Giving one

Registered local charities and eligible “donee” organisations to be boosted by launch of world-first green” payroll giving service

A new way of giving to registered charities and eligible “donee” organisations in this country was launched by the Minister of Revenue, The Honourable Peter Dunne, at a function in Wellington (24 February)tonight.

The launch was the culmination of new “Payroll Giving” legislation introduced in January 2010 as a result of a two-year project involving the Minister, Inland Revenue and the charitable sector.

Leading online payroll company, iPayroll Ltd, developed its own “iPayroll Giving Service” specifically for small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s). The service has been designed to allow efficient participation in charitable giving for donors directly through iPayroll, with the potential to significantly boost the income of charities (donee organisations) who participate in the payroll giving service.

According to iPayroll Ltd Managing Director, Martin Gleeson, the company’s current clients make approximately one million salary and wage payments each year, constituting around $1-billion in gross salary and wages payments.

“Around one third of that – over $300 million - is PAYE payments. In short, a great deal of money is now available for charitable giving, at a time when charities are continuing to experience straightened times on the back of the recession”.

“What I am particularly pleased about is that for the first time employees in small-to-medium-sized companies, the overwhelming majority of companies in New Zealand – and overwhelming majority of our client base –now have the opportunity to simply and privately support their favourite registered charity and eligible organisation.”

Gleeson believes that the elimination of administrative time and effort for employers – iPayroll does all the work on their behalf without charge - not to mention potential frustration - will ensure that the iPayroll Giving Service is a success.

The breakthrough in the design of the payroll giving service was the dual concepts of direct employee giving through the employee payslip kiosk, and the development of the “green receipt” – an electronic receipting process for charities, employers, and iPayroll.

“These two features keep donating and administration simple, efficient, and easily auditable.

“In essence, it is totally paperless and practical, and we are very proud of that,” Gleeson adds.

Giving two & last

“The UK, Canada and Australia might have beaten us in launching payroll giving, but we believe our “iPayroll Giving Service” has taken this to the next level and is a world first,” Gleeson says.

The service immediately reaches nearly 96 percent of their client base, constituting thousands of client companies and organisations, “and growing rapidly”.

“While we cannot make people donate, we can make it easy for them to do so, and we believe the iPayroll Giving Service certainly does that,” says Gleeson.

The eight foundation charities of the “iPayroll Giving Service” present at the function each received an online donation from the company during the event.

ENDS