REWARD
Step aside, payroll giving week, and make way for payroll giving month!
Mervi Slade, product and programme manager – payroll giving, at Cancer Research, Caroline Gaskin, development manager at Together for Animals and Terry Stokes, senior workplace giving manager at Barnados highlight the unsung heroes of charitable giving, and discuss the introduction of a payroll giving month from 2023, explaining how employers can get involved
S ince the launch of payroll giving in 1987, over a million people have been donating to charities through their pay every year, and together they’ve raised over £2 billion for good causes. Payroll givers have contributed so much to the sector but have gone relatively unnoticed, making them some of the unsung heroes of charitable giving. Payroll giving is the tax-efficient way for people to give to a cause they care about. Donors benefit by giving less to do more good. Gifts made through payroll giving schemes are taken from salaries as a pre-tax deduction. If a donor is a 20% tax rate payer, a £10 monthly donation costs them just £8. They can easily support any cause they care about, with no limits on how much they give or how many charities they support. Payroll giving week was developed by members of the Payroll Giving Forum – a collective group of charities who run successful payroll giving schemes. The week engaged partners, corporates and donors to highlight the impact and importance of donating to a charity of choice through salaries. Due to the efforts of everyone involved, the week saw an incredible 87% increase in donors signing up to give, when compared to the same period in 2021. This increase, plus the amazing contribution to the charity sector from payroll giving donors collectively, means that over £23.7million was donated to charities in March and April 2022, via the three largest payroll giving agencies
has now been extended to a payroll giving month. This will allow employers and charities alike to schedule more activities and to choose timings which are convenient for them during the month. Some employers may wish to use the whole length of the month, especially if they’re large and with multiple sites. What could employers do during payroll giving month? One of the things you might wish to plan for this period is a campaign to promote your own payroll giving scheme. It may have been some time, due to Covid and various lockdowns, since you last pro- moted your scheme, so why not use this moment to do it? Maybe you could even match donations that month, to really show your support for employee giving? Payroll giving offers your employees a discounted way to support charities close to their heart (a £5 donation will cost £4 for standard tax-rate payers). As the donations automatically stop if they leave an organisation, it’s a safe way to support, as employees don’t need to worry about deductions if they don’t start work in a new role straight away. Another thing we would love to see is loads of employers getting involved on social media. Hearing about your activities, whether you’re matching contributions and what payroll giving means to you as an employer would be great. Just use #lovepayrollgiving and #payrollgivingmonth when tweeting, or adding content on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.
(Charities Aid Foundation, Charities Trust and Charitable Giving). This is just one of the reasons charities, donors and companies love payroll giving. Due to its tremendous success, what started in 2021 as a payroll giving week, Due to its tremendous success, what started in 2021 as a payroll giving week, has now been extended to a payroll giving month
“We absolutely love payroll giving here at Macmillan. By giving through your salary each payday, we can provide essential services for people with cancer throughout the UK, from our Macmillan support line to our incredible Macmillan nurses. The fact we know how often and how much you’ll donate each month means we can plan and spend your hard-earned money where we know it’s needed most.” – Ollie Lashbrook, Macmillan
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2022 | Issue 83 32
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