Over two-thirds (69%) of UK employees say their workplace allocates funds for Christmas activities such as parties, decorations and employee gifts. Among those employees, almost half (49%) are in favour of some of these funds going towards charities of their choice according to an Ipsos poll commissioned by GlobalGiving UK1.
What’s more, of those participants who are in favour of some of the contribution and funds being used for charity, 60% reported that the proportion should be a half or more of the total currently spent2.
In a finding which reflects the changing expectations of UK employees during a cost-of-living crisis and time of global instability, in GlobalGiving UK’s opinion this research suggests that employees are happy to forgo some of this benefit to give to charitable causes.
Alex Ritchie, CEO at GlobalGiving UK, comments, “What this poll tells us is that employer charitable giving is important to many workers, so much so that they are willing to give up some of the Christmas gifts and celebrations they have at work in exchange.”
“This sends an important message to businesses about what’s important and meaningful to their teams.”
The preference to exchange employer spend at Christmas for charitable giving is stronger amongst younger participants whose workplace allocates funds for Christmas activities, with 57% of those aged 16-34 saying they are in favour of the contributions being donated to their choice of charity compared to 44% of those aged 35-753. There are also regional variations – participants in London and the North whose workplace allocates funds for Christmas activities are significantly more likely (55% in both regions) than those in the South (41%) to be in favour of donating some of the contribution or funding to a charity of their choice4.
Through their charity gift cards, GlobalGiving, a charity that connects community-based charities worldwide with donors, enables UK businesses to donate on behalf of employees, giving staff the ability to choose the causes which matter to them.
Alex Ritchie, CEO at GlobalGiving UK, continues: “Our Gift Cards are meaningful – allowing companies to align with their employees’ values; they’re versatile – as they’re available in a variety of languages and locations and they’re impactful by funding community-based charities based in over 175+ countries worldwide.
“Whether your employees are most passionate about education, conservation, or helping those impacted by a disaster, a charity gift card lets them choose the causes they want to support.”
Alyssa Calero, Customer Marketing Manager, at Staffbase, says: “We have chosen to partner with GlobalGiving by purchasing gift cards for our people to make donations to a charity of their choice, as a way to express gratitude and appreciation to our valued employees and customers. GlobalGiving allows us to empower them to contribute to an organisation with personal significance.”
Judit Nemeth-Ratfai, Marketing Communications Lead at UK (Bristol-based) business Optima Systems Consultancy, says: “At Optima Systems Consultancy every employee nominates a chosen charity close to their heart in December and the company makes a £100 donation to these charities on behalf of the employees. It’s great that we are able to do this and make the donations to causes which matter to us as individuals. It makes me feel proud of where I work.”