Payroll scheme has generated more than Comic Relief
Generous employees have donated more than £1.3 billion to charity direct from their pay through the UK’s first and largest payroll giving scheme.
The huge sum - donated over 30 years - is even greater than the £1.04bn raised by Comic Relief over a similar period and would comfortably buy the entire squad of Manchester United - the most expensive in world football - twice over.
More than 220,000 people in the UK make a regular donation to charity through CAF Give As You Earn which was launched by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in April 1987.
The scheme enables people to make donations from their pre-tax salary and is now used by more than 2,700 employers across the UK including leading retailers, banks, financial services firms, media organisations and public sector bodies.
Analysis carried out to mark its 30th anniversary has revealed that £1,309,300,000 was donated through Give As You Earn between 1987 and 2016. Last year £74.3 million was donated.
The average monthly donation people give through their payroll is £20.57 and people support more than 22,000 different charities.
The five currently most popular are Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC, Macmillan Cancer Support, BEN - Motor & Allied Trades Benevolent Fund and Friends at Work.
Because donations are taken from pre-tax income, part of the donation would otherwise have been paid in tax. For example, a £20 donation would cost a 20% taxpayer £16.
John Low, chief executive of CAF, said: “We are an incredibly generous nation and it is fantastic that so many choose to donate some of their earnings to a good cause every month.
“CAF helped pioneer payroll giving in the UK and we are very proud that, 30 years on, it has now helped people to give well over £1 billion to charity.
“For people who regularly give, this can be a really convenient way to support a favourite cause which helps them to give more than they thought possible.
“CAF works with tens of thousands of charities and we get to see first hand what a critical difference these donations make. They can provide a lifeline to the vital work of charities which has a real and lasting impact on people’s lives.”
Through CAF Give As You Earn, employees can choose to donate to the same charity or charities each month, or they can pay into a CAF Charity Account where the money can be saved up to give to a good cause at a later date.
