Hello

I've spent the last few hours going round in circles trying to find clarity as to how a non-registered charity can receive donations in a legal manner.

We are a small group of volunteers who rescue and rehabilitate bats found by members of the public, so I imagine we are acting as a charity. We pretty much cover our own costs but occasionally people want to donate to support us with bat care. We are nowhere near a turnover over £5000 (and probably never will), so cannot register as a charity. 

I cannot find any guidance as to how a group can operate as a charity whilst unregistered in terms of accepting donations or raising funds. 

Can anyone shed any light as to how we can raise funds such as online donations? The only solutions I have seen is using the likes of PayPal as a business which means we would be hit with higher fees for receiving money because we do not have a charity registration number. Is this just something we have to accept that we are too small to qualify for any kind of support? We are not even set up as an unincorporated association yet as no one is savvy enough to take control which is what I am now trying to achieve.

Any tips, advice or platforms we could utilise would be most appreciated! :)