For some time now, cathedrals have been struggling with getting Facebook to recognise that they are charities in the absence of a registered charity number.
Rochester Cathedral has finally managed to get the donation button to work without having to resort to using the details of a related registered charity.
‘This is the process Rochester Cathedral used to get its Facebook donation button working.
In order to complete a Facebook Donation application:
- Assign “non-profit” in the category section of the organisation’s Facebook Page
- Apply to Facebook via their donate/sign-up page
- Submit documents:
- tax ID to verify charitable tax exemption status
- proof of identity of CEO/executive director, address and personal details
- proof of address (utility statement)
- bank details and proof of account (recent statement)
- Additionally, Facebook requested proof of applicant’s identity.
- Update About Page on Facebook to include:
- mission statement
- what the cathedral supports
- goals and how the cathedral plans to achieve them
- complete address and contact details
- link to website
- link to cathedral's policies.
It’s also been pointed out by Jonathan de Bernhardt Wood, the CofE’s National Giving Adviser, that there are gift aid issues with Facebook Donate (on which the Charity Tax Group is working) so it is recommended that a link to the cathedral’s online giving provider is a pinned comment on services streamed through Facebook.
See https://www.churchofengland.org/more/church-resources/digital-labs/labs-learning-webinars for various webinars on navigating the digital world, including one on receiving online donations.
