My Israel - donate with confidence

FAQ's

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Projects

• What is the myisrael project fund?: The myisrael project fund is a fund for all donations that have not been directed to a specific project. All donations received in the general fund will be allocated to individual projects at the discretion of the board of trustees. The trustees will distribute these funds quarterly to the project/s deemed most in need. These funds will not go towards the overheads of myisrael.
• How do you find the projects that are featured on your website?: Our projects are sourced via a unique and trusted network of contacts, consultants and employees in the charitable sector in Israel.
• How does myisrael decide which projects to support?: The first step is to obtain specific information about each charity which tells us what they do, how they do it and who they work with. We learn about the organisation's structure, effectiveness and efficiencies and analyse their financial information including their budget and most recent annual report. If the information meets our standards, we arrange to visit each project, to observe it in action, to see where it is located and the atmosphere that is created there and to meet the staff and those that benefit from the organisation's work. It is very important that we build a close relationship with the project director, who becomes our main point of contact at the project. We work closely with the director to understand the project's aims, needs, joys and frustrations. We also set the fundraising target with the project director and work with him or her to ensure that the funds raised are used in exactly the way it was intended.
• Why do you only work with projects with an annual budget of £250k or less?: We have found through our research, that smaller organisations often struggle the most to receive adequate funding to maintain their vital work. This occurs for a number of reasons, but most often is due to a lack of the dedicated resource and contacts required to bring in money from the uk and other communities overseas. At myisrael, we want to bridge the gap between donors and projects and to enable individuals to donate to projects that they may not have heard about before. This is one of the areas where we feel we can make a really big difference.
• Why have you set a specific fundraising target for each project?: One of our priorities at myisrael, is to help create an emotional connection between our donors and the projects they support. One of the ways we believe we can do this most effectively is to help our donors understand the impact that their donation has on the organisation that receives it. By setting a fundraising target, we help each donor to understand how his or her contribution really makes a difference to the recipient organisation and to know exactly how that donation is going to be used.
• What happens when a fundraising target is reached?: This will depend on each individual organisation. In some cases, we will continue to feature the organisation, but we will set another fundraising target according to the needs of that organisation. In other cases, we will remove the organisation from our active projects page and replace it with another organisation, often one that works in a similar field.
• Can I make a donation to a project once the fundraising target has been reached?: Yes you can. We will list past projects on our website and anyone wishing to donate to that organisation can do so via myisrael.
• Can I recommend a project for myisrael to support?: Yes you can. Anyone who would like to recommend a project in Israel (with an annual budget of less than £250,000) should send any information and contact details to danielle@myisraelcharity.org. We cannot guarantee that we will take the recommendation further, but we will review the information and be in touch with our initial response. If we choose to progress with the recommendation, we will be in touch with the contact in Israel to start the process of consideration.
• How do you calculate the administration costs of each project?: It is very important to us that we are consistent when evaluating each of our projects. We view administrative costs as anything relating to fundraising and other activities that do not directly relate to the programme itself, such as website maintenance, office supplies and accounting services. For example, if a project director spends 50% of his/her time counselling his teenagers and the other 50% of his time on tasks not directly related to the programme itself, then 50% of his salary will be attributed to administration costs.
• Where are myisrael projects located?: myisrael projects are located all over the country from the north to the south.
• Does myisrael work with the Israeli-Arab population of Israel?: myisrael works with every sector in israeli society. Most of the projects we support are open to all: Jew, Muslim, Christian, Druze, etc - the only limitations are based on the type of programme and the geographic area where its activities take place. For example, a programme for elders is limited to elders, but any elder, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, etc can participate.
• What is the political stance of myisrael?: myisrael is a non-political organisation as are all the projects that we work with.

Donations and Tax Related Issues

• How have the administration costs of myisrael been covered?: We at myisrael, have worked hard to build relationships with several individuals who have each made a specific donation to the running costs of myisrael. their generosity has allowed us to maximise the impact of every donation received through our website as we do not have to deduct any myisrael administration costs from it.
• Does that mean that 100% of my donation goes directly to the project I specify?: In most cases it is even better than that. myisrael claims back basic rate tax on every single eligible donation we receive, which means that a donation of �100 actually becomes �125 and this money goes directly to the destination you chose.
• How does gift aid work?: Under the gift aid scheme, UK charities can claim back the basic rate tax already paid on gifts of money received from individuals who pay or have paid UK tax. This currently stands at 25%. Every donor who donates through our website is asked if they are a UK taxpayer who has paid or will pay at least as much UK tax (for the tax year in which the donation is made) as the amount the charity will claim back on their donation. Whenever the box is ticked, my israel will automatically claim back the tax on that donation.
• Can gift aid be claimed on donations made by charity cheque?: No. Tax can only be claimed back under the gift aid scheme on donations that have been made by individuals in cash, cheque (not charity or company cheque), credit or debit card, postal order or standing order.
• Is my donation tax-deductable even if gift aid has been claimed?: Yes. If you pay the higher rate of tax, then you are able to claim back the 15% difference between the gift aid rate (25%) and the higher tax rate (40%).
• Do I have to select a specific project to receive my donation?: No. You have an option of either supporting a specific project or of making a donation to the my israel general fund (the donate button sits at the top of every page on our website). The my israel general fund has been created for those of you who would prefer that we decide how the money is allocated. The board of trustees will meet quarterly to allocate the funds to the projects that are most in need.

Fundraising

• When is your next fundraising trek?: We are not sure at the moment when the next myisrael trek will be but we will post details on our website as soon as it is confirmed. However, if you would like to take part in a fundraising challenge and raise money for myisrael projects, please go to www.jchallenge.org where you will find a variety of challenges available in favour of myisrael.
• I'd like to form a fundraising committee. How do I go about it?: myisrael is very keen to get as many people involved in fundraising for myisrael projects as possible. If you already have a group of friends who would like to stage a fundraising event, please email us so that we can help you with your planning and logistics.
• Can I join an existing fundraising committee?: If you are interested in joining a fundraising committee, please email us ith details of your age, interests and geographic location so that we can try and match you up with other people who have expressed the same interest.
• I'd like to do some fundraising through my school or synagogue. Is this possible?: Absolutely. We will help you in any way we can, so please email us to tell us more about your plans.

General

• How can I find out employment opportunities at myisrael?: There are currently no paid positions apart from the chief executive of the charity. If the situation changes we will inform our supporters via our website and newsletter.
• Can I volunteer for myisrael?: myisrael is always looking for people to get involved with fundraising in the UK or to help out with events that we may have coming up. If you would like some fundraising ideas, just take a look at our a-z list of fundraising ideas. There are also lots of opportunities to volunteer and visit projects in Israel, so if you would like to know about these and are planning a trip to Israel please email us. Please also be in touch if you would like to offer your assistance for any upcoming myisrael events. It may also be worth you taking a look at the other ways to get involved section of the website.
• Where can I access your annual report?: As this is our first year of operation, there is currently no annual report for myisrael. Our financial year ends on march 31 st , so our first annual report will be available some time towards the end of next year and can be accessed via the UK charity commissions website.
• Can I get someone from myisrael to come and speak at my school/synagogue/youth club?: We welcome any opportunity to speak about the vital work that myisrael is doing. We will do our utmost to accommodate all of these requests, but we will need as much advance warning as possible in order to arrange it. Please email us as far ahead as you can with your request.

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