Workplace Giving

Workplace Giving provides individual employees with the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of other Australians by donating a nominated amount from each pay.

The power to make a real difference in any community is in numbers, so even a small weekly amount donated by a number of employees can go a long way towards helping Lifeline provide its vital services and programs.

How does workplace giving help?

Lifeline Australia relies on community support to continue providing access to a range of programs and resources at both a national and local level. Lifeline’s focus is on providing support and creating awareness in the areas of mental health, suicide prevention and help seeking.

Your contribution helps Lifeline…

• Answer calls on the 24-Hour Telephone Counselling service – 13 11 14
• Provide training in Suicide Prevention and Awareness
  
• Develop Suicide Bereavement Support Programs
  
• Recruit and train volunteers
  
• Provide access to self-help resources
  
• Promote help seeking behaviour and awareness of mental health issues

SEEK implemented a workplace giving program to give back to the community and allow our employees to maximise the money they give to charity. SEEK chose Lifeline as one of their program charities because of the fantastic work they do. They are there for people in need when no one else is.

Paul Bassat, Joint CEO, SEEK Limited

The benefits

Workplace Giving Programs are a great, easy way to donate to charity on a regular basis – and the donations really do make a difference. Once established, there is little maintenance or cost incurred for participating businesses. With little administration cost for Lifeline, the money can go to where it is really needed.

Making a difference is easy

Through Workplace Giving, supporting Lifeline and making a positive contribution in your community is easy. The Workplace Giving method is reliable and convenient and by providing ongoing donations you and your organisation will be ensuring the future sustainability of Lifeline services.

Tax benefits

Workplace Giving donations are deducted from pre-tax employee salaries, which means that individual taxable income is reduced.

Lifeline Australia has Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, which means that workplace giving contributions qualify for an immediate tax deduction.

Receipting

Lifeline Australia provides Workplace Giving Partners with a tax receipt at the end of each financial year. Individual employees do not receive a receipt as they have already received the benefit of reduced tax by donating from pre-tax salary. This eliminates the need for ongoing correspondence after each donation, saving Lifeline administration costs. This method is timely and cost effective for both the employer and Lifeline Australia.

How a workplace giving program works

1. Your workplace promotes the new Workplace Giving Program and encourages employees to participate (Lifeline can provide you with further information or assist with communication materials).
   
2. Employees acknowledge their participation by filling in a workplace giving authorisation form Employees are able to nominate the amount to be regularly donated. Download a Workplace Giving Authorization Form
   
3. Money is deducted from the employees’ salaries as a pre-tax amount via the usual payroll process.
   
4. Money is deposited on a quarterly basis to Lifeline Australia (further details provided upon request) and a remittance advice provided.
   
5. Lifeline Australia provides the workplace giving organisations with a tax receipt at the end of each financial year.
   
6. Lifeline provides interested employees with access to a bi-monthly e-newsletter which demonstrates programs and initiatives that Lifeline is involved with.
   
7. Workplace Giving Partners are acknowledged on the corporate support page of the Lifeline website.

Boost your workplace contribution

Some workplace giving partners choose to further boost the contribution provided by employees by matching the amount dollar-for-dollar at a corporate level. This provides further tax deductions for the employer and means that more funds are raised for Lifeline. This is of course an optional approach to workplace giving.

For further information or to start a workplace giving program in your organisation, please contact Lifeline’s national corporate relations coordinator on (02) 6215 9408 or email at fundraising@lifeline.org.au

For government information on the latest Workplace Giving Guidelines, please contact the Australian Tax Office.