Home Office launches charity giving programme

A new UK-wide initiative has been launched by the Home Office to enourage small businesses to donate money to charity.

The Payroll Giving Grants programe, will reward any employer with less than 500 staff a cash incentive of up to £500 for setting up the scheme. These grants will be payable to all those companies who sign up to the scheme before the end of 2006, but will also be backdated to include those who have signed up to the programme since April 6, 2004.

The programme will enable employees to donate to charities straight from their gross salary and receive immediate tax relief of up to 40% for each donation.

The new grants programme will also match the first £10 donated by each employee, every month, for a period of six months.

Home Office Minister, Fiona Mactaggart, said that she hoped the new scheme, which is administered and promoted by the Institute of Fundraising and Business in the Community, would encourage more small and medium-sized businesses to get involved. She said: "Payroll Giving makes it easy for people to give money tax efficently because donations are made before tax is deducted from an employee's salary. Charities also benefit from regular, reliable funding and it gives businesses the chance to connect with their local community."

Harley-Davidson Europe, which is based in Oxford, recently signed up for the Payroll Giving Grants Programme, and has now achieved the participation of arounf 25% of its employees.Garry Brumfitt, Director of European Affairs at Harley-Davidson, praised the new scheme, and said: "Payroll Giving allows our staff to feel closer to their chosen charities. It is easy to administer and because of the matching scheme, it means that those charities get even more from our money."

Payroll Giving raised £91 million for charities in 2003-04 alone, despite only one per cent of UK companies participating in the scheme. Further information on the scheme is available by contacting: 0845 602 6786 or by visiting the web site at www.payrollgivinggrants.org.uk

(KMcA/SP)