to George Heriot’s School, or the consequences of making that donation.

We are committed to fundraising in an open, honest and responsible way, so we take care to ensure we act appropriately when communicating with people who may be in vulnerable circumstances.

You can read our Individuals in Vulnerable Circumstances Fundraising Policy here.

We would be delighted to speak to you about any aspect of our fundraising, communications or data use. Should you have a question or an idea, please do get in touch with the Development Office, either by emailing development or calling on 0131 221 6716.