Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Corporate Citizen?

Corporate Citizen works with businesses to help them implement Workplace Giving programs. Our mission is simple: to empower every Australian business with the technology to connect their employees with the world's most important causes. By marrying businesses with good causes we’ll help create a better world and build stronger businesses.

2evolve, our sister company, is a fundraising organisation that has been helping charities raise vital funds for their causes for more than 18 years. We have recruited more than 700,000 regular monthly donors and raised over $450M dollars in income for our charity partners.

How does Workplace Giving work?

Workplace Giving gives your employees an opportunity to make regular donations directly to charities from their pre-taxed income. Employees nominate a charity and donation amount and these details are forwarded onto your payroll department who will process the donation on your behalf.

When you make a standard charitable donation you can claim it as a tax deduction when you file your annual tax return. Through pre-tax giving, the Australian Tax Office allows you to claim that benefit immediately, in each pay. This means that if you choose to give $40 a month for example, you will actually only have $26 deducted from your net pay.

The best news is that the full $40 goes to your nominated charity. 

If your employer selects to match employee donations, your Workplace Giving donation goes even further. A $40 a month contribution then becomes $80 per month for the charity, and it actually only costs you $26.

How does Corporate Citizen help us to implement a Workplace Giving?

Corporate Citizen is an intermediary between employers and charities to cost effectively administer Workplace Giving programs.

We provide companies with the software to implement Workplace Giving with minimal setup and no setup costs. Once an employer has registered, employees are invited to sign up to support a cause and charity they are passionate about. Payroll department receive the donation instruction, and donations are deducted at each pay cycle.

Companies transfer funds into Corporate Citizen’s trust account, which are then distributed onto the nominated charities. Employers can provide 1 consolidated payment instead of up-to 30 unique payments, and charities only receive a single payment per month. This streamlined process significantly reduces administration time and costs for both parties.

Individuals will receive real-time reporting and updates through our platform, so they can stay up to date with the difference their donations are making.

How much does it cost us as a company?

Our service is free for employers.

Is setting up and managing payroll giving a lot of work?

Your payroll department will simply create a deduction code for the employees that want to take part.

Together with your monthly payment, your payroll department will send a list of employees taking part, how much they are giving, and if there are any changes from the previous month - i.e. if someone has left the company and their donation has ceased.

On average it takes just ten minutes per month for payroll to administer the Workplace Giving incentive.

How does Corporate Citizen help to promote Workplace Giving once a company has registered?

We can provide a full range of branding solutions and promotional materials to make the incentive stand out to employees, in line with your brand. Our secure website means employees can sign up easily and manage their own donations from one place.

What reporting and updates do we receive?

As a business you will have access to an Admin Page which enables you to track your employees progress and collective contributions. This allows you to regularly update relevant stakeholders on the programs ongoing success stories.  

How does the online interface work?

We think that giving back to organisations in need should be really, really simple. Our  'Select your charity' section of the website provides your employees with a secure online donation facility and all the information they need to select the causes they care about, any time. 

Can we implement the program ourselves?

Corporate Citizen was created through demand - from charities to connect with employees at scale, and from businesses that simply lacked the time and resources to effectively promote Workplace Giving programs.

Our service is free so there are no barriers to entry no matter how large or small your business - so you can get on with your core business while we do the work for you.

How can I be sure my donation reaches my nominated charity?

At Corporate Citizen we only work with reputable charities and we have contractual commitments to provide funds to those organisations on a monthly basis. We also comply with all fundraising regulations in Australia.

Companies will transfer funds into a Corporate Citizen trust account and Corporate Citizen then distributes the money onto the relevant charities.
An independent audit of this trust account is conducting each year.

What are the benefits of Workplace Giving for charities?

Workplace Giving is low cost, reliable, long term source of funding for charities. As the reconciliation and receipting is completed by Corporate Citizen, administrations costs for charities are significantly lessened.

Through Workplace Giving charities can put more time and money towards their real missions - saving the world.
 

Which charities can I support?

We help you to connect with several of Australia’s major charities broken in to 5 major cause areas. 
Health & Cancer, Animal & Environment, Overseas Aid & Human Rights, Children & Youth, Local & Community.

Why do you work with these specific charities?

By working with a select group of committed charities, together, we can make big impact on them. Every donation can make a difference, but real impact is generated when our efforts are focused.

We deliberately limit the number of organisations we work with at any one time so we can maximise support for those organisations, and are able to share the collective impact for your business. 

The charities we work with have committed to providing regular, meaningful content for our online platform, so employees can be kept updated with real examples of how their donations are making a difference without being bombarded with information.

What does the program cost the charity?

Corporate Citizen is paid through the pre-allocated fundraising budget of the charities we represent.

This payment does not come directly from an employees Workplace Giving donation.

Charities choose to partner with Corporate Citizen in part due to minimal administration costs involved in processing donations. The fees we charge are far less than the cost for charities to process the donation themselves as they receive just one single payment per month.

We are able to represent up to 30 charities, at scale, and minimise administration costs for both employers and our charity partners.

When will the charity receive my donation?

Funds are remitted to the charity monthly for the payments from your employer from the previous 30 days.

If your company has opted to match employee donations, the matching amount will be paid in the following month.

What information do I need for my tax return?

You do not need any information for your tax return. Donations made under Workplace Giving recieve immediate tax benefits so there is no need to wait until the end of the financial year to claim your incentive.

Deductions will automatically appear on an employees group certificate.

What happens if I take leave or need to cancel my donation?

Workplace Giving is a flexible program. Employees can change their donation amount, add new charities, suspend or cancel their donations online at any time. 

How secure is your online application?

External security audits are completely by Sense of Security and comprehensive details can be provided upon request. Our premises is under constant CCTV surveillance and we have strict controls in place to ensure all data is secure.