Singapore employees donating more than ever before

Employees in Singapore are loosening their purse strings, and contributing the highest amount to charity recorded in the past decade, at an average of $5.45 per month.

More than 222,000 employees in Singapore contributed $14.5 million directly from their salaries to Community Chest (ComChest), one million more than the amount given in 2012.

ComChest, the fund-raising arm of the National Council of Social Service, receives these donations from workers who participate in their Share programme - an opt-in programme in which employees agree to donate a percentage of their monthly salary to charity.

"Community Chest saw total Share contributions in Financial Year 2013 rise by 7% compared to 1%-5% in the three preceding years," a press release stated.

"This is also the highest year-on-year increase in the last 20 years, signifying a growing willingness of individuals to make sustained giving to meaningful social services causes that positively impact the lives of those in need."

ComChest also called out Republic Polytechnic (RP) as the only company to have won their Share Achiever Award for two consecutive years, having attained a year-on-year increase of at least 30% in both the number of employees signing up for Share and their collective contributions in the past two years.

“We are pleased to play a part in helping the needy and we are proud of our staff’s active involvement in supporting the Share programme. We will continue this culture of sharing and giving back to the community to build a more compassionate and gracious society in Singapore,” said Chia Chew Lee, director of human resources, Republic Polytechnic.

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