Payroll giving is 20 years old this year
Howard Lake | 6 February 2007 | News
Payroll Giving, the tax-efficient method of giving to charity from your salary, was introduced in 1987 in the UK. This year the Institute of Fundraising is urging employers and employees to increase income to charities by signing up to this still under-utilised opportunity to give.
In the first full year of Payroll Giving (1987/1988) £1,034,695 was raised for charities. By 2005/2006 £84,740,956 was received and distributed by the Payroll Giving Agencies to charities from employees donating from their pre-tax pay.
The number of employees giving through Payroll Giving has increased from 60,629 in 1987/1988 to over 600,000 in 2005/2006.
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Lindsay Boswell, Chief Executive of the Institute of Fundraising, said: “Payroll Giving raises £84 million for charities for each year, yet only 2-3% of the population give to charity in this way. It is therefore essential for charities to promote Payroll Giving in 2007as a means of maximising their income.”
CAF runs the Give As You Earn scheme and was the first agency to receive approval when Payroll Giving was launched. More than 75% of the money being received by charities from Payroll Giving is distributed by CAF.
To set up a Payroll Giving scheme, employers simply have to sign-up with a Payroll Giving Agency who will transmit the donations on their behalf. Any organisation that signs up to Payroll Giving will receive a Quality Mark certificate that recognises and rewards organisations for making Payroll Giving available to their staff. The Quality Mark comprises a certificate and a logo, as well as Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.