Payroll giving sees a significant drop in donations despite more signing-up to the scheme

Donations through payroll giving have fallen by £21 million, figures from HM Revenue and Customs show.

The scheme brought in £134m for 2013-14 despite the number of donors signing up to the scheme rising.

Last year the scheme was responsible for raking in £155m from donors signing-up via deductions taken from their gross salary.

Figures show the number of people donating via the scheme – also known as give as you earn or GAYE – increased from 1.022 million to 1.12 million.

Payroll Giving allows anyone who pays UK income tax to give regularly and on a tax free basis to the charities and good causes of their choice.

Donations are deducted before tax so each £1 only costs 80p or 60p for higher rate taxpayers.

If you want people to hear a message you have to repeat it ad nauseam

However the scheme has been criticised of late with for its poor uptake with most of the country’s major employers still unaware of its existence.

Addressing the Institute of Fundraising conference, financial secretary to the Treasury, Nicky Morgan MP, said that charities need to push payroll giving on to politicians, as well as potential donors and employers.

“My understanding of politics is if you want people to hear a message you have to repeat it ad nauseam and only when we are completely sick of it as politicians, does it begin to just about cut through.”

Charities are not doing enough themselves to make donors aware of the option of payroll giving, she added, but said the lack of a centralised web page with a list of employers who part of the scheme is an issue that had to be resolved.