Charity of the Year: how UK companies choose a charity, and how yours gets chosen

A free advice site for charities describes it as a company choosing 1 charity to support "throughout a designated period, usually one, but sometimes 2 years" (a free charity advice site).

Besides goods and skills, 2 things can reach you:

• Money raised by staff, often topped up by the company. The largest firms commonly match what their people give: CAF found that 76 per cent of FTSE 100 companies match their employees' giving, against 4 per cent of businesses more widely; FTSE 100 companies "typically match up to £1,000" a year for each employee (CAF, Corporate Giving 2026).

• Time. CAF counted 2.4 million volunteer hours logged by FTSE 100 employees.

A gift also costs a company less than it seems: a limited company can claim tax relief "by deducting the value of your donations from your total business profits before you pay tax" (GOV.UK).

In our view, much of this money is unrestricted: no project is attached, so it can pay running costs or your most pressing need. Some companies do tie it to a project. Swiss Re's 2023 form asked for a project that "will utilise a minimum project grant of GBP 25,000 per year" (Swiss Re Foundation, 2023 form). Ask which kind you are being offered before you plan around it.

In our reading, many announcements name the company and the charity and stop there: the published record often does not say who made the choice. Where a company's own page, or a second public source, does say, the answers look like these.

Staff or members voted. At Irwin Mitchell, whose 3-charity programme replaced its Charity of the Year, colleagues "voted for Teenage Cancer Trust, cancer support charity Maggie's and The National Literacy Trust" (Irwin Mitchell). CBRE named Alzheimer's Society its partner "as voted for by our employees" (Colmore Life).

The British Heart Foundation thanked the Royal Mail "colleagues who voted for us" (BHF, 31 October 2022). Samaritans became Central Co-op's partner "As voted for by its Members and colleagues" (Samaritans, 24 July 2024). And Marie Curie was "Chosen from over 100 charities in a Morrisons colleague vote" (ehospice, 6 December 2024).

Staff chose, and the source does not say how. Howden says "our UK employees selected Maggie's" (Howden). At Lockton, "Associates and Partners decide who our Charity of the Year should be each year" (Lockton). "Staff at Persimmon West Scotland have also opted to choose The Beatson" (Scottish Construction Now, 6 January 2025).

The company is named as choosing. "Santander has chosen The King's Trust" (Santander); SSAFA says "Vistry Group chose SSAFA" (SSAFA). Goughs, a Wiltshire law firm, says it runs "a rigorous selection process to choose its Charity of the Year, involving colleagues from across the firm" (Business Biscuit).

JCP Solicitors, a Welsh law firm, turns away "cold applications" and takes only charities put forward by 1 of its own people, who must already know them (JCP Solicitors). Others open both doors: Deutsche Bank's 2025 pack, for its 2026 to 2027 partner, said "Deutsche Bank employees can nominate an eligible charity", while adding that eligible charities could also apply directly (Deutsche Bank, 2025 pack).

CAF found: "Two thirds of employees would like their employer to give to charity". Among businesses that give nothing, CAF's survey found 9 per cent said they had no time to find the right charity and 15 per cent said no charity had asked them. CAF counts 23 per cent of those non-givers as businesses that could use support finding the right charity. In our view, the people best placed to open that door are often your own trustees, volunteers and donors.

In our view, where a company has no programme at all, a short letter to whoever runs its community or responsible-business work, or to the manager of its nearest office, is the fair first step: who you help, what a year together could achieve, and a request to talk.

Company packs ask for real work from you: volunteering days, staff fundraising and, in all 3 packs quoted here, your own staff's time. Swiss Re wanted a community day for "a minimum of 10 employees", "to be funded by the COTY" and "fully planned and managed by the COTY". Its 2023 form also asked for an account manager giving "approximately two days per week to the partnership, including a minimum of four days each month working at the Swiss Re offices".

Deutsche Bank's 2025 pack required applicants to be able to provide a full-time, London-based member of staff to sit within the bank's CSR (corporate social responsibility) team for the whole partnership, with administrative support as well. Societe Generale's 2025 pack asks for "a dedicated account manager", who should look after no more than 2 or 3 company partners, and a dedicated delivery manager for the programme.

Name 1 person to look after the company all year, and budget their time. Plan the ending on the day you sign: income that stops leaves a gap, and, in our view, a partner thanked well stays a supporter. Our guide to benchmarking your charity shows how your mix of income compares with charities like yours.