Section 2: The givers – Business giving and volunteering

International context

A comprehensive study by America’s Charities found half of employers in the US are moving to year-round engagement with their workplace giving programs; and that 80% of survey participants offer employees the ability to contribute to nonprofits via automatic payroll deductions. The study concluded 70% of the companies cited offer employer contribution matching as part of their program (America's Charities 2014, 15), and over 50% are incorporating contests and events as a way to stimulate and maintain interest in workplace giving programs (America's Charities 2013, 9).

A company matching the giving of their employees is considered to be one of the most important elements of successful payroll giving programs. About 65% of Fortune 500 companies match employee donations. Top contributors include Microsoft (US$48 million annually) and General Electric (GE) (US$37 million annually) (Double the Donation 2015). Corporations view the matching of gifts as not only an employee benefit but as a fundamental element of their overall engagement strategy (Scott 2014b).

Ernst & Young (EY) in the US manages a workplace giving program not uncommon to those in place in many multinational corporations based in North America, Australia and Europe. The EY program adopts tight limitations, permitting employees to donate to an accredited nonprofit college or university in the US only. The company benefits by establishing and maintaining close connections with the accounting and business programs at US universities. Ellen Glazerman, Executive Director of the Ernst & Young Foundation, who is tasked with overseeing matched donations for EY employees, provides an insight as to how her company’s matching gifts program operates (see Figure 10.1).

1. 
   Pick a Focus
   

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   Know Your Interests
   

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   Automate
   

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   Include Employee Voices
   

5. 
   Evaluate Your Goals
   

In the UK, workplace giving has been driven in large part by large corporations (and across Europe), embedding Corporate Community Investment (CCI) strategy and activity as part of organisational commitment to corporate responsibility (Centre for Corporate Public Affairs and Business Council of Australia 2007). Workplace giving in the UK became widespread in large organisations in the 1990s. During that decade, the UK Government legislated for a tax deduction for charitable donations via automated payroll deductions. The Charities Aid Foundation played a significant role in facilitating this process (Centre for Social Impact 2009, 15).

The two major political parties in the UK (Conservative and New Labour) have provided bipartisan support for payroll giving. The Labour Government (1997 – 2010) offered incentives to companies with a high percentage of employees enrolled in payroll giving which were also endorsed by the conservative Prime Minister David Cameron in 2011 (Saxton 2011).

In the UK, payroll giving totalled £126 million in 2014–15, an increase from £118 million in 2011-12 (Osborne 2013). This represented 11.5% of the total charitable giving (HM Revenue & Customs 2015); however, only 2% of donors chose to give through their payroll (Charities Aid Foundation 2015b). It is reported that 2% of British enterprises offer workplace giving schemes and that 735,000 people, — 3% of the workforce — utilise such arrangements (Charities Aid Foundation 2015b).

Also in North America, as of 2009, 5.6% of the working population in Canada participated in workplace giving, donating on average the equivalent of A$228 per person annually, raising the equivlent of A$343 million in total (Centre for Social Impact 2009, 13).

These countries have a long history of workplace giving and well-established and creditable redistribution agencies backed by government policy. However, there is considerable sector discussion and research which indicates a perceived impression of inefficiencies in the system (Ainsworth 2010; Harder 2010; Richards 2012; Sargeant and Shang 2011). At least in the UK considerable policy effort is being applied in an effort to address these concerns (Saints Information 2007; UK Government 2011). Key issues include a lack of public awareness of the system, few incentives to encourage employers to set up such programs, an employer perception that such programs are complex to set up and run and a feeling by some that small to medium charities are often overlooked as giving choices.

Stephen Noble, former Head of Workplace Giving at Barnardos states that employer matching of employee contributions is critical if the sector is to continue to experience positive growth. As of 2013, only 6% of employers managing workplace giving programs in the UK matched employee contributions (Noble 2013).

A lack of awareness is considered one of the greatest impediments to the growth of workplace giving in the UK and globally (O'Hara 2013). Senior management plays an important role raising awareness about workplace giving in the company. High awareness can help embed a culture of giving within an enterprise, which can subsequently allow the practice to flourish (Bliss 2013).

Communities and enterprises stand to gain significantly from continued growth of the sector, as seen in the Charities Aid Foundation (2015a) eight benefits of workplace giving:

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  ‘creates a positive community spirit within a company;
  
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  enables donors in the workplace to give to charities pre-tax, and make a real difference;
  
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  it is the most efficient way to connect donors, employers and charities;
  
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  the most cost effective means for charities to raise funds;
  
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  makes it easy for companies to be good corporate citizens;
  
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  employers can supercharge company giving by matching staff donations;
  
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  donors receive an automatic tax deduction and don’t have to retain receipts; and
  
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  donations can be one-off for special events or ongoing to support a chosen charity’ (Charities Aid Foundation 2015a).