The Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) is a service for managing Direct Debit giving, designed to support churches to fund their mission and ministry, and is now available in the Diocese of Norwich.
What is the Parish Giving Scheme?
It reduces the burden of work on church volunteers and provides a simple and secure service to givers. It enables you to make one off gifts to the church and Gift aid the donation.
The service is freely available to all parishes, their churches and donors, within dioceses that have chosen to participate, which includes the Diocese of Norwich. The PGS makes it possible for givers to:
- Give monthly, quarterly or annually by Direct Debit
- Sign up to inflation-linked giving annually
- Enhance your gift to your church by having Gift Aid at 25% added to your giving
- Give securely and donate anonymously, if you prefer.
How it works
You can set up a Direct Debit with PGS online, over the phone or by filling in a gift form at church. This can be made on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Each donation is restricted to a parish church chosen by you and cannot be used elsewhere. The donation will be passed back to the church of your choosing by 10th of the month. Any eligible Gift Aid will be sent separately once it has been received from HMRC.
What are the benefits?
The administrative cost of operating the scheme is covered by each member diocese, making the service free to use for churches and donors.
To the individual
- Retaining control of how much they give, how often and to which church
- Using a simple giving method that means regular financial support to their church
- The option to increase giving annually to protect their gift against inflation
- Anonymity, if preferred
- Peace of mind that the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme protects their gifts
To the treasurer
- Reduced administration and paperwork
- Easy access to monthly and annual (both tax and calendar year) statements
- Saving time; for themselves and those who count the money from plate collections
To the church
- Stable and often increased planned giving, by launching PGS alongside a Giving Review
- Efficient and regular reclaim of Gift Aid, improving cashflow
- Protection against static giving, by offering donors the option to index-link their gift
- The ability to receive one off gifts either through a QR code or link on your web pages
How your church can join the Parish Giving Scheme
How to register a Parish
The Parish Giving Scheme is easy to set up and manage. All the Parochial Church Council (PCC) needs to do is pass a resolution to start the scheme and show leadership by joining and encouraging others to join as well. The Diocese of Norwich covers the administrative cost, so it is free to churches in Norfolk and Waveney.
Passing a PCC resolution
Under the scheme, donor money will flow to the PCC through the PGS, rather than directly from the donor to the church. It is important that the Trustees of the local church pass and minute a resolution to allow this. This can be as simple as: “We the PCC of … request the Parish Giving Scheme to commence operation of the scheme on our behalf.”
Registering your church
Your Diocesan Advisor will provide you with a Church Registration Form to provide information about the church/parish bank account and the church officers responsible for parish finances. On receipt of your Church Registration Form, the diocese will send you PGS information to distribute to donors.
Already joined the Parish Giving Scheme?
Set up your direct debit here: Parish Giving Scheme Home Page
If you have any questions about the Parish Giving Scheme please contact a member of our team.