Employees have donated more than £1.6 billion to charitable causes through the Charities Aid Foundation’s payroll giving service.
CAF’s ‘Give As You Earn’ celebrates 35 years in 2022, having been a provider since the payroll giving scheme launched in 1987. Since that time, Give As You Earn has supported over 40,000 UK charities, for more than 2,000 clients and their employees.
This month, CAF is awarding more than more than 1,690 clients with a Bronze to Diamond rating for the Government-backed Payroll Giving Quality Mark accreditation. Every year, organisations of all sizes involved in payroll giving are recognised with an award based on the percentage of employees participating.
Payroll giving is tax effective as charitable donations are taken from pay before income tax is deducted. For a charity to receive a £25 donation, it effectively ‘costs’ a base rate taxpayer £20 or a higher rate taxpayer £15. Charities receive a reliable and regular income, and reduced administration and fundraising costs. Many employers match their employees’ payroll giving, which can double the donation a charity receives and foster employee engagement and loyalty.
Last financial year, more than £110 million was donated to charities through Give As You Earn, with more than £35 million given by employees and £74 million in tax relief.
Neil Heslop, OBE, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation, said:
“We are proud to be the largest payroll giving agency in the country, which has enabled employees to give meaningfully to causes that they care about for 35 years. We know from our research that employees want to work for a business that has a strong social purpose. By matching donations, businesses can put their social purpose into action and contribute more to good causes which are important to the people that work for them.
“As businesses and individuals have become more socially minded, payroll giving has also become to a significant workplace benefit. It has also been shown to be a highly effective way to respond to humanitarian emergencies. In March for instance, we saw employees respond generously to help people fleeing Ukraine by signing up for payroll giving and increasing contributions, taking advantage of tax relief and employer matching.”
