The Philanthropy Advantage Report 2025
Explore high-net-worth individuals’ views on the importance of philanthropy, and the role advisers can play leading more charitable giving conversations with their clients.
We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.
From one-off donations to long-term giving, or designing your personal philanthropic strategy, we work together to help you realise your giving ambitions.
DISCOVER OUR PERSONAL GIVING SOLUTIONSYou have the vision for making a difference. So do we. We help you plan how to give based on your goals.
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Corporate Client Team
Matched giving (also known as matched funding) is where an employer matches an employee's donation to charity to help them increase their impact — a powerful yet simple way to increase participation in workplace giving schemes and build a culture of generosity.
This blog supports Human Resources, Corporate Social Responsibility and internal engagement managers to explore what motivates employees to give, the benefits of matched giving and how to use matched giving to increase the chances of employees donating.
For responsible businesses to boost their employees’ participation in their scheme, it helps to understand what drives employee generosity – whether it is personal connection, ease of giving or a sense of shared purpose.
It is not always easy to know what truly motivates employees to give — especially in large, diverse organisations where priorities and preferences vary. Understanding what drives employees to donate can help you to tailor your giving programme with their values and preferences and build a more engaged scheme.
Matched giving is a powerful way to show employees that their generosity is valued and supported. By increasing the impact of their donations, it encourages continued participation in giving and fosters a sense of pride.
It also signals that your organisation is committed to social impact — not just enabling giving but actively supporting your employees’ charitable goals. This helps build a culture of shared purpose and strengthens employee connection to your values.
Matching employee donations also helps charities access vital funding—especially now, with public giving at its lowest since 2016 and areas of greatest need seeing the fewest donations. Our UK Giving Report 2025 shows that only 50% of UK adults donated last year, down from 58% in 2019. So, by offering matched giving your business can drive giving participation and support more charities to make a difference in our communities.
You can align matched funding to suit your business goals and giving budget. Here are four common approaches to consider:
You can choose to match donations through payroll giving, fundraising events, or even personal donations to registered charities.
Get started with these three steps:
Once you have set up your scheme it is important to promote matched funding effectively and let your employees know about it.
Learn more about ways to engage employees in your scheme in our Employee Engagement Guide.
One of our clients, a global insurance firm, has demonstrated its commitment through their Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving scheme — a UK programme that enables employees to donate to charity directly from their salary before tax.
To maximise the benefit, the company matched contributions pound for pound, up to £50 per month. In 2024 alone, this added over £97,000 to employee donations — raising the total to an impressive amount of over £234,000 for the charity.
An employee explained how giving through the scheme made a personal impact:
Each year, we experience first-hand the difference our donation makes to the community, and it is a great feeling.
CAF offers flexible matched giving solutions to help employers boost charitable impact while streamlining administration. Whether you choose to match donations through our Give As You Earn (GAYE) payroll giving scheme, a Company Account, or a bespoke programme, we can help make it easy to process employee requests within the limits you set.
To further explore how matched giving can work for your organisation, get in touch with us here.
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Explore high-net-worth individuals’ views on the importance of philanthropy, and the role advisers can play leading more charitable giving conversations with their clients.
Explore how resilient the UK’s charity sector is, and uncover detailed insights into the views of charity leaders around the country.
Explore how UK businesses are shaping their communities and discover how your organisation can drive meaningful change.