All you need to know about payroll giving and how to increase engagement
Working at the centre of the giving world, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) is the leading payroll giving agency in the UK. CAF helps donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so that they can do more of their life-changing work.
Read on to learn more about what payroll giving is, the impact it can have and how to engage your employees with your scheme.
A SIMPLE AND IMPACTFUL WAY TO GIVE
Payroll giving allows your colleagues to make regular, tax-efficient donations directly from their gross pay to UK charities. This boosts the value of their gift, while costing them less, due to their donations being taken before income tax is deducted. It also saves their chosen charities the time and resources it takes to claim Gift Aid, enabling them to focus on fulfilling their mission and planning for the future.
Through Give As You Earn (GAYE), CAF’s payroll giving scheme, your employees can choose from over 160,000 verified charities in the UK or nominate a charity not already on CAF’s list. Both registered and unregistered charities recognised by HMRC as charitable are eligible for donations – allowing you to support local community or sports groups as well. Your employees can start, stop, change, or amend their donations at any time.
WHAT EMPLOYEES THINK OF PAYROLL GIVING
In recent research by CAF:
47% of employees agreed that they would prefer to work for a business that donated to a charitable cause.
People who work for businesses that donate to charity said that it has a positive impact on their employee experience, including:
54% mentioning their sense of pride in working there.
47% mentioning their willingness to go the extra mile.
51% mentioning their loyalty to their employer.
CAF survey of 1,885 employees via YouGov, February and March 2024
THE IMPACT THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO MAKE
In the past year, between 2023 and 2024, almost £60 million was given to charities through CAF's payroll giving scheme, supporting a wide range of causes. However, CAF research shows that 59% of people have still not heard of payroll giving. Learn more: Payroll Giving: Attracting the Next Generation of Donors, CAF, February 2024
To incentivise your employees to give (if you have time to plan before PGM, or ahead of future campaigns), it can be useful to match your employees’ donations made during a campaign month to help them to maximise their impact.
Employees are more likely to donate if their employer matches their donations to charity, including 65% of 25–34-year-olds. CAF’s Payroll Giving Report 2024
KEY INFORMATION TO GET STARTED
Read CAF’s blog, The basics you need to know about payroll giving, to find quick answers to typical queries you may have about payroll giving and share it with your employees to increase their understanding.
CAF’s Employee Engagement Guide draws on their expertise and experience as the UK’s largest payroll giving service provider to help you boost your employees’ engagement with GAYE. You will be taken through the essentials you need to know to raise awareness of payroll giving, its benefits within your organisation and how to best promote your scheme and enhance contributions.
MESSAGING TEMPLATES TO PROMOTE PAYROLL GIVING
You can use CAF’s Give As You Earn Activation Kit to identify your goals, plan activities and messaging to maximise employee engagement and amplify your collective social impact. You can save CAF’s messaging templates to develop employee communications, including via emails, intranet and office screen posts, digital one-page posters and internal social media posts.
LOOKING FOR CHARITIES TO SUPPORT?
Use CAF’s Awareness Calendar to remind your employees about global, national and local charity awareness campaigns and religious festivals that might inspire them to give. Continue to encourage your colleagues to explore charities to support and work with your HR team to incentivise your employees’ participation in your payroll giving scheme.
Research shows that charity and religious awareness campaigns significantly boost donations and public engagement. This is because they help potential donors better understand the cause and explain how they can participate in campaign-related events.
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Leadership plays a vital role in promoting payroll giving within an organisation. When executives lead by example with their continued charitable support, it sets a positive tone and encourages wider employee participation. It is a powerful way to demonstrate commitment to making a difference and increase your social impact.
If every FTSE CEO gave at least 1% of their salary, we could make a much greater impact on charities.
Read CAF’s blog to learn more: The Benefits of Payroll Giving for Senior Business Leaders.
“The GAYE scheme is fabulous as it allows you to budget your contributions and distribute on your own timescale, with the added tax incentive benefiting all concerned.”
David Mercer, Chief Executive Officer LMAX Group
JOIN US IN CAF’S WEBINAR ON 24TH FEBRUARY, EXPLORING WHAT A CULTURE OF GIVING LOOKS LIKE
More information to come. Keep an eye out for the sign-up link.
Visit CAF’s website to find out more.
