payroll giving
Administration makes or breaks payroll giving
Payroll professionals play an important role in ensuring payroll giving monies reach the donors’ intended charities
P
ayroll giving is a fantastic way for charities to receive tax-effective income direct from employees’ salaries. It reaches people that charities often fail to reach through the usual street and door-to-door fundraising or TV advertising. The Charities Payroll Giving Forum, which consists of twelve of the biggest charities concerned with driving forward payroll giving (including Barnardo’s, Cancer Research UK, RSPCA, Save the Children and Help the Hospices), is keen to highlight the crucial importance of the payroll department’s role to ensure the smooth flow of this vital income. It is no exaggeration to say that payroll professionals really are the most important people in making payroll giving run like clockwork so charities can rely on regular income to plan for the future. In most cases, payroll departments up and down the country are ensuring that deductions are made from salaries, and the listings of these donors and the money are forwarded to the relevant payroll giving agent. What may not be apparent is what can occur if this process, for whatever reason, is not maintained. It can mean charities do not receive donations that they are due to receive and in turn, generous donors may be contacted unnecessarily.
So, what happens if the wheels come off? One of the Payroll Giving Forum
members, Payroll Giving Manager Mervi Slade from Save the Children, gives an example: “Every month I send a letter to all the lapsed Payroll Giving donors. Most donations stop when employees leave their jobs, not because they do not wish to support us anymore. In my letter I thank them for their donation and also ask if they would like to come back to us and continue giving through their salary in their new job. Each month I get calls and emails back from supporters to tell me that they have not left their job and that the donation is still being deducted from their salary. Obviously this can worry them as understandably they want to be 100% sure that their donation reaches their chosen charity.”
Investigation can sometimes reveal that the problem, for one reason or another, lies with the payroll department. Mervi comments: “Sometimes, especially if there have been changes in payroll personnel or a company is going through a merger, payments might not have been send to the payroll giving agency each month; or the listing that is critical to the disbursement of the donations might not have been included. We know that these things do not happen intentionally and are more than happy to help if needed.” Stephen Noble, Head of Workplace Giving at Barnardo’s, provides another typical example: “We are currently liaising
...PAYROLL PROFESSIONALS REALLY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MAKING PAYROLL GIVING RUN LIKE CLOCKWORK...
with an employer and their payroll giving agency because we’ve not received a payment in the last six months. We know that the scheme is very much alive and well, with deductions made each monthly pay day. However, the payment pattern has been spasmodic because often the employee listings aren’t sent to the agency to accompany the payments. Without them, the donations cannot be distributed. This situation isn’t uncommon but in this case has been exacerbated by changes of personnel in the payroll team over the last two to three years.” Donna Prior, Customer Services Manager at Charities Aid Foundation, which is the UK’s largest payroll giving agency) tells how this affects them as well: “We receive and process donations from more than 4,200 payrolls each month; 91% of which go out in the next available disbursement. This proportion continues to increase, compared to 89% in 2012. However, sometimes things can delay a disbursement. There are two main causes of delay: no employee listing or no employee donations received by the payroll giving agency. Without these two parts of vital information, the donation gets stuck. “To help everyone involved understand how to make the process run smoothly, CAF have developed an employer’s guide, which details what is needed and why (
www.cafonline.org/ pdf/CAFGiveAsYouEarn_PayrollGuide_ WEB0960A0211.pdf). Working well together helps ensure that payroll giving continues to be the most effective way to donate to charity.”
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