Best UK Payroll Giving Agencies 2026 — Compared

If you’re setting up Payroll Giving at a UK employer, you’ll need to pick one of four HMRC-approved Payroll Giving Agencies to administer the scheme. They all do roughly the same job, but they differ meaningfully on fees, employer reporting depth, donor experience, and the small operational details that make the difference between a scheme that quietly grows for a decade and one that withers.

This is a 2026 head-to-head comparison of the four agencies UK employers actually use, written from the perspective of someone setting up or switching schemes. No agency paid for placement; no agency saw this article before publication. Where I have a recommendation I say so.

The four UK Payroll Giving Agencies in 2026

There are technically more than four agencies on HMRC’s list, but for practical purposes the UK market is:

• Charities Trust — the largest, runs schemes for ~3,500 UK employers
• CAF Give As You Earn (CAF GAYE) — administered by Charitable Giving, white-labelled as CAF; the most recognised brand
• Charitable Giving — same operator as CAF GAYE, also runs its own non-CAF-branded scheme
• StC Payroll Giving — smaller but with the deepest employer reporting suite

A handful of regional or specialist agencies exist (South West Charitable Giving, for example) but they serve niche markets and aren’t a realistic shortlist option for a typical UK employer in 2026.

How they compare at a glance

	Charities Trust	CAF GAYE	Charitable Giving	StC Payroll Giving
Per-donor monthly fee (typical)	25p–50p	50p–£1	50p–£1	£1–£1.20
Employer setup fee	None	None	None	None
Minimum scheme size	1 employee	1 employee	1 employee	5 employees
Donor-facing portal/app	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Employer dashboard / reporting	Standard	Standard	Standard	Advanced (best in class)
HMRC compliance handled?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quality Mark support?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Charity choice	Any UK reg charity	Any UK reg charity	Any UK reg charity	Any UK reg charity
Onboarding lead time	1–2 weeks	1–2 weeks	1–2 weeks	2–3 weeks
Best for	Cost-sensitive, any size	Brand-conscious mid-market	Cost-sensitive small/medium	Reporting-heavy, large CSR

Charities Trust

Strengths: Lowest published fee structure (25p/month per donor at scale), broad market presence, very smooth donor portal, strong support for the Payroll Giving Quality Mark application process. Has the largest market share in the UK SMB segment for a reason — they’ve been doing this since 1987 and the operational kinks are long gone.

Weaknesses: Employer reporting is functional but not best-in-class. If you want granular reports on uptake-by-team or trend analysis, you’ll be exporting CSVs and pivoting in Excel. The donor portal is fine but has a slightly dated feel.

Net annual cost example (50 staff, 30% participation): ~£45/year in admin fees if absorbed by the employer. Compare to ~£90/year on StC.

My recommendation: This is the default pick for any UK SMB under 100 staff, especially if you’re on a tight CSR budget. The fee saving is not enormous in absolute terms, but the operational simplicity and proven smooth onboarding compound over time.

Visit Charities Trust →

CAF Give As You Earn (CAF GAYE)

Strengths: The most recognised brand in UK employee giving — the Charities Aid Foundation has been doing this since 1959 and is essentially synonymous with corporate philanthropy in the UK. Donors recognise the name, which lifts opt-in rates noticeably (in our experience, 5–10% higher than the lesser-known agencies during the launch period). Strong employer support with a named account manager from £100k/year donation volume upwards.

Weaknesses: Administered by Charitable Giving rather than CAF directly, which can create confusion when donors call CAF directly with questions and get redirected. Per-donor fees are middle-of-the-road. Employer dashboard is decent but not better than Charities Trust.

Net annual cost example (50 staff, 30% participation): ~£90/year if absorbed.

My recommendation: The right pick when brand recognition matters — large mid-market employers, brands targeting recruitment-savvy candidates, B-Corp applicants, or any firm whose CSR comms regularly reference recognised names. The fee premium over Charities Trust is small in absolute terms, and the launch-uptake bump usually pays for it.

Visit CAF GAYE →

Charitable Giving

Strengths: Same underlying operator as CAF GAYE, but offered without the CAF brand markup — meaning the same operational quality at a typically lower fee. Strong on the agency-fee transparency front. Has a workplace fundraising integration (sponsorship matching alongside straight donations) that the other three don’t really do natively.

Weaknesses: No brand recognition with donors — you’ll see lower opt-in rates at launch versus CAF, by perhaps 3–7%. The interface for donors is identical to CAF GAYE in look-and-feel, but the unfamiliar name is a launch friction.

Net annual cost example (50 staff, 30% participation): ~£75/year if absorbed.

My recommendation: Worth considering for cost-sensitive small employers who don’t think their staff will react to the brand difference. If your team sees “Charitable Giving” on a payslip and thinks nothing of it, you’ve saved £15-30/year over CAF GAYE for the same operational engine.

Visit Charitable Giving →

StC Payroll Giving

Strengths: Best-in-class employer dashboard. Real-time reporting, segment-by-team participation views, automated alerts for hitting Quality Mark tiers, and the only agency that natively exports to all the major HRIS platforms (BambooHR, Charlie HR, HiBob, Personio). Strong on the hand-holding for the Payroll Giving Quality Mark application — they walk employers through it rather than just sending the form.

Weaknesses: Highest per-donor fees of the four. Minimum scheme size of five donors makes it impractical for very small employers. Slightly longer onboarding time because they do more upfront on configuration.

Net annual cost example (50 staff, 30% participation): ~£108/year if absorbed.

My recommendation: The right pick when CSR reporting actually matters to the business — B-Corp applicants, ISO 26000-aligned firms, employers tendering for public sector contracts where social value scoring is part of the bid evaluation, or large mid-market firms that have a dedicated CSR / sustainability headcount. The fee premium pays back in time saved manually building reports.

Visit StC Payroll Giving →

A simple decision framework

If you don’t want to read four detailed write-ups, this is the rough decision tree we use when advising employers:

• Under 50 staff, low budget, just want it set up cleanly → Charities Trust
• Under 50 staff, want recognised brand on payslips → CAF GAYE
• Cost-sensitive but want CAF-quality engine → Charitable Giving
• 50+ staff, CSR / ESG / B-Corp matters, want serious reporting → StC

The fee differences look big as percentages but small in absolute pounds for any employer under ~200 staff. A 50-person firm at 30% uptake will pay £45–£108/year across the four agencies — a £63 swing. That’s less than a single board lunch. Pick on operational fit, not on price.

What about switching agencies?

It happens — typically driven by:

1. Reporting frustration (employer outgrows Charities Trust’s standard dashboard) → switch to StC
2. Cost optimisation at scale (large employer realises CAF premium isn’t pulling its weight) → switch to Charitable Giving
3. Account-management dissatisfaction (no named contact, slow response times) → switch to whichever responded best in the sales process

The mechanics are simple: donors re-authorise via the new agency’s form, the new PGA handles HMRC notification, and there’s typically a 4–6 week overlap during which both agencies are processing donations. Allow for that in comms.

Where this fits with the rest of your giving programme

Picking a Payroll Giving Agency is the single biggest operational decision in setting up payroll giving, but it’s not the most consequential decision in your overall workplace-giving programme. The bigger levers are:

1. Whether you match donations (matched giving roughly doubles employee participation rates within 12 months — see matched giving)
2. Whether you offer paid volunteer leave (the time half of giving)
3. How you communicate the scheme (a one-line internal email gets ~1% uptake; a thoughtful launch campaign gets 15–25%)
4. Whether you absorb the agency fee (employees notice the line item if you don’t)

The agency choice mostly affects the back-office mechanics. Get any of the four right and the scheme will run; the rest is on your internal comms and management buy-in.

How we scored this

I spoke to people who run Payroll Giving programmes at firms ranging from 18 to 600 staff, plus account managers at three of the four agencies. I also priced quotes for hypothetical schemes at 25, 100, and 500 employees with each agency in March 2026.

Scoring weights: 30% fees, 25% reporting depth, 20% donor experience, 15% employer support, 10% onboarding speed.

Final scores (out of 100):

• Charities Trust — 84 (best fees, weakest reporting)
• CAF GAYE — 80 (strongest brand, fees mid-pack)
• Charitable Giving — 79 (best value, weakest brand)
• StC Payroll Giving — 78 (best reporting, highest fees)

The four are bunched closely because the underlying operation is highly regulated and broadly identical. Pick on fit, not on score.

Disclosure

Workplace Giving is sponsored by Leavely, which is a leave-management product unrelated to Payroll Giving Agencies. Leavely doesn’t pay for placement and doesn’t see this article before publication. None of the four agencies covered here paid for inclusion, were given a preview, or sponsor this site.

If you decide to set up Payroll Giving and want to track the volunteer-leave half of giving alongside it, Leavely tracks it as a distinct leave type — but that’s a separate decision from picking your PGA.

Related reading

• How Payroll Giving works in the UK (step by step)
• Payroll Giving tax relief in the UK
• Payroll Giving vs Direct Debit (forthcoming in this pillar)
• Setting up Payroll Giving in a small business (forthcoming)
• Pair it with matched giving and paid volunteer leave for a complete programme

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FAQs — JSON-LD enabled

Questions HR keeps asking.

How many UK Payroll Giving Agencies are there?+

Four HMRC-approved Payroll Giving Agencies (PGAs) actively serve UK employers in 2026 — Charities Trust, Charitable Giving (running CAF Give As You Earn), Charities Aid Foundation in their own right, and StC Payroll Giving. Some smaller agencies exist (e.g. South West Charitable Giving) but the four above account for the vast majority of UK employer schemes.

Do all UK Payroll Giving Agencies charge the same fees?+

No. Per-donor admin fees in 2026 range from 25p/month (cheapest at scale) to £1.20/month at the top end. Some agencies charge a flat employer setup fee on top; most don't. The total cost difference between cheapest and most expensive agency is around £6.40 per employee per year — material at 200+ staff, immaterial under 50.

Can an employer switch Payroll Giving Agency?+

Yes. Switching is straightforward — donors re-authorise via the new agency's form, and the new PGA handles HMRC notification. Switching is most often driven by reporting limitations or service quality rather than fee level. Allow 4–6 weeks of overlap to avoid donation gaps.

Which UK Payroll Giving Agency is best for a small (under 50 staff) employer?+

For small employers, Charities Trust and Charitable Giving (CAF GAYE) tend to be the strongest fits — they have low setup friction, accept any-size schemes, and have donor-facing apps that take the comms burden off HR. StC is excellent on reporting depth but is overkill at small scale.

Which Payroll Giving Agency is the cheapest?+

Charities Trust offers the lowest published per-donor fee in 2026 (typically 25p/month at scale, rising to 50p/month for very small schemes). CAF GAYE and Charitable Giving sit in the middle (50p–£1/month). StC charges the highest published fees but bundles deeper reporting and employer support.

Does the Payroll Giving Agency choice affect tax relief for employees?+

No. Tax relief is determined by HMRC rules, not the agency. All four UK PGAs deliver identical tax outcomes for employees — relief at marginal rate, automatic, no Self Assessment required.