For the second year in a row, the number of Quality Mark Award certificates distributed to businesses will increase. In April, 3,631 certificates will be distributed to employers, an 8.5% increase on 2010. The Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates are presented to employers offering a 10, 5 or 1% take-up of the scheme amongst their employees.

Lee Grant, Tax-Effective Giving Project Manager at the Institute of Fundraising, comments: “It is great to see so many employers ‘going for gold’ and actively participating in Payroll Giving. Giving through your payroll continues to fare well in the current economic climate. Although we’ve seen a dip in donor numbers during the last financial year, it’s encouraging that the amount of income provided has actually increased since April 2010.

“We’re now calling on employers to go one step further and apply for a National Payroll Giving Excellence Award. This is the ultimate demonstration of commitment to Payroll Giving and provides employers with a platform to showcase their outstanding schemes in practice.”

The deadline for entries for the 2011 National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards is 15th July. Any organisation that has achieved a Bronze, Silver or Gold Quality Mark Award this year is eligible and welcome to enter the .

Workplace Giving enables businesses to demonstrate their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Community Investment programmes by providing a platform for their employees to give tax-effectively. Worth £106 million to the sector annually, Workplace Giving has also been noted to improve staff recruitment and retention and many employers top-up, or match their employees’ contribution.

Join the growing number of enlightened employees who are serious about Workplace Giving by contacting us now.

750,000 people are expected to become higher rate tax payers from 5th April 2011 as a result of Government reforms according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

It may, at first sight, appear to be bad news for those affected but it could be great news for charities if only more employees were aware of Workplace Giving.

Many in the 40% tax band wrongly believe that by ticking the Gift Aid box the charity in question can claim back their tax rate – in fact they can’t.

Only the standard rate of tax can be claimed back through the Gift Aid scheme, unlike Workplace Giving where all donations are from gross pay and therefore include the tax the donor would have paid. For a higher rate tax payer on PAYE Workplace Giving is a “no brainer”…as long as their employer offers a scheme!

So for a 40% tax payer, instead of £10 being worth £12.50 to charity via Direct Debit/ Gift Aid, this £10 would be worth £16.67 to charity if given through a Workplace Giving scheme. This difference could be worth up to £3 million extra if these staff all had access to a scheme.

Rosie Runciman, of the Geared for Giving Campaign says; “If Employers could do one thing this year which would cost them nothing but help good causes it would be to ensure they offer a Workplace Giving scheme. The Geared for Giving Campaign is calling on the 45% of employers who are yet to offer the scheme to join the growing number of enlightened employers who offer this FREE benefit to their staff.”

For more information please contact Rosie on rosie@geardforgiving.com or 01285 850 662

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks are leading the way, not only in encouraging their own employees to donate to charity via their Workplace Giving scheme, but also by encouraging their customers to do the same. They hope this will urge other companies to follow their lead and join the Geared for Giving Campaign.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have bolstered the campaign by promoting the programme through ATM rolls across the country to highlight the easy way to donate to charity. From this month the campaign logo and web URL will appear on ATM receipts dispensed from cashpoint machines across the UK which are used an average of 8,882,023 times per month. The move comes after the banks introduced a Workplace Giving promotion on 300,000 customer bank statements.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks have supported the Campaign since it was launched in 2008 and have continued to back the programme across the business. This year, employees were named as the most charitable in the banking world when it comes to their salaries. More than 20 per cent of staff donate to charity via their salaries – the highest employee involvement of any UK high street bank for Workplace Giving.

Jacqui Atkinson, Community Affairs Manager at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank said: “As an organisation we are committed to supporting community and volunteering initiatives across our business and the workplace giving scheme is a good way to make donating to chosen charities as easy as possible for our employees. Plus, if money is donated to our chosen charity, Help the Hospices, we match the funds pound for pound.”

“Nearly 2,000 of our employees have donated to 227 different charities since we introduced the scheme and it continues to be popular with our employees, raising an average £230,000 each year. We wanted to lend our support to Geared for Giving and encourage anyone who can donate to do so through the workplace giving programme so we are delighted to introduce information through our customer communications,” she said.

Entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne thinks “It is great to see Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks being so creative about getting the Workplace Giving message out to the public. Workplace Giving is an initiative that is very close to my heart and I hope other companies will follow the banks’ example.”

The community-focused bank has a dedicated CR strategy which is strongly supported across all levels of the business which is the key to the success of the Geared for Giving campaign. This reflects Duncan Bannatyne’s comments at the launch of the campaign when he said that companies shouldn’t be asking why they would do this, they should be asking why wouldn’t they. He immediately introduced a scheme for his own workforce which was very well received.

To help us spread the Geared for Giving message, please contact us now.

Usually distributing the news, Smiths News PLC has made the news this time because the company has relaunched its Workplace Giving scheme and in the first month the company has managed to double the numbers giving to charity from their pay.

Everyone has embraced the Geared for Giving campaign and the group plan to re-introduce the Workplace Giving scheme throughout the company. They are actively promoting it to all staff including all their night shift workers. The company’s first goal is to get 10% of its 5,300 staff giving to charity via the workplace.

Kerrie Colford, Community Manager said: “It is really satisfying to see that the Smiths News Workplace Giving scheme has had such success – our staff are really committed to helping others in the community. Last year we helped raise £600,000 for our industry charity, NewstrAid. Staff can also give to charities or community projects that are important to them through Workplace Giving which means all their donations are made in the most effective way possible.”

Kerri continues; “Smiths News PLC is delighted to support the Geared for Giving campaign. We put our people at the heart of our business and we want to give them the option of giving to the charity of their choice in the most efficient and easy way possible, which is why we’ve relaunched our Workplace Giving scheme. We have already doubled uptake of the initiative and are promoting the scheme at night as well as during the day as so many of our staff work through the night. That way we hope that everyone will get the opportunity to give via the workplace if they want to. “

Join the growing number of employers who are Geared for Giving, contact us now.

We are delighted to be sponsoring the ‘Best New Scheme’ at tonight’s National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards held at the Treasury.

These Awards are funded by HM Government, organised in conjunction with the Institute of Fundraising and administered by the Payroll Giving Centre and are designed to showcase the best Workplace Giving schemes in the UK.

The ‘Best New Scheme’ Award is presented to the employer that has introduced a Workplace Giving scheme into the workplace and shows the best integration of launch activities, promotion to staff and target achievement.

Three companies have been shortlisted in this category; JN Bentley is a leading, privately owned construction company, TNT, the European market leader in global express, logistics and international mail services and Teva, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the UK.

The Awards are being presented by Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society and we wish all three shortlisted employers the very best this evening.

We are delighted that the number of employers joining the Campaign continues to rise week on week.  All of these enlightened employers have committed to implementing and actively promoting their Workplace Giving scheme and we want to encourage more of you to follow their lead and sign up today!

Employers who have joined the campaign over the last few weeks include Bertrams, West Lothian Council, London Borough of Southwark Council, Cassidian and Puma UK.

As Rufus Hall, CEO, of The Orchid Group, who have also recently introduced the scheme and joined the Campaign, comments; “The Orchid Group have just introduced the Workplace Giving scheme for all of our 6,500 UK employees. This will further our aim of establishing Orchid as a socially responsible employer. We are fully committed to the provision of support to charitable causes within the UK (and globally) and I know that this scheme will be a worthy addition to the employee benefits we already offer.”

We are now working towards doubling our initial target so to join the growing number of Geared for Giving employers contact us now.