Donation FAQs

It's quick and easy to donate online. From our online donation form, you can:

• make a one-off donation or become a regular donor.
• pay in money from a collection or a fundraising event online.
• make a donation in memory of someone or in celebration of a special occasion.

Cheques should be made payable to Macmillan Cancer Support and sent to us at:

Macmillan Cancer Support
PO Box 6201
SLOUGH
SL1 0FA

Please note, we do not recommend sending cash through the post.

Donating by text is a quick and easy way to support Macmillan.

Text MOBILE to 70550 to make a £5 single donation.

Text REGULAR to 70550 to donate £5 a month.

Find out more by reading the donate by text FAQs.

Due to strict security on our website if your card was issued outside the UK unfortunately you will be unable to donate online to us. But there are a number of alternative options:

• Call us on +44 20 7191 2172 to make a payment by phone or get details about a bank transfer or email fundraising@macmillan.org.uk for advice. Our lines are open 9am-5pm GMT Monday to Friday.
• Donate directly to Macmillan via JustGiving. They accept a range of currencies, and money reaches us securely.
• If you are unable to use any of these methods, please send a cheque in pounds sterling or your local currency to:
  

  Freepost RUCY-XGCA-XTHU
  Macmillan Cancer Support
  PO Box 791
  York House
  YORK
  YO1 0NJ

  Please note, bank charges may be deducted from your donation when using this method, so the other options are most cost-effective for us.

There are many different ways you can donate to Macmillan. As well as giving online or sending a cheque, you can also donate directly into our bank account, over the telephone, or by text. Read more about the different ways you can donate and choose the best option for you.

There are other ways you can support Macmillan, often at no cost to yourself. From shopping with M&S Sparks, to donating loyalty points, find out more about the other ways you can give to Macmillan. 

We will always thank and acknowledge you when you donate directly to us whenever we are aware this has happened. If you have made a donation online, you will receive an email confirmation almost immediately. If you have sent us a gift through the post or by paying directly from your bank, we will contact you by post unless you have asked us not to.

If you have donated to us via a third party platform, such as JustGiving, the thank you and acknowledgement will come directly from the service provider.

There may be other occasions where you have donated to Macmillan, directly or indirectly, and we are not aware this has happened. We are truly grateful for every donation we receive, and we will make every effort to thank and acknowledge everyone who has donated to us. If you don't receive an acknowledgement and would like one, please contact our supporter care team by emailing fundraising@macmillan.org.uk or calling 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm).

Absolutely. We’re delighted to receive donations left to us as legacies, and any gift no matter how large or small makes a difference. Find out more about gifts in wills.

CAF cheques or vouchers should be made payable to Macmillan Cancer Support and sent to Macmillan Cancer Support, 3rd Floor, Bronze Building, The Forge, 105 Sumner Street, London, SE1 9HZ. We can also accept donations from any other charity giving account (eg Charities Trust, Stewardship).

We are unable to accept CAF cards through our website. However, you can donate using your CAF card by calling CAF direct on the below numbers:

• CAF Charity Account customers and individual donors can call on 03000 123 000 (+44 3000 123 000 from overseas) between 8.30am and 5.30pm Monday-Friday (except public holidays).
• CAF Donate customers can call on 03000 123 800 between 8.30am and 5.30pm Monday-Friday (except public holidays).
• CAF Bank customers can call on 03000 123 456 between 9am and 5pm Monday-Friday (except public holidays) or email cafbank@cafonline.org. 

We're so grateful for regular donations. A regular donation will mean even more people living with cancer get the support they need.

You can set up a monthly or annual Direct Debit online. Simply select 'I would like to make a regular donation' when making a donation. You will then be prompted to fill in your bank details. This includes your account number, sort code and preferred collection day. Set up your regular donation here.

Long-term donations enable us to plan for the future and ensure money is available where it is needed most, so we can be there for as many people affected by cancer as possible.

Regular gifts mean a consistent, predictable income so we can plan and budget better, making us more efficient. It’s also more cost-effective. By setting up a regular gift, more of the money you donate goes towards supporting people living with cancer as we are able to spend less on bank charges.

There are benefits for you too. A regular gift is a hassle-free way to donate while knowing that you are helping to improve the lives of people living with cancer here in the UK, in the long term.

You can increase your Direct Debit using our online form. For any other changes, please email us on fundraising@macmillan.org.uk or call us on 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm).

Yes, setting up a gift online is also completely safe. Any personal information you enter onto our online Direct Debit pages (including, name, address and bank account details) is encrypted before being sent to us, and recorded on secure servers operated by our regular giving partner, CommittedGiving Ltd.

CommittedGiving Ltd store your information in a secure environment using industry standard practices. You are then covered by the Direct Debit guarantee. We will write to you to confirm the details of your gift, and give you at least 21 days before taking the first payment. You can amend or cancel at any time. 

We rely on donations for 98% of our income, and your money will help us to provide a variety of services that help make sure everyone living with cancer gets support, no matter what their situation. Find out more about what we do, or see a detailed breakdown of how we’ve spent our income in our annual reports.

Nearly 98% of our income is from voluntary donations, and this goes to provide our full range of services, from specialist cancer nurses to information booklets and support groups. We plan these services very carefully to meet the needs of people living with cancer in a local community or nationwide. We review our services regularly to make sure they are providing the best value for money and maximum impact.

For this reason we prefer to use donations to fund whichever of our services are most in need, but if you would like us to use your gift towards a specific aspect of our work we will comply wherever possible. Please contact us on 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm) to discuss your wishes. 

Yes, our website is very secure. If your bank card is enrolled in the 3D Secure scheme (also known as Verified by Visa or MasterCard SecureCode) you will be asked to enter the password you’ve set up with your bank. If it is the first time you’ve used the scheme you will be asked to create a password. These details are stored by your bank and never by Macmillan.

QR codes are a safe and secure way of donating to Macmillan and we are using these at many of our fundraising events. We use different providers to generate QR codes. Find out more about the QR codes we use.

If you have a question or are concerned about a specific QR code you've seen mentioning Macmillan, please contact our Supporter Care Hub by calling 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm).

Individuals fundraising through JustGiving, may also use QR codes so you can donate to their fundraising pages easily. If you are unsure whether a JustGiving QR code is real, please contact the fundraiser directly.

When you submit one of our online forms, you agree to us recording your details on our database, so we can provide you with the best possible support every time you contact us.

We may contact you again by phone, email, text, or post to tell you more about our services and other ways you can help, including opportunities to donate, volunteer or fundraise. We promise to keep your details safe and never sell or swap them with anyone. Our privacy policy explains how we keep this promise. If you don't want to hear from us or change your mind about how we contact you, email contact@macmillan.org.uk or call 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm).

The Payment Services Directive 2’s new SCA (Secure Customer Authentication) is legislation that introduces a two-factor ID requirement for certain transactions, and has to be in place for all online payments in the UK, from September 2021.

In order to make an online payment, you will be required to provide two forms of ID from the following three options: 

• Knowledge: something only the payee knows, such as a PIN or password.
• Possession: something only the payee has, such as a mobile phone or payment card.
• Inherence: something unique to the payee, such as their fingerprint.

The options offered will be set by your card provider.

On a risk led approach, payments below £30 can be exempt from this if the bank agrees that it is not an unusual payment pattern; however every 5th payment from a single card may be put into authorisation as a regular check.

Payments that are “mobile” are automatically verified by access and are also exempt, these include mobile wallet payments, for example Samsung and Google Pay and PayPal.

If I supply a phone number for authentication will the charity be able to access this?

No, all additional details for verification are through the payment service provider and your bank so information outside of the Macmillan donation form will not be seen at Macmillan.

Macmillan use the following types of card readers to give donors an option to give us to via their bank card or mobile wallets at fundraising events. When a donation is made on one of these machines, this is the information that will appear on your bank statement to show it is a donation made to Macmillan:

• Goodbox Mini and Goodbox Core: GBX*MACMILLAN
• iZettle: Zettle_*Macmillan Canc
• SumUp Solo, SumUp 3G, SumUp Air: SUMUP *MACMILLAN

We do not recommend supporters purchase their own card readers. Please get in touch with our Supporter Care Team at fundraising@macmillan.org.uk or call 0300 1000 200 (Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm) to discuss your request for a card reader.

Through the CharityGo fundraising app, Macmillan staff, volunteers and supporters can collect contactless payments through a smartphone.

Find out more about the CharityGo fundraising app.