• Most of the large UK employers now offer some form of payroll giving to charities, but to date these schemes have not been easily accessible to pensioners. Pennies from Heaven offers a scheme that provides pension funds with the opportunity to enable pensioners to donate spare pennies to charity, on a regular basis, which attracts take up rates of up to 84%.
• Pennies from Heaven has become increasingly excited with the appeal that this unique scheme has to pension funds. If every single UK pensioner signed up over £60m p.a. would be raised for the charity sector.
• Improving communications, maintaining contact and generally acting in a warm and friendly way towards pensioners is the aim of many Boards of Trustees. Easy to say, but what constructive action can really be taken? The challenge for pension funds is offering something that is accessible and appealing to all pensioners and this is the attraction of Pennies from Heaven.

What is Pennies from Heaven?

• Pennies from Heaven is an innovative coin collection scheme with an ambitious vision of getting every single worker and pensioner donating their spare pennies from their monthly income to charity. The simple scheme is a new way to provide otherwise lost pennies to charity with meaningful sums on an ongoing basis. Now in its 14th year they have over 220 employers offering the scheme with more than 192 charities benefiting. To date they have risen over 210,000,000 pennies (£2.1m!) Major employers offering the scheme include Barclays, HSBC, Cadbury Schweppes, Grant Thornton UK, Lloyds Pharmacy, LV=, Palmer and Harvey, Skandia Life, TNT, Smiths News, WHSmith, many UK Councils and 145 Trusts from the largest UK employer the NHS.
• With a simple change to your ‘pension’ payroll system gross incomes are rounded down to the nearest pound on a monthly basis. The most anyone will give a month is £0.99 or £11.88 p.a. (worth £14.85 with Gift Aid credit paid from HMRC) with the average of £6.00 donated per year. The benefiting charities are chosen by the board of trustees, usually in conjunction with the pensioners and can be changed annually. Pennies from Heaven is charity neutral and we do not campaign on behalf of any particular cause.

How much could we raise?

• Pension funds with 10,000 pensioners could raise up to £75,000 p.a. with gift aid. For funds with 50,000 employers this rises to £375,000 p.a.

We already offer ‘payroll giving’ so why offer something else?

• Pennies from Heaven has three times the sign up rate than Payroll Giving. Traditional Payroll Giving schemes appeal to higher paid management level staff mainly because they ask individuals for a minimum monthly donation (£5-£10). Pennies from Heaven asks each pensioner to give a little to collectively make a big difference. It’s about working together to make a change to a cause important to them. Pennies from Heaven is a simple way to involve all pensioners in charitable giving beyond the boundaries of Payroll Giving
• Most of our members operate both Pennies from Heaven and Payroll Giving demonstrating their distinct appeal

Is it easy to set up?

• Yes! Pennies from Heaven makes it easy for pension funds to set up and run the scheme. We provide ‘payroll’ IT solutions where possible and tailored marketing and branding. We will distribute all donations to your nominated charities and work with your charities to reclaim gift aid on donations. It really is simple to do!

Summary – Key Benefits

• Provides a simple way for all pensioners to each give a little to charity and collectively make big change
• Unites your pensioners in a common charity goal
• Helps create a positive relationship with pensioners – people like organisations that demonstrate positive corporate responsibility.
• High take up rate – average is 10%, three times that of Payroll Giving
• Appeals to all income groups – people find it hard to budget the pounds but not the pence.
• Raises new money for charity – 10,000 pensioners could raise £75,000p.a.

For more information please contact Anthony Law or Kate Frost. Contact details can be found on our CONTACT US page.