Where the Money Goes: Charity Funds and Expedition Costs Explained

Public charitable donations are kept separate from participant expedition costs. Donations go through the selected charity’s approved fundraising platform and are never used to fund flights, hotels, mountain fees, personal kit or AOG administration.

Two separate paths

A charity challenge can quickly become confusing if people do not know whether their donation is paying for the cause or helping to fund somebody’s trip.

We want to remove that ambiguity from the outset.

For Kilimanjaro 2027, the campaign is being built around two clearly separated financial paths.

Path one: charitable fundraising

Public donations will be made through the selected charity’s approved fundraising platform.

Those donations will support the charity and will not be used to pay for participant flights, hotels, mountain or park fees, personal kit, participant travel costs or AOG campaign administration.

Path two: expedition costs

The cost of taking part in the expedition will be funded separately.

Depending on the participant, that may be paid by the individual, their employer or organisation, an approved campaign-support arrangement, or a combination agreed separately from charitable donations.

The final participant cost, deposit structure and inclusions will be published once the expedition operator, itinerary and commercial terms are confirmed.

Why we are separating the two

The separation is partly about transparency and partly about good fundraising practice.

A donor should be able to understand what their money is supporting.

It also keeps the participant benefit — the expedition itself — distinct from the charitable gift.

HMRC has specific Gift Aid rules for sponsored challenge events. Gift Aid availability depends on the normal scheme requirements and can also depend on the benefit received by the participant, whether a sponsor is connected to the participant and whether the participant has met the full cost of taking part.

For that reason, AOG will not make blanket claims that every donation automatically qualifies for Gift Aid. The selected charity’s own process and HMRC rules will govern eligibility.

What Gift Aid does and does not apply to

Where the normal Gift Aid conditions are satisfied, eligible donations can allow the charity to claim additional value from HMRC.

However:

• registration fees and deposits paid in return for taking part are not charitable donations;
• payments for goods or services are not Gift Aid donations;
• connected-person rules can affect sponsorship for challenge events where the participant has not met the full cost of the trip;
• the selected charity will ultimately be responsible for applying the rules to the fundraising platform and individual declarations.

Once the charity partner and fundraising platform are confirmed, we will publish the final participant-facing Gift Aid guidance here.

How the £80,000 target fits in

The overall Kilimanjaro 2027 fundraising target is £80,000.

The current campaign model is built around a minimum fundraising commitment from each climber, supported by wider company participation, campaign partners and public fundraising.

The exact mechanics will be finalised with the selected charity, but the principle remains:

Fundraising supports the cause; expedition costs are handled separately.

What we will publish before fundraising goes live

Before public fundraising opens, the campaign website will publish:

• the selected charity;
• the approved fundraising platform;
• the participant fundraising commitment;
• the confirmed expedition cost;
• what the expedition cost includes and excludes;
• deposit/payment arrangements;
• cancellation/refund terms;
• final Gift Aid guidance agreed with the charity;
• how campaign-partner contributions are treated.