The Institute of Fundraising has returned £4m of an £8.3m grant intended to encourage small and medium-sized businesses to set up payroll giving schemes. It blamed employer apathy.
Although the initiative encouraged 3,380 employers to create schemes, many did not promote the match-funding element. This guaranteed to match any gift up to £10 by an employee for six months. About 18,000 employees took advantage of the match-funding offer but the Institute had budgeted for up to 70,000 sign-ups. Many firms also failed to claim the grants of between £300 and £500 that they were entitled to as a reward.
The money was returned to the Office of the Third Sector and will be allocated to volunteering, rather than charitable giving, projects.
