Analysis carried out by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) has revealed that generous employees have donated more than £1.3 billion to charity direct from their pay through the UK’s first and largest payroll giving scheme.
220,000+ people throughout the UK regularly make donations to charity through CAF ‘Give As You Earn’, which was launched by the CAF back in April 1987.
The scheme allows people to make donations from their pre-tax salary and is now used by more than 2,700 employees across the UK including leading retailers, banks, financial service firms, media organisations and public sector bodies, making it the biggest payroll giving scheme in the country.
To mark the scheme’s 30th anniversary, analysis was carried out and revealed:
- £1,309,300,000 was donated through Give As You Earn between 1987 and 2016. Last year £74.3 million was donated.
- The average monthly donation people give through their payroll is £20.57. 222,762 people are currently signed up to the scheme.
- People support more than 22,000 different charities. The five currently most popular are Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC, Macmillan Cancer Support, BEN – Motor & Allied Trades Benevolent Fund and Friends at Work.
Because donations are taken from pre-tax income, part of the donation would otherwise have been paid in tax, for example, a £20 donation would cost a 20% taxpayer £16.
“We are an incredibly generous nation and it is fantastic that so many choose to donate some of their earnings to a good cause every month,” commented John Low, chief executive of CAF.
“CAF helped pioneer payroll giving in the UK and we are very proud that, 30 years on, it has now helped people to give well over £1 billion to charity. For people who regularly give, this can be a really convenient way to support a favourite cause which helps them to give more than they thought possible.
“CAF works with tens of thousands of charities and we get to see first hand what a critical difference these donations make. They can provide a lifeline to the vital work of charities which has a real and lasting impact on people’s lives.”
Through CAF Give As You Earn, employees can choose to donate to the same charity or charities each month, or they can pay into a CAF Charity Account where the money can be saved up to give to a good cause at a later date.
