Politics

Veterans Demand End to Greedy Platforms Taking Their Donations

Published on June 7, 2025

Veterans across the UK are up in arms and demanding change, calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to shut down a practice they say is siphoning off money meant to support those who’ve risked everything for their country. The outrage? Some of the UK’s top fundraising platforms, including JustGiving and Crowdfunder, are taking a cut from Gift Aid donations—money that’s supposed to go straight to charities—without most donors even realizing it.

This practice, dubbed a “giving tax,” saw UK charities miss out on more than £7.5 million last year alone, all because certain platforms take a 5% commission on Gift Aid. That’s money intended for causes like veteran support, mental health services, and rehab programs—being quietly skimmed to boost platform profits instead.

Captain Rupert Gather, Chairman of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards London Veterans Association and a Gulf War veteran, didn’t hold back. “Our veterans deserve more than just our gratitude—they deserve our full support at every level,” he said. “The current system, where fundraising platforms are allowed to cream the top off Gift Aid, is a disservice to those who have given so much and stops money going to vital veterans causes. This is essentially a tax on giving and needs to be looked at and reformed.”

Polling by advisory firm Strand Partners found that 80% of the public believes these fundraising sites should be much more transparent about the commissions they take. And with good reason—most donors assume their full contribution, plus the extra boost from Gift Aid, goes straight to the cause. But that’s not always the case.

To understand what’s going on, you need to know how Gift Aid works. It’s a government scheme introduced back in 1990 that lets charities claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated—at no additional cost to the donor. The idea is to encourage more charitable giving by helping donations go further. But here’s the catch: platforms like JustGiving, according to their own website, will claim the Gift Aid on a charity’s behalf, but they keep 5% of it before handing over the rest.

This issue comes to the forefront at a time when charities are already struggling. It’s the 81st anniversary of D-Day—a moment when support for veterans typically spikes—and yet many military charities are barely staying afloat. For example, Combat Stress, a major mental health charity for veterans, reported a 10% drop in income last year. Since 2017, the number of armed forces charities in the UK has dropped by nearly 10%.

In today’s digital world, most donations now happen online through these fundraising platforms. But campaigners say the tech convenience shouldn’t come at the cost of transparency—or the loss of millions in charitable funds. They’re calling on the government to step in and close what they describe as a “loophole” that allows platforms to profit from public generosity.

A Treasury spokesperson acknowledged the importance of Gift Aid and the generosity of donors, saying, “We recognise the important work of the charity sector and generosity of the British people which is why we support their donations with over £1.6 billion of Gift Aid every year. Fees are a commercial decision for fundraising services to make but the Fundraising Regulator can act if it believes standards have been breached by registered platforms.”

For now, veterans and campaigners are making it clear—they want this practice banned and they want every penny of public goodwill to actually reach the people it’s meant to help.

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