In this week’s blog, we explain how you can donate to the AKU Society through mobile giving, online shopping, payroll giving and Facebook Donation. There are many different ways to give to us, each designed to make the experience as easy as possible.

Text Giving

We have recently revamped our text giving platform. To donate, text AKUSOCIETY followed by the amount you wish to donate to 70085. For example, if you would like to donate £20, you would text AKUSOCIETY 20. After donating, you will be able to add Gift Aid, which means 25% of your donation gets added to your original donation. For example, if you donate £10 through text giving, you can increase this to £12.50 – at no expense to you!

We have also set up regular giving via text. Simply text REGAKUS followed by the amount you would like to donate each month to 70490. For example, REGAKUS 5 to 70490 to donate £5 every month. This is also eligible for  GiftAid .

So, grab your phones and donate to the AKU Society. We would love to shout about your donations on our social media, so don’t be shy.

Give as you Live

The AKU Society is now a charity on Give as you Live. Sign up to Give as you Live to raise funds for the AKU Society while you do your everyday shopping online. Once signed up you can browse over 4,300 stores and visit the store via their website and shop as usual. Through this process, you will raise funds to help AKU patients while buying items from retailers such as John Lewis, Expedia and Marks and Spencer.

Amazon Smile

While you shop for goodies on Amazon, you can also raise money for the AKU Society, with no expense on your behalf. Just head over to smile.amazon.co.uk and log into your existing Amazon account (or go on Amazon and sign up.) Then search in the toolbar for The AKU Society as your charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the cost of your products to the AKU Society whenever you make a purchase. Don’t forget always to use smile.amazon.co.uk when making Amazon purchases.

Payroll Giving

Payroll Giving is a flexible scheme which allows anyone to give regularly to a charity of their choice through their monthly salary. Payroll Giving donations are deducted before tax so for every £1.00 that you give it will only cost you 80p, and if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, it will only cost you 60p. Follow this link to see if your employer offers Payroll Giving: https://payrollgivingportal.uk/starting-point. Payroll Giving Portal offers an online donation form to set up Payroll Giving, go check them out and start raising funds for the AKU Society!

Facebook Donation

We have discussed Facebook Donation in a previous blog, and we are delighted to see it in action! From Chicago, Jennifer set up a Facebook fundraiser for her birthday and raised a whopping $460 – an incredible amount. We spoke to Jennifer about her fundraiser and why she chose the AKU Society to fundraise for:

Why did you decide to fundraise for the AKU Society?

I choose the AKU Society because I was diagnosed with AKU last year. As a child, I had the symptoms of AKU (dark diapers), so my mother took me to see the doctor. After running several tests, the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me and sent us on our way. As years passed, I had back pain, joint pain, and arthritis. In my early 30’s, I started having even more symptoms. I did some research online and learned about AKU. I went to my PCP and asked to be tested. He googled the disease, since he had never heard of it before, and reluctantly tested me. I received the confirmed diagnoses in June 2018, on my 33rd birthday. After that, I asked to be referred to a specialist. I quickly realized that finding a doctor who was familiar with AKU, even in a city as large as Chicago, was extremely difficult.

Explain a bit about yourself

So far, I have lived a normal life without much complication from AKU. My husband and I live in Chicago with our two sons, ages 3 and 1 1/2. I am a second-grade teacher who loves to travel and spend time with my family.

What does the AKU Society mean to you?

I hope that the fundraiser spreads awareness of AKU and helps with one day finding a cure.

Well done, Jennifer and happy belated birthday!

Please get in touch with our fundraising officer, Juliet, juliet@akusociety.org if you have any questions about other ways to give or fundraising in general.