Cressida Dimmock has started the New Year with a resolution to donate £5 each month straight from her pay packet to help support a cause close to her heart.
Gift: Cressida Dimmock gives to the Breast Cancer Campaign Cressida, 28, is giving to the Breast Cancer Campaign after her mother Marianne, 61, was diagnosed with the cancer. She is fortunately now in remission after treatment.
Cressida, of Hampstead, north-west London, says: 'I've previously supported the campaign with one-off donations and hope to continue in the future. But I feel it is good to make a steady, regular donation too.'
The Government wants to create a revolution in charitable giving, harnessing new technology to speed the process. It is exploring ways to make it easier for everyone to support good causes.
In the meantime, givers such as Cressida can make every pound they give count by ensuring that today's donations are tax-efficient.
Cressida uses payroll giving, which are schemes run through participating employers. They take money from your salary before tax and National Insurance have been deducted. Some employers even match your donations.
Contributions are then passed on to one of the dozen approved payroll- giving agencies. They process payments from hundreds of firms to thousands of charities.
The agencies take a fee, typically between 2 and 4% the value of the donation. Cressida was encouraged to sign up by her employer, online clothes retailer asos.com.
It has been running a Give As You Earn scheme – the most popular type of payroll giving – since 2009 in partnership with the Charities Aid Foundation (cafonline.org.uk).
Cressida says: 'It was very easy to set up and now I don't think that I will even notice the money going out.'
About 750,000 employees give through the workplace. And the Geared for Giving campaign, backed by Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne, has encouraged more employers to set up schemes.
Charities can also benefit from valuable tax breaks on your gifts. Philippa Gee, who runs adviser Philippa Gee Wealth Management in Church Stretton, Shropshire, says: 'Don't forget charities in your will.
'Legacies remain an important source of charity income and anything you leave to charity will be exempt from inheritance tax.'
Gift Aid is also a powerful way of boosting your donations. It allows charities to reclaim the tax already paid on donations, turning a £100 gift into £128 for the charity.
Higher-rate taxpayers can then reclaim extra through their tax returns. A 40% taxpayer gets back an extra £25 per £100 donated and a 50% taxpayer can reclaim another £37.50 per £100 donation.