REWARD
Terry Stokes, senior workplace giving manager at Barnardo’s, highlights the importance of the 2024 campaign and explains how you can get involved
F ebruary’s payroll giving month is the fourth annual celebration of this invaluable source of income for the charity sector. Once again, the aim is to encourage employees and companies to sign up, establish schemes and to embed payroll giving within organisations. Payroll giving is a vital lifeline for many charities. In 2023, over £130 million was raised for thousands of charities and good causes. Since the launch of the scheme back in 1987, over £2 billion has been raised for good causes. That’s nothing short of amazing. “In 2023, over £130 million was raised for thousands of The benefits of payroll giving Payroll giving benefits donors, charities and companies alike. Anyone paid via pay as you earn (PAYE) or salaried pensioners can donate through payroll giving, and it requires minimal effort but enables full tax relief. Standard Direct Debit donations require the donor to agree to gift aid to allow the charity to claim the tax relief, and not everyone agrees to this, so the charity must submit a manual claim to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). Even then, the claimable tax relief is capped at a standard rate. Payroll giving, as a deduction from an individual’s gross pay, already incorporates the tax relief and enables the charity to benefit from the higher tax relief available for 40% and 45% tax rate payers. For companies, payroll giving offers a simple to manage option for employee engagement. It’s an employee fundraising charities and good causes”
tool which demonstrates a company’s objective, not only to empower their workforce to support their own personal causes, but also to maximise the value of that support. It also allows organisations an additional method of fundraising for charity partnerships. Organisations such as Royal Mail (£67 million and counting raised to date) have done this extremely well over many years, embedding payroll giving at the heart of their ‘community investment strategy’. It’s not simply the preserve of large organisations though. Smaller businesses can implement the scheme and can also enjoy the same benefits. The only requirement is to sign up with a HMRC- approved payroll giving agency and you can start to collect donations. The full list can be found here: https://ow.ly/ vN6L50Qhma1. The importance of payroll professionals Payroll giving month is a cross-sector initiative aimed at raising awareness of the scheme. Several charities, payroll giving organisations, the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and the CIPP are coming together with a core aim of raising awareness of the scheme. While many companies actively engage with payroll giving, there’s still a gap, not only in terms of companies actually having a scheme, but also in terms of actively promoting. The campaign plays a vital role in addressing that. One of the groups integral to the success of the campaign and payroll giving more generally are those who work in the payroll industry. Vital gatekeepers in the operational element of processing donations, I’d also encourage being a champion for payroll giving within your organisation. Ask some questions perhaps. If you have a scheme, how can
you actively use your communication channels to remind employees of the benefits of the scheme and how to join? If you don’t have a scheme, what steps need to be taken to set one up? Spoiler alert, it’s much simpler than you think. You can find out more at our website, here: https://ow.ly/ Z4zY50Qhmhk. You’ll also find lots of tips and advice, as well as a directory of contacts who you can reach out to for help and support. “Many organisations offer different types of matched giving to encourage take-up”
So, how best to use payroll giving month?
It would be an ideal time to launch a new scheme or to refresh it internally if one is already set up. No new software is needed to run the scheme, it’s simply an additional pre-tax deduction. While emphasising the tax benefits to colleagues, ensure the campaign is fun and engaging. Perhaps build it around a theme. Have a competition between teams or regions if your company is larger. Regardless of size, you can incentivise donations, to any charity or perhaps even your charity partner. Many organisations offer different types of matched giving to encourage take-up. 35 years from the start of payroll giving and with more than £2 billion raised for good causes, there are still many organisations that don’t engage with an existing scheme or just don’t have one. This is simply down to a lack of awareness around the benefits of having a scheme. In a world where many charities are struggling due to several extremely challenging years, payroll giving is imperative to help keep them afloat. The potential is there to raise millions more and the payroll industry is central to this ambition, so please do join us and help to make the 2024 campaign bigger than ever. Let us know how you get on. n
“Payroll giving, as a deduction from an individual’s gross pay, already incorporates the tax relief and enables the charity to benefit from the higher tax relief available for 40% and 45% tax rate payers”
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 97 | February 2024
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