Governance and finance

This guidance specifically covers Finances in the Making Music Platform. Before reading this, please ensure that you have read our help guide on Getting Started with your Making Music Platform.

All of the Making Music Platform help guides and latest Platform News can be found on the MM Platform Service Hub page.

We have put together an accounts template to help you manage your finances.

Gift Aid is a government tax relief that allows charities to claim an extra 25p for every £1 that an individual donates. There are rules within the Gift Aid legislation that also allow charities to claim Gift Aid on membership subscriptions, even though they are not donations. This guidance is about claiming Gift Aid on membership subscriptions.

These days, in most cases all it takes is a quick swipe of plastic to pay for something. With people increasingly expecting to pay by card, it can be extremely worthwhile for a leisure-time music group to take card payments. 

Whether payments are being made for member subscriptions, on the door ticket sales, donations or for merchandise such as CDs, a card reader and Point of Sale (POS) system can be very handy.

This guidance describes the current situation with regard to Gift Aid and the voluntary music sector. Please note that Gift Aid is available to UK recognised charities, regardless of whether or not they are also registered charities.

When it comes to choosing the best bank account for your not-for-profit organisation, the prospect may seem a little daunting. Questions like – 'which bank should we use?' 'what does each account offer?' 'what is the best account for our group?' – can all make the process seem overwhelming. But don’t fret! This guidance looks at the key considerations when choosing a bank account to help you decide on the best option for your group.

Creative Tax Reliefs Limited offers expert accountancy and tax advice for orchestras and instrumental ensembles. It was formed in 2017 by Graham Suggett, former Lead Tax Specialist with HMRC’s Creative Industries Unit, and specialises in helping companies claim Creative Industry tax credits.

The Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) scheme was introduced in April 2016 to encourage and support the creation of orchestral concerts. However, despite being named Orchestra Tax Relief, it can apply to other instrumental groups.

To qualify:

The constitution will put your music group on solid footing in terms of charity structure, regulation and governance and will be hugely valuable in helping you run your group as well as helping to ensure your registration with the Charity Commission is fast tracked. This guidance explains more about what a constitution is and explains why and how you should use our model constitution, including some notes on creating a separate rules and regulation document to go alongside it.

Making Music published a model constitution with the Charity Commission for England and Wales in 2015. We reviewed and updated the constitution in October 2021, with Charity Commission and OSCR approval.

This resource is for groups that are currently using the 2015 version of our model constitution and want to find out about the October 2021 changes. It explains what has changed and the options if they would like to make the same changes. The updated constitution can also be downloaded at the bottom of the page.