Frequently Asked Questions

You can give to any UK Registered Charity or Charitable Organisation that is recognised by HMRC for tax relief.

There is a minimum deduction of £1 per week or £5 per month.

The maximum deduction that can be made is your gross pay/pension, minus your National Insurance contribution.

Yes, you may choose to support as many charities as you wish, as long as each nominated charity receives at least £1.

For example, a £5 deduction may be split between a maximum of 5 charities.

If your employer already has a scheme with us, you can submit a start instruction using our online Donation Choice Form, or by completing and returning the PDF version available in Downloads.

If your employer does not currently have a Payroll Giving scheme in place and would like one, please direct them to our Employers page for further details.

You can start, stop or amend donations at any time by submitting an online Donation Choice Form or by completing and returning the PDF version available in Downloads.

Details of only the total Payroll Giving deduction may be transmitted to an employer's payroll office and will usually take effect on the first pay day after receipt.

You can stop your donations at any time by submitting an online Donation Choice Form or by completing and returning the PDF version available in Downloads.

Instructions will usually take effect on the first pay day after receipt.

Our Donation Choice Form allows you to specify contact preferences for each of the charities you donate to, giving you control over how your chosen charities may get in touch.

Your deduction may be subject to a small administration charge of no more than £10 per month to cover our costs to process and distribute donations.

Your employer may be contracted to pay the charges on your behalf, in which case your chosen charity will receive your entire pledge. Otherwise, the charge is removed from your donation before funds are passed to your chosen charity.

Your HR or payroll department will be able to confirm if your employer is meeting the administration charges.

Donations are processed (strictly in accordance with HMRC regulations) during the month after the funds have been deducted from salaries.

For example; January deductions are processed during February and distributed to reach charity bank accounts in the first few days of March.

Payroll Giving stops when you leave your job and is not automatically transferrable between employers. If you move to a new employer, contact your payroll department and enquire whether they operate a Payroll Giving scheme and if so how to join.

If your new employer does not currently have a scheme in place and would like one, please direct them to our Employers page for further details.

An Individual Options Account allows you to save up your donations so that you can make larger, one-off donations when you want to. It gives you the flexibility to donate when it suits you, and your transaction history is displayed on your account in a simple, clear format.

You can also set up Standing Orders from your Options Account, if you wish to send a fixed monthly amount to your chosen charity.

An Individual Options Account can be funded by either pre-tax or post-tax income.

Pre-tax (Payroll Giving)

For your account to be funded by pre-tax income, your employer/pension provider will need to have a Payroll Giving scheme with us. Deposits made through the Payroll Giving scheme may take a while to arrive in your account when you first start, as the transfer is done at the end of the month following your contribution through your employer, but will then arrive at the beginning of each month going forward. E.g. your deposit is taken from your January salary, we will process this in February and it will arrive in your account within the first few days of March.

To open an account funded pre-tax, search for your employer here and complete the online Donation Choice Form. You will need to expand the 'Options Account' section on the form.
Alternatively, we have a PDF version available on our Downloads page.

Once we have received your first deposit we will contact you to set up your online access.

Post-tax

Accounts funded by post-tax income may be eligible for Gift Aid enhancement.
You will be given a reference number to include on your payments, your funds will usually be visible in your account within 2 working days.

If you are funding your account from post-tax income and are eligible for Gift Aid enhancement, this is claimed from HMRC at the end of the month:  HMRC will process the claim within 6 weeks (although usually within 2 weeks). This will  be credited to your account within 2 working days of CG receiving the funds from HMRC.

To open an account funded post-tax, please contact us.

There is a minimum deposit of at least £5 per month, £1 per week or £60 a year.

One-off deposits can be made to an Options Account at any time from either Payroll Giving or post-tax income.

If you fund your account through Payroll Giving you will need to complete a Donation Choice form indicating that you wish to make a one-off donation to your Individual Options Account.

For post-tax funded accounts, you can send the one-off amount by bank transfer, quoting your unique donor reference number.

Yes, you can manage your Individual Options Account through Options Online.

If you forget the password to access your account, click here.

A password reset link will be sent to you by email, with on-screen instructions.

No, our Options Account service has now moved fully online. You will need to use our online account management system, Options Online.

Your existing Charity Account will no longer be automatically credited with your Payroll Giving donations, so you will need to decide on one of the below:

• Continue to make donations from it until the account is exhausted
• Fund the account in a different way (from Post Tax income) if you wish to keep it open.
• Advise your previous Payroll Giving Agency (account provider) that you wish to close the account and request a transfer of any remaining balance to your new Charitable Giving Options Account.

1. Login to your account.
2. Navigate to 'Profile' in top right.
3. Click 'Unlock' at bottom of page.
4. Select your anonymity status from the dropdown selection.
5. Click 'Save'.

If you do not manage your account online please email us to change your preferences.

Participating employees will have the pence deducted from their net pay by payroll on pay day.
For example, if you had a net pay of £978.60, you would retain £978.00 and the 60p would be deducted.

Your deductions will be collected along with those of your colleagues also participating in the scheme, and stored in a Charitable Giving Corporate Options Account managed by your employer.

Charitable Giving will claim the 25% Gift Aid on any eligibile deposited funds, which is then credited to the account when received from HMRC. With the Gift Aid enhancement your 60p donation could increase to 75p provided you have completed a Gift Aid Declaration and paid sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains.

Your employer chooses when to donate the funds and to which charity(ies).

As your 'Every Penny Helps' donation is made from your post-tax pay, it may be eligible for Gift Aid.

With the Gift Aid enhancement your 60p donation could increase to 75p provided you have completed a Gift Aid Declaration and paid sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains.

Contact your HR or payroll department to enquire if your employer operates an 'Every Penny Helps' scheme with us.

If your employer has confirmed that they have a scheme in place, all you need to do is go to our Downloads page and complete the Employee Sign-up Form.

Completed forms should be sent to your HR or payroll department to enable the deductions to begin.

Ask them to visit our Employers page for further details.