It can make us feel good to give to charities, especially when we’re supporting causes that we really believe in. But sometimes it can also feel like a chore – deciding who to give to, keeping track of donations, and at tax time trying to compile all the details so we get the biggest tax deduction possible.
Wouldn’t it be great if someone came up with a simpler and easier way to donate to multiple charities at once?
Well they have. It’s called workplace giving.
Workplace giving can help make the process of donating to your favorite charities simpler and easier, with plenty of benefits for you, your employer and the charity itself.
Lisa Grinham is CEO of Good2Give, a not-for-profit that exists to help businesses offer their employees easy options for workplace giving. She says that workplace giving is the most tax-effective model of giving in Australia. “When you donate using workplace giving, it’s built into your employer’s payroll, which means your donations come straight out of your pre-tax income,” says Ms Grinham. “This means that you get the tax benefits immediately instead of having to keep track of all your donations and waiting until tax time to include them in your return. “But the additional benefit is that many companies using payroll giving offer to match employee donations as an incentive to give, which means that the charities you value receive even more income to make a difference.”
But the benefits for the charity don’t stop there. Ms Grinham says that because the giving is built into your employer’s payroll system and you get the tax benefit immediately, it means that the charity doesn’t have to do the administration work to issue receipts, which saves them money and time. “On top of that, it’s proven to boost employee pride in their employer, and build vibrant corporate communities of giving. Good2Give’s 2015 Workplace Givers Revealed research report found that 86 per cent of survey participants were proud to work at their company because of its workplace giving program.”
Good2Give was established in 2000, and over the past 15 years has supported businesses and donors to give more than $150 million to Australian charities. But over the past couple of years the organisation has developed a simple online platform that has made workplace giving even easier and contributed to a remarkable increase in employee participation and donation levels.
“Our customised workplace giving platform eliminates the barriers previously associated with workplace giving and makes things so much easier for employees and businesses, increasing uptake and building company-led community giving,” says Ms Grinham. “We’ve seen workplace giving donations increase 50 per cent in the past 12 months and the number of new companies offering workplace giving for the first time continues to pick up speed.”
Good2Give’s online platform offers an easy and secure way for employees to give regular or one-off pre-tax donations directly to the causes that matter to them. Previously too onerous for any one payroll department to manage internally, employees can now donate to any number of Australian charities – and do it all from their mobile, tablet or laptop. “With our platform, you are completely in control and can make changes anytime, anywhere,” says Ms Grinham. “It’s secure, you can set up regular giving, but you can also make one-off donations whenever you want, and you can get regular updates from your charities via our system rather than signing up to multiple email lists.”
Anglican Overseas Aid is one of the many charities that you can donate to via the Good2Give system. If your employer uses Good2Give, you could set up a regular donation that makes things easier for you and us. Find out more: If your employer doesn’t offer workplace giving yet, suggest they find out more on the Good2Give website.