New research into workplace giving

New research into Australian payroll giving reveals what it takes to make a workplace giving program flourish.  Currently, less than one per cent of Australian adults donate through a payroll giving program, with total annual donations estimated at around $20 million. But if just ten per cent of Australians donated $5 a week through their pay, some $260 million would be raised.

The report 'The Giving Business' was commissioned by  PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), The Australian Charities Fund (ACF), Charities Aid Foundation, United Way and the Centre for Social Impact (CSI).

Pre-tax payroll giving results in an immediate tax deduction for employees without the need to get receipts or claim them on a tax return. The research demonstrates that businesses mistakenly believe payroll giving programs are complex to set up and administer, yet the majority of payroll giving program managers spend less than two hours per week on them.

There were many excellent stories of the enormous benefits to the community which came from payroll giving. For example, a payroll giving program allowed PricewaterhouseCoopers’ to raise $650,000 in ten days in a simple, immediate response to the Victorian bushfire crisis, with donations received from 70% of staff which were matched by the firm. In another example, in 2008 to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the merger between Pricewaterhouse and Coopers Lybrand, the firm globally raised more than AUD$5 million for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in just ten days. This represents the largest corporate donation ever made to the UNHCR.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers chief executive officer Mark Johnson said, “Payroll giving is one of the most efficient, tax deductible ways for people to contribute to causes they are passionate about. By implementing payroll giving in the workplace businesses can make a real difference to the community and to employee fulfilment.”