Workplace giving a breeze for Coates

MEDIA RELEASE

15 August 2018

Workplace giving a breeze for Coates

The team at Coates Associates have donated nearly $5000 since joining The Sunrise Foundation Workplace Giving in February 2017.

Coates partners Robyn Tomlinson and Mitchell McFarlane championed workplace giving for their staff and set it up through their payroll system so anyone working there can automatically donate to Sunrise every pay day.

Thirteen of the Coates team are giving to a wide variety of causes, including the Sunrise General Fund, Cancer Society Gisborne East Coast, Disability, Gisborne SPCA, Gisborne Women’s Refuge, Swim for Life Tairawhiti, Tairawhiti Community Law Centre and Wainui Surf Lifesaving Club funds. People give what they can, some as little as $5, or a cup of coffee.

Corrina Henry has been giving to the Cancer Society Gisborne East Coast fund as she has friends and family affected by cancer. She says it’s nice to know her contributions are going towards helping those affected by cancer in our local community.

She added that it was quite neat seeing how much she’s donated in such a short time. “Robyn and Mitchell really backed workplace giving and I think that was what gave a lot of us a good push to come onboard and start donating too. Once you start it’s easy and I don’t miss the little bit I’m giving every payday.”

Carnie Nelson does the payroll at Coates and says “it was a breeze to set up. From a payroll admin point of view there’s not much to do. Once a team member has signed up I add them to the direct credit schedule and payroll, it’s seamless.”

Carnie gives to the Disability Fund as her family has had firsthand experience of the difficulties of living with a disability. She says she only supports local charities and what appeals to her about Sunrise is only one percent of donations can be used to cover administration costs.

“It bothers me that many charities use a large percentage of donations to cover marketing and salaries. A huge attraction of Sunrise is that 99 percent of donations go back to our community and all the funds stay local.”

Glenda Stokes, Sunrise Executive Officer, says the team at Coates are proving that giving a little bit often is easy and really does make a difference.

“Every payday the team at Coates are giving small drops of generosity that will eventually form a flood of impact in our community.”

Sunrise workplace giving is an easy way for companies to help their employees give back to our local community with regular donations through their payroll system. It is simple for both employer and employee.

All a company is required to do is

• Enable staff to donate through the payroll system

• Include workplace giving information in induction packs for new staff

• Give Sunrise the opportunity to talk to staff about workplace giving. Presentations are short and can be done in small groups to minimise the impact on business. There is no obligation on employees to participate.

Not only is workplace giving an easy way for people to donate a little often, it also has the added bonus of an immediate tax benefit. Employees receive an immediate tax credit for their donations, instead of having to retain their receipts and wait until the end of the year to claim a rebate.

For every dollar donated they receive a third back as a tax credit in the same pay period. For example, if someone dates $7.50, the government pays $2.50 of that (tax) meaning only $5 is deducted from the pay packet.

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