Warwickshire County Council was one of the first councils to launch Pennies from Heaven (now trading as Microhive) in 2006. Since launch, staff and pensioners have been donating their payslip pennies to two local hospices, Mary Ann Evans Hospice and The Myton Hospices. The scheme has proved popular with staff and pensioners with 38% of employees taking part (Gold Pennies from Heaven Award winner) and 13% of pensioners (Silver Pennies from Heaven Award winner).
The real winners of course have been the charities as together they have received £450k of donations and an additional £100k in Gift Aid.
Warwickshire County Council believe that giving shouldn’t stop when you begin your retirement and employees that have been donating their payslip pennies can continue to do the same as they begin to receive their pension income. This means that the Council doesn’t see a drop in donations each year when staff retire, and this combined with a strong promotion of the scheme to new employee joiners means that donations continue to grow. A recent promotional campaign to staff increased donations by 80% (May 23 – May 25).
Why continuous giving is important:
Pensioners often feel a strong desire to give to charity because it allows them to continue contributing positively to society and supporting causes they care deeply about. Maintaining this charitable habit into retirement can provide a sense of continuity and purpose especially when people have been regular donors throughout their working lives. It also allows pensioners to remain engaged with their communities and feel connected to the broader social fabric.
By offering the option to donate directly from pension income, Warwickshire County Council has ensured that the transition from regular employment to retirement doesn’t interrupt an employee’s charitable activity and it also maintains the income offered to the hospices the donations supports.
Ensuring that everyone has access to the employee benefits available and expanding the range of employee benefits options is high on the agenda for Warwickshire County Council. The rebranding of the Pennies from Heaven scheme to Microhive provides the Council with a timely tool to raise the profile of micro giving at the Council. The Council plans to use Microhive to define and deliver a more cyclical approach to employee giving. By increasing sign up rates amongst the employees this will have a lagged impact on sign up for pensioners. Alongside this, looking forward, plans to increase pensioner take up include:
“Supporting local charities is important to Warwickshire County Council and this scheme enables our employees to make donations direct from their salaries, we are very proud of the level of take up of Pennies from Heaven amongst staff and pensioners. By donating a few pennies each month from their salary is something we can all be part of here at Warwickshire, and knowing that together we have raised over half a million pounds for our two local hospices proves the power of small change giving.” Warwickshire County Council
Warwickshire staff and pensioners donate their Microhive donations to Myton Hospices and Mary Ann Evans hospice.
