UK staff would donate more to charity through their monthly salary if their employers offered payroll giving, research reveals.
A survey of 1,000 employees by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and The Royal Bank of Scotland, shows that 42% would contribute a percentage of their wages to charitable causes every month if they could.
Stephen Ainger, chief executive of CAF, said: “The research shows that £95m is currently given through the payroll. This is an excellent figure, but it is generated by only 2% of all tax payers.
“If those questioned who said they would give through their payroll actually did so, this would generate £1.4bn more for charities every year.”
The survey also shows that 80% people think it is important for employers to encourage their staff to donate to charity and 20% said they would be more likely to choose an employer that offered payroll giving over one that did not.
Neil Roden, HR director at RBS, which double-matches all staff donations to charity, said: “Evidence shows that staff are looking at more than just salary when it comes to choosing an employer.
“Since we started double matching staff donations in 2001, more than £25m has been generated for thousands of charities across the UK,” he said.
The research report follows the launch of a government initiative aimed at boosting payroll giving among small and medium-sized organisations in January.
Companies with fewer than 500 employees can receive a grant of up to £500 to set up a payroll giving scheme.
In addition, the government will also match the first £10 donated by each employee every month for the first six consecutive months.
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