The original bank account of the ILFGA was based in the US with the Bank of America, and was set up in the 1990s when the ILFGA was established. When Tracy handed over to Aaron as Secretary-Treasurer in the mid-2000s, it proved problematic for Aaron to gain access to the BoA account, and this problem became worse when Tibor became Secretary-Treasurer, since it was impossible to access the BoA account from outside the US. This meant that Tracy had to manage the BoA account on behalf of the Secretary-Treasurer, a problematic situation that continued for about 20 years. It also proved problematic to change the registration details for the ILFGA with the IRS, or to set up a new account for the ILFGA in or outside the US, because some of the original ILFGA documentation was missing.
After exploring various option, and following discussions at previous business meetings, in May 2024 the ILFGA Exec agreed for John Lowe as current Sec-Treas to set up a new, UK-based, charity, to serve as an effective subsidiary of the ILFGA, as a means to give us a modern and fully accessible bank account. During 2024, John Lowe, Charlotte Hemmings and Kersti Borjars therefore set up a new charity, Lexical Functional Grammar Association UK (LFGAUK). The LFGAUK exists solely to support LFG by providing access to a UK-based bank account which will be used for the ILFGA just as the old BoA account was used. The LFGAUK is a UK-registered charity, so donations to the LFGAUK are eligible for Gift Aid in the UK, and may count as tax deductible elsewhere.
The original BoA account was closed in June 2025, and the main ILFGA funds transferred to the new account soon after. The new account is accessible online, payments can be made to and from the account very simply online, and it should be unproblematic for Secretary-Treasurers to pass on access as and when they hand over.
There is a Justgiving site for the charity to simplify online donations: https://www.justgiving.com/lfgauk.
For other means of donation, including in person at the annual conference, please contact the Secretary-Treasurer.