When HMRC turned up to audit over 22,500 Gift Aid donations at Christians Against Poverty (CAP), they expected to stay the full day. They left in two hours. CAP’s finance and tech teams had everything ready, clearly documented, and confidently presented. No stress, no piles of paper, and no missing data.
“They were happy, we were confident, and everything they needed was already at our fingertips.”
-Ben Stickland, Finance team
Before FinDock: disconnected systems and manual work
Before moving to Salesforce and FinDock, CAP relied on a bespoke CRM. While functional, it lacked the flexibility, visibility, and automation that their teams now depend on. Preparing for an audit of this scale using the old setup would have meant days of chasing records across disconnected systems and manually piecing everything together.
“I dread to think how we would have done it if we were still on our old system. It would have been a spaghetti mess.”
– Katie Smith, Head of Technology
Everything in one place, clearly linked
Now, everything is unified in Salesforce with FinDock handling the Gift Aid layer. For the audit, CAP used a structured linked spreadsheet to present the requested lines from the Gift Aid claim to HMRC. This connected each spot-checked donation to its associated Gift Aid declaration, donation record, and matching bank statement.
“HMRC said they were used to people just dumping piles of paper on them,” Ben added. “They really liked our format and it showed we had everything clearly recorded in our CRM.”
Gift Aid declarations: accessible, accurate, and auditable
Every Gift Aid declaration, whether submitted online or scanned from paper, is securely stored in Salesforce and linked to the right donor and donations. The team has full visibility of valid periods, acquisition methods, and how each declaration was captured – essential not just for audits, but also for confidently growing donation volume while staying compliant.
“At no point were we worried something might be missing,” said Katie. “Everything is so accessible in FinDock. It just works.”
Audit-proof by design: built-in rules and automation
CAP’s Gift Aid setup with FinDock automatically handles the things that would normally require hours of manual work. The real value of FinDock comes from automation built for scale and scrutiny. The system:
- Submits claims directly to HMRC via their API
- Tracks reversals and resubmissions as needed
- Claims Gift Aid on historic donations if and when eligibility is established
- Applies rules for special cases like overseas residency
- Gives teams full visibility of every declaration in context
These features don’t just reduce workload, they ensure confidence and consistency at every step. The variety of donation types CAP handles – online gifts through providers like Stripe, Direct Debits, cheques, and cash, are all tracked and managed in one consistent system.
What HMRC saw (and liked)
HMRC didn’t just look at donation data. They reviewed CAP’s online donation flow, checked the wording of the Gift Aid declaration, and confirmed that the checkbox wasn’t pre-selected. They also reviewed FinDock’s published Gift Aid documentation and commented positively on the overall system design.
“As we said on the day, we were impressed with the system you use to keep track of Gift Aid declarations and donations you can claim Gift Aid on.”
– HMRC, post-audit feedback
A system built for peace of mind
“We’re so glad we’re on FinDock,” said Ben. “It’s all mapped out, easy to find, and reliable.”
This successful audit wasn’t just about compliance. It was a reflection of a robust and well-integrated system that delivers confidence to both internal teams and external regulators.
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Christians Against Poverty originally shared their experience of going live with FinDock back in 2020. You can read that story here. Now, they’ve shown just how far they’ve come.