Oxfam Collects at HarperCollins

That's the easiest question of the lot. It's a fact that there are millions of people living in poverty around the world. It's a fact that your donated items can raise money to help stamp out poverty. Plus signing up to Gift Aid means your donations work harder – so that more support can be given to those that truly need it. And it de-clutters your house, which is always good.

The bags are stored at your company's drop-off point, which is pink and likely to be in the staff restaurant or reception area – somewhere that everyone in your office will go to on a regular basis. Ask your Oxfam Collects Company Champion if you have trouble finding it. So, what are you waiting for? There are plenty of bags for you to borrow. They're funky, flexible and durable. We like them. Which means we'd like them back when you're done – thank you!

You're also welcome to bring items in a carrier bag from home – we don't mind! (Just remember to Gift Aid tag it!)

Once your bag is full, bring it in to work with you and take it back to the drop-off point. You can't miss it, it's pink and likely to be located in the staff restaurant or reception area – somewhere people go on a regular basis.

Gift Aid is a scheme introduced by HM Revenue and Customs that allows charities such as Oxfam to reclaim the tax on any cash donated to them by UK tax-payers. With Oxfam's Tag your Bag scheme we can now claim 25% back on cash raised from the sale of your donated items. At no extra cost to you.

A large bag of good quality items can raise £30 when sold in an Oxfam shop. If that £30 was raised with Tag your Bag, we'd make another £7.50 in reclaimed tax. That could help to train a person to measure and record rainfall in Niger so people can respond to changing climates.

Just follow these three easy steps:

1. Click here to complete a simple form. This just confirms that you are a UK tax-payer and gives us permission to claim back 25% more from the Government on any cash raised from the sale of your donated items.
2. Within 7 to 10 days, we'll post to you some 'Tag your Bag' stickers with your personal donor number pre-printed on them to use on your next bagful of donated items (one sticker per bag). This allows us to track how much we raise from the sale of your items.
3. Feel good about giving 25% more to Oxfam's work! It's that easy. And it won't cost you a penny.

Plus, if you tag your bag, we'll send you a Personal Impact Report every few months. Sent via email, this report will show you the value of your donated items and how that money could be used to fight poverty. It will also show you how your team is doing (inspiring a bit of friendly competition!) and how your whole company is doing. You'll be amazed at the impact all those unwanted jumpers and books can have!

Any time you make a cash donation to Oxfam, you have the opportunity to tick a Gift Aid box. That Gift Aid declaration is tied to that particular cash donation.

In shops, we have to track the sale of the individual items you've donated to us. This means we need a way to identify you personally – hence, your personal donor number. This number follows your items through our system, and once they've sold, we're able to tell HM Revenue & Customs that we've raised some pounds on your behalf. HM Revenue & Customs checks to see that you're a UK taxpayer and then they pay us the extra 25% of the value of your sold items.

It's a bit more complicated for us than cash donations but the reward is worth it!

When you sign up to Gift Aid online, you'll see a confirmation screen with your personal donor number, so you'll know you're good to go. We'll also send you an email (which has a big thank you in it) in case you don't remember it later. Within 7-10 days we'll also send to you some pre-printed Gift Aid tags to stick on your bags when you're ready.

We'll leave some blank spare tags at your drop-off point. Just write your personal donor number in the white box.

If you'd like more tags with your donor number pre-printed on them, contact Oxfam at 0300 200 1300 or oxfamcollects@oxfam.org.uk to request more tags be posted to you.

It's a formality. HM Revenue & Customs requires us to make sure that you're happy for the reclaimed tax to come to us once your donated items have sold. You don't need to do anything – as long as you're still happy for us to receive it.

Apart from electrical goods and things that we can't sell on (stuff in poor condition, usually) we want the lot. Heels, homewares, hats, film, fiction, fabric, jumpers, jewellery, jugs – anything you can think of in your home that you don't have a use for any more.

Of course you can. Even better, the tagged bags still work in exactly the same way as if you'd brought them in to work. If you tag your bag when you pop to the shop, we'll be able to claim Gift Aid on your donated items and every sale will show on your Personal Impact Report just as if you'd brought the items into work. Great news for you and great news for us! We've launched Oxfam Collects to make it as convenient as possible for you to give to Oxfam - any way and every way you can. If it's easier for you to take your goods to an Oxfam shop then that's fine - great, even. It doesn't matter how we get the goods, it's the good we can do after that counts. Thanks to you.

To find your nearest Oxfam shop, see http://www.oxfam.org.uk/shopfinder

No. It's entirely up to you. It makes a huge difference if you do, though – as through the tagged bags we can raise 25% more cash to fight poverty and injustice around the world. But of course, any goods you donate help the people who need our support.

Ah. You may already have donated to Oxfam in an Oxfam shop and therefore already have a Gift Aid number, which is great. But make sure it is an Oxfam Gift Aid number as every charity issues its own set of numbers. If you do already have an Oxfam Gift Aid number, just email your company Champion and let them know your number and team. Oxfam will then ensure that your donations are counted in your team and company totals, which will be shown in your Personal Impact Report.

Once we collect your donated items from work, we sort them out and price them up. Usually they will be sold in a shop or online, but if an item can't be sold, we've got some rather sophisticated recycling facilities for clothes and books. So, if your donations can't live on in another person's wardrobe or cupboard, they won't have to end up in landfill, either.

The money we raise from the sale of your donated goods (plus Gift Aid, if you allow us to claim it) is spent in many ways, with one aim: to end poverty and suffering around the world. To keep you posted, we'll send you a Personal Impact Report that gives you examples of our work, and shows you the kind of things your money could buy – based on how much your donations have raised. It's a motivating, and tangible, way of seeing how your bags of clothes, shoes or books could now have become 250 goats!

Oxfam claims Gift Aid after the goods you've given us have sold – we claim back the tax originally paid by you to HM Revenue & Customs. Before we make the claim, we'll check with you (by email) that you're happy for us to have it (this is an HMRC requirement). So as we can't guarantee exactly how much Gift Aid we will receive until we actually get it, the amount we include in your impact report is estimated (based on 25%) so that you can get a feel for all that extra good you're doing. For which we are extremely grateful. Thank you.

For more information about Oxfam Collects, your Oxfam Collects Company Champion is your first port of call. Otherwise, see below for how you can reach our Supporter Relations team.

If you change your name or home address, please let us know. We can't successfully claim Gift Aid from HM Revenue & Customs unless we have the same details as those on file in your tax records.

Further, it would be great to know if you change your email address so we can continue to email you your Personal Impact Report – email is the most cost efficient method of delivering these reports. And we know you won't want to miss hearing about how you're helping people in poverty just by clearing out your cupboards.

Finally, it's great to know if you switch team so we can ensure the money raised from the sale of your donations is credited to the right team.

In order to change your details:

• Email changes@oxfam.org.uk
• Phone our Supporter Relations team on 0300 200 1300 or
• Write to Supporter Relations, Oxfam, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Oxford OX4 2JY.

Easy. We have a great big website full of stories, pictures, news, photos, first-hand tales and second-hand goods for you to enjoy (we're very proud of it, you can probably tell). Speak to your company Champion or go to www.oxfam.org.uk for anything you couldn't find out here.