Charities

Frequently Asked Questions

Charity Bank Details

 Why have we been asked for our charity’s bank details?

We are an HMRC approved and audited Payroll Giving Agency and administer Payroll Giving schemes for more than 1,200 employers across Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We regularly receive donation instructions from employees wishing to support charities through Payroll Giving.

If we've approached you for your bank details, one of our donors has nominated you to receive their donation.

We require your banking details to make payments securely by BACS transfers.

 How can we provide our charity’s bank details?

Please complete our Charity Bank Details Form, available in Downloads, and supply verification in the form of either a paying-in slip or void cheque.

Please return to us by either:

Email:
mail@charitablegiving.co.uk or

Post:
Charitable Giving,
Union Mine Road,
Pitts Cleave,
Tavistock,
Devon,
PL19 0NS

Please be advised that due to an increase in email fraud amongst charities, we have been advised to enhance our verification process to include telephone verification as well. This means that once we receive your charity's bank details, we will then have to call the contact number for your charity that is provided on the Charity Commission website so that the details can also be verified to us over the phone.

Without verification we are unable to forward donations to your charity.

 Why is a copy of a paying-in slip or void cheque required?

It’s our policy and part of our necessary due diligence procedures to validate all bank details.

Supplying us with a paying in slip or void cheque enables us to verify the charity name, sort code and account number provided on the Charity Bank Details Form. This ensures that the funds we transfer reach the donors' intended charity(ies).

 How do we know that it’s safe for us to send you our bank details?

We are an HMRC-approved and audited Payroll Giving Agency, in operation since 1987.
Please see the HMRC List of approved agencies for Payroll Giving.

We are also a registered charity (Registration No. 1128013).

We hold ISO 9001 & 27001 certification, as well as Cyber Essentials Plus certification, see our certifications & accreditations.

We are fully compliant with UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), see our Privacy Policy.

Receiving Donations

 How quickly can we expect Payroll Giving donations to arrive?

Payroll Giving deductions and supporting documents are sent to Charitable Giving to be processed and distributed on a monthly cyclical basis.

Once Charitable Giving is in receipt of funds and necessary documentation, under HMRC regulations, funds may take up to 35 days to be distributed.

 How quickly can we expect donations from an Options Account to arrive?

Assuming availability of funds and charity information, Charitable Giving processes and distributes donations to nominated charities by secure BACS transfer within 10 working days of receipt of an account holder’s instruction.

 What do the references on the payments mean?

Payments from Charitable Giving will include one of the following references:

  • CHARITABLE GIVING/PAYROLL GIVING – Payroll Giving donations (regular single monthly payment)
  • CHARITABLEGIVINGVA/CHARITABLEGIVINGVA – Donations from Individual or Corporate Options Account holders (payments made when requested)
  • CG BENEVITY / BENEVITY or CG BENEVITY / BENEVITY GIFT AID - Charitable Giving distribute funds to charity on behalf of employers who use Benevity's online platform, Spark. You can access reports for these payments through the Benevity Causes Portal.
 Can we claim Gift Aid on the donation?

Charities are not entitled to claim Gift Aid on Payroll Giving donations.

Payroll Giving deductions are taken from gross pay before Income Tax is applied, the tax advantage remains with the individual making the pledge.

For donations funded by post-tax income Charitable Giving may, upon request and where eligible, claim the Gift Aid on behalf of donors.

You will never need to claim Gift Aid on donations you receive from us.

 What is a PFO?

PFO stands for Professional Fundraising Organisation.

PFO’s are experienced promotional organisations. They make no charge to the employers they work with and are funded by the charities they represent to promote the Payroll Giving scheme.

 Who are Benevity?

From April 2016 Charitable Giving will be making Payroll Giving and other distributions to charities on behalf of employers who have elected to facilitate their employees’ charitable efforts by providing them with Benevity’s innovative and engaging online platform, Spark.

Spark facilitates charitable giving in the workplace together with matching and volunteering opportunities, encouraging both individual and corporate philanthropy (described as “Goodness” by Benevity) amongst clients.

We are excited to be working alongside a partner with both measured global success in the marketplace and the same commitment to maximising contributions to charities through a unique range of giving solutions.

The Benevity team shares our dedication to providing outstanding service and customer care to all stakeholders – employers, donors and charities alike!

Find out more about Benevity and their full suite of solutions here www.benevity.com

or email benevity@charitablegiving.co.uk

Charity Reporting

 How much does charity reporting cost?

The charge for Charity Reports is based upon the number of donors giving each month, charges start at £18 per annum.

 How do we sign up for Charity Reports?

Please contact us.

 What information does the report contain?

The Charity Report contains a breakdown of donations given in the previous month, by donor. Donor contact details may be included where explicit consent has been given.

 When are the reports available?

The reports are generated automatically, so payments made throughout the month on behalf of Options and Corporate Account holders will be instantly visible.

Details of Payroll Giving donations will be accessible within the first 5 working days of each calendar month.

 Terms of Use

To ensure compliance with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) the format of Charity Reporting Statements has been changed to include Donor Communication Preference Information.

Where consent to share has been actively obtained from a donor, charities will see this indicated with ‘yes’ in the appropriate field (Email/SMS/Post or Telephone).

If 'yes' does not appear then consent has not been explicitly granted and any data shared must be deemed historic.

It is the responsibility of the charity to ensure that they act on any updated information (which supersedes any previous instructions) and remove out of date information from their system.

Any contact information shared with charities should ONLY be used in relation to Payroll Giving donations, not matched to any other donor profiling in their database.

Charity Reporting

Log in to our online charity reporting facility

Log in

Did you know?

As a charity you can set up your own Payroll Giving scheme too.

Find out more