Lisa Grinham, CEO Good2Give has attributed the growth of workplace giving to technology.
Grinham said as more employers outsource their workplace giving programs to sophisticated donation platforms, it’s likely that donations will keep trending up in the years to come.
Latest figures released from the ATO for the 2014/15 year show an increase in donations of 34 per cent over the previous year. This follows on from a 13 per cent increase in 2013/14.
“Workplace giving is a vital and growing income channel for charities. It is also one of the lowest cost donor acquisition channels, and in an environment when cost pressures are coming to bear on charities, it’s important for charities to invest in digital channels, of which workplace giving now is, to generate low cost funds,” said Grinham.
“The growing importance that Millennials are placing on giving back at work is also helping to drive change at a corporate level. We know workplace giving is attractive to a younger demographic and that a company offering a workplace giving program makes staff feel proud of their company, so it’s really a no brainer to allow staff to give to a charity through their pre-tax pay.”
Good2Give’s sector analysis of real-time data shows that professional services firms lead the way with around 20 per cent of staff utilising their company’s workplace giving program.
“It’s encouraging to see more and more companies introduce and invest in their workplace giving programs. The six per cent increase is positive, however, let’s not kid ourselves we still have a long way to go – but the trend is going in the right direction,” said Grinham.