The total amount raised has now exceeded £1million – and that’s before Gift Aid. Today the scheme at Barclays generates more £7,000 a month for charities and almost 26% of UK employees participate.
Offering employees a way to donate pennies through their pay is sometimes overlooked by employers and charities as a way to support fundraising goals. The success of Pennies from Heaven shows that if employers can support charitable fundraising in a small way, and stick at it, great sums of money can be raised.
Kate Frost, Director of Pennies from Heaven commented: “Barclays’ achievement demonstrates the essence of what Pennies from Heaven is all about. If we each give something little, together, over time, we can achieve something great. Giving small amounts through pay generates donor stickiness as amounts are affordable and deductions are automatic and regular. Annual big fundraising initiatives are essential to charities but constant, reliable income streams are fundamental.
“I like to think of Pennies from Heaven as crowd fundraising for the charity sector with each person donating a few pence. If employers can establish Pennies from Heaven as a core and long term fundraising option offered to their employees, over time it will grow in popularity and cultivate long term participation.’”
Pennies from Heaven is the UK’s largest micro giving scheme for employees and pensioners. Individuals sign up once and from then on every salary payment is rounded down to the nearest pound, with the pennies donated to charity.
If net pay was £850.34, then 34p would be donated and donations are always less than 99p. The scheme has raised over £3million since it began and the average participation rate of employees is 18 per cent.
Major employers offering the scheme include Barclays, EY, HSBC, Cadbury Schweppes, Grant Thornton UK, Lloyds Pharmacy, LV=, The Rank Group, TNT, WHSmith, many UK Councils and the largest UK employer, the NHS.
