The Geared for Giving Campaign was first launched at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 19 May 2008 by Anne Snelgrove, MP for South Swindon and Duncan Bannatyne OBE.
The Geared for Giving Campaign was originally established to raise awareness of Payroll Giving with UK business leaders. Payroll Giving (also known Give As You Earn ) is a scheme of making charitable tax-efficient donations by giving directly from payroll to any charity. Currently 1 million employees give to charity through the system raising £130m a year for charities.
Building upon this success, in October 2016 the campaign was relaunched to maximise the huge potential of employee giving through pay. Geared for Giving continues as a fundraising campaign, this time with a new mission to double the amount raised by Payroll Giving for charities to £260m annually, by increasing the number of employees giving through pay from 1 million, to 2 million. The campaign is calling for all businesses with over 250 employees to offer Payroll Giving to their staff.
Through Payroll Giving, any donation is tax free, which means that charities will benefit by at least 25% more on top of employee donations. When it comes to higher rate tax payers, charities benefit even further, receiving 66% or 81% extra on top of the donation – unlike any other form of giving.
www.gearedforgiving.org