Blog

How to Encourage Payroll Giving Among Your Employees

Recent research by Third Sector revealed some shocking results with regard to payroll schemes within charities: although 7 out of 10 large UK charities offered payroll giving to their employees, average employee participation was only 1.7%. How can this be? Charities cited several reasons; some placed more importance on staff effort than staff donations, while others opined that it was the pennies that mattered, and not the regular revenue.

If your organisation gives its employees the option for payroll giving and you’re not realising the results you want or that you think you should be, the following areas may benefit from a closer look.

Tax Relief with a Twist

If your employees are not currently receiving any tax breaks from you, it may be time to start. Staff who feel they are getting help from their employer will form a stronger bond with them, and be inspired to work harder.

How can you put more pounds into your employees’ pockets? Allow them to purchase useful services through the payroll before tax is deducted. There are several ways; for example, consider increasing your appeal as an employer by offering employees payroll deducted childcare vouchers, gym membership or private health insurance. When you help your employees to save money, they will be more inclined to donate the additional cash.

Payroll giving works in the same way as these other ‘benefits in kind’. If your employees already make charitable donations, this is a more tax-efficient way of doing so.

Creative Promotion

Sometimes, charities forget that their employees are also the general public. As such, they too should be receiving your campaigns and your ask – if they consent to it, of course. To make your campaigns employee-specific, you will need to lead by example. Pick a theme that’s both engaging and light-hearted, and make it personal with face-to-face interaction wherever possible. Incentives like treats, freebies and prizes can inspire employees to take part.

Make it Real for Them

Even though your organisation’s employees work for your charity, they may need a change of perspective to jolt them into realizing how important their contribution actually is. You can make it real for them by doing the same thing you may already be doing for existing supporters; showing them how their donations will make a difference in a tangible way.

For example, if your charity fills backpacks to give to children of low-income families, bring out a filled backpack, and show them the actual numbers of pencils, notebooks and other items that their regular donations will buy. In doing this, your employees may be surprised at how little they need to give to make a difference in the lives of those your charity supports.

Create a Culture of Giving

In order for giving to be easier, a culture of giving should be in place. To do this, however, you must be honest. You cannot, for example, try and pressure employees to giving to your organisation; there are rules which protect your employee’s freedom to choose which charities receive their money. An employee should never be made to feel inadequate or stigmatised if they choose not to contribute financially to your cause. Remember, they already contribute their time to doing a good job for your charity.

Instead, work to keep it positive and create pride amongst employees; thank your staff for any and all donations they make and then, make sure you let senior management know that employees are donating and having fun doing it.

You’ll also want to let outside supporters know that donations are happening within your charity, because this also has many benefits. Not only will it inspire more donations from them, but your employees will also be encouraged to continue giving. You may even want to create some sort of competition whereby your employees are pitted against outside supporters.

No matter what you do to encourage donations from within your organisation, the actions that will keep them coming are to celebrate every success, no matter how small, and to thank your employees for all they do for your charity.