How does a charity running activities in multiple community buildings calculate its specified amount under section 6 of the Small Charitable Donations Act 2012?

The charity calculates a community building amount for each building — the lesser of £8,000 or total small donations received in person in that building's local authority area. All community building amounts are summed. If the total exceeds the £8,000 baseline, that total becomes the charity's specified amount for claiming top-up payments.

What is a community building amount under section 6 SCDA 2012?

A community building amount is the total of small donations made in person to the charity within the local authority area where a particular community building is situated, capped at £8,000 per building. Each building the charity operates in generates its own separate community building amount used to calculate the overall specified amount.

How are small donations allocated when they could count towards more than one community building?

A single small donation can only count towards one community building amount. If the donation was physically made inside a particular building, it is automatically allocated to that building. In any other case where the donation could fall within multiple local authority areas, the charity itself may choose which building the donation is allocated to.

Can a charity claim top-up payments on more than £8,000 of small donations using the community building rules?

Yes. If a charity operates in multiple community buildings and the sum of all individual community building amounts exceeds £8,000, that higher total becomes the specified amount. For example, a charity with three buildings generating £6,000, £5,000 and £3,000 respectively would have a specified amount of £14,000 rather than the standard £8,000.

Small Charitable Donations Act 2012 section 6

Charities running charitable activities in more than one community building

Section 6 determines the maximum amount of small donations on which a charity operating in more than one community building can claim Gift Aid style top-up payments.

Charities running charitable activities in more than one community building may be entitled to a higher specified amount than the standard £8,000
Each community building generates its own "community building amount" — the lesser of £8,000 or the total small donations received in person in the relevant local authority area
A single small donation can only count towards the community building amount for one building; if a donation was made inside a particular building it is allocated to that building, otherwise the charity may choose
The specified amount for the charity is the greater of £8,000 or the sum of all the individual community building amounts; connected charities are subject to further modifications

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