Medical Research Foundation: How you can support medical research
Thank you for considering supporting the MRC and the Medical Research Foundation. If you decide to make a gift, what ever its size, it will make a real difference to the medical research that we can support in the future.
There are a number of ways that you can make a personal contribution to support high quality medical research:
- A one-off donation
- Give monthly
- A legacy in your will
- Donations in memory
- Giving in celebration
- Giving through your payroll
- Charitable trusts
- Gift Aid
A one-off donation
You can make a one-off donation very simply by sending a cheque made out to the Medical Research Foundation along with a completed donation form to:
Medical Research Foundation
c/o Medical Research Council
14th Floor
One Kemble Street
LONDON WC2B 4AN
You can make your donation to our General Purposes fund. This will allow the Board of Trustees to use your donation to support the best research as it arises and gives the Board the greatest flexibility to respond to important emerging research applications. However should you wish, you can specify an area of medical research that you would like your donation to support (you can find a list of our current funds here). We are also able to open new funds to accommodate donor’s wishes, so if you find that none of our existing funds are appropriate, please contact us and we can advise you whether we would be able to easily accommodate them.
Give monthly
Regular donations by direct debit or standing order are an easy way for you to make a regular contribution to important medical research and would allow us to plan based on knowledge of a regular income. You can make your donation to our General Purposes fund. This will ensure that Board of Trustees can use your donation to support the best research as it arises as it gives the Board the greatest flexibility to respond to important emerging research applications. However, should you wish you can specify an area of medical research that you would like your donation to support, you can restrict your donation for such purposes (you can find our current funds here).
A legacy in your will
You could play a huge part in improving human health after you have gone. Leaving a legacy in your will to the Medical Research Foundation is something positive that you can do now that will improve human health after your own death. Almost all of our charitable income comes from legacies left in wills - your legacy could help the Medical Research Foundation support future breakthroughs in medical research that could benefit your family and friends.
In writing your will you will want to take care of your family and friends first. You could leave what is left (or a portion of what is left) to the MRC and its Medical Research Foundation. This is known as your residuary estate and it can make a real difference, however big or small.
You could leave a legacy in your will to the Medical Research Foundation for ‘medical research general purposes’ which will give us the flexibility to ensure that your bequest is used to support the best research as it arises and to respond to emerging research opportunities and health problems. However, should you wish you can specify an area of medical research that you would like your donation to support, you can restrict your donation for such purposes (you can find our current funds here). We are also able to open new funds to accommodate donor’s wishes, so if you find that none of our existing funds are appropriate to your wishes, please contact us and we can advise you whether we would be able to easily accommodate them.
Leaving a gift in your will is a good way for you to make a difference in the future without costing you anything now.
If you have already made your will you can easily add a codicil (an additional part to your will) to make a gift the MRC’s charity, the Medical Research Foundation. Your solicitor can draw this up for you.
Donations in memory
People often like to make a donation in memory of a loved one – sometimes making a donation instead of flowers or to mark important dates, like birthdays. Donations in memory can be a positive way to remember someone special whilst looking forward to the future.
Giving in celebration
Have you considered inviting family and friends to make a donation to the MRC through its Medical Research Foundation instead of offering gifts to celebrate your special occasion? Your special occasion would then be celebrated by contributing to medical research aimed at improving human health.
Two of our supporters asked friends and family to make donations to the Medical Research Foundation instead of offering presents in celebration of their 40th Wedding Anniversary. Over £200 was raised for arthritis research.
The money we receive will help our scientists find new ways of improving human health. Just talk to your family and friends and send them this Giving in Celebration form.
Giving through your payroll
How to make a tax-free donation
Payroll Giving (also known as Give As You Earn or GAYE) is a tax-free way of giving regularly to the Medical Research Foundation, making it one of the most efficient ways of supporting our medical research.
Each time you are paid, a donation is deducted by your Payroll Department before tax is calculated. If you are a basic rate tax payer and pledge £5, you will pay only £3.90 and the Revenue will add £1.10 – at no extra cost to you. If you are a higher rate taxpayer then it will cost you even less to donate £5 to Medical Research Foundation.
Some employers offer 'matched giving' schemes, where they match or double your gift at no extra cost to you – this means even more money for medical research.
Check with your payroll department that your company offers the Payroll Giving scheme then decide how much you would like to give each payday. Remember that the amount you pledge includes the part the Revenue will pay!
If your employer does not offer Payroll Giving, you could support us by direct debit each month.
Charitable trusts
Charitable Trusts and Foundations make valuable contributions to the costs of funding our projects.
If you are involved with a Charitable Trust or Foundation and feel able to consider supporting the Medical Research Foundation, we would welcome the opportunity to provide more background to the MRC and the MRF, including the research we currently support and our plans for the future.
Gift Aid
You can use Gift Aid to make regular donations worth more. For every £10 that you give, we get an extra £2.50 in tax repayments from the Revenue. Gift aid can make a considerable difference to your donation:
- For every £10 we get an extra £2.50
- For every £100 we get an extra £25
- For every £1000 we get an extra £250
All you have to do is tick the gift aid declaration box on the donations forms that we have provided.