The community sector relies on the generosity of Australian individuals, businesses, governments, and other bodies. Billions of dollars are donated each year from a variety of sources - and through an ever-growing variety of methods.
This information sheet contains a summary of key giving facts drawn from a variety of sources.
The most recent figures available - dating from 2004-05 - indicate the vast majority of both Australian businesses and individuals give.
Australian individuals and businesses donated a total of $11 billion in the year to January 2005. Eighty-seven percent of the Australian adult population (equating, at that time, to 13.4 million) made donations totalling $7.7 billion.
A total of 67% of Australian businesses donated to not-for-profits in the 2003-04 financial year. This equated to almost 526,000 businesses, which gave a total of around $3.3 billion to not-for-profits as gifts of money, goods, services and sponsorship.
Source: FAHCSIA (2005) Giving Australia. Available here.
The average tax-deductible donation made and claimed stood at $370.83 in 2006, a figure which has more than doubled in the past decade. However, fewer Australian taxpayers are actually making deductible gifts (down from 4.3 million in 2004-05 to 4.2 million in 2005-06). From this we can summise that while slightly fewer people are giving, those that are donating are doing so through larger amounts.
Source: FAHCSIA (2005) Giving Australia. Available here.
Who are more generous - males or females?
While women give money more often, men give more money.
According to 2005 Giving Australia figures, almost 90% (89.5%) of women had made a donation in the previous 12 months, compared to 84.1% of men. But in what may be a reflection of the fact of higher male earnings, men seem inclined to give more than women ($477 per annum compared to $377).
Of the $5.7 billion in donations made to not-for-profits during 2004, more than 33% went to religious organisations such as churches, temples and mosques.
Groups providing community and welfare services, international aid and development, and medical research, receive just over 10% each of the pool of donations.
What time of year do Australians give the most?
According to giving figures compiled by GiveNow.com.au which range from 2001-02 to the present day, June remains the biggest month for both the amount of money Australians donate, as well as for the number of donations made.
This upswing in donations is linked to the approach of tax-time and people's desire to reduce their personal income by making tax-deductible donations. Community groups are also more actively asking for support at that time of year in the hopes of cashing in on the end-of-financial-year giving surge.
Other times where there is a boost in giving are during December - due to the Christmas giving season - and May - again linked to tax time and the impending end of financial year.
July and August see donations drop away to their lowest levels, perhaps due to the high levels of giving during the preceding two months.
Interesingly, recent research from Queensland University of Technology's Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) indicated that Febraury and March were the months people were most likely to give.
Which Australian capital city, and regional areas, give the most?
According to a 2005 Giving Australia survey, a higher percentage of Adelaide residents had made donations in the previous 12 months than those from any other Australian capital city. A total of 90.5% of Adelaide residents had given in the 12 months prior to the survey, compared to 89% of Perth residents, 88% of Melbourne residents, 87.6% of Sydney residents and 85.8% of Brisbane residents. The survey combined Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, with 82.4% of residents in those three regions giving in the previous 12 months.
However the mean annual donation from Sydney residents ($524) was higher than any other capital city - with Melbourne ($485) second and Brisbane ($377) third.
Looking on a state-by-state basis, Queenslanders were most likely to have given in the previous 12 months (88.5%), followed by Victorians (86%) and New South Wales residents (84.5%). Again, though, New South Wales residents gave the highest mean annual donation ($428), ahead of Victorians ($397) and Queenslanders ($378).
In terms of the percentage of taxpayers that made tax-deductible donations during 2005-06, the Australian Captial Territory led the way with 45.6% of its taxpayers making and claiming a tax-deductible donation, followed by Victoria (39.6%), New South Wales (37.6%), South Australia (35%) and Queensland (34%).
Which are Australia's most generous postcodes?
Predictably, according to 2005-06 figures, some of Australia's more well-off suburbs head the list of tax-deductible gifts given and claimed.
However the list of postcodes change when looking at those locations with the highest percentage of taxpayers claiming a tax deductible gift:
Source: McGregor-Lowndes, Myles, and Newton, Cameron (2008), An Examination of Tax-Deductible Donations made by Individual Australian Taxpayers in 2005-06, available here.
Which are the most generous professions?
Based on 2005-06 tax figures, the highest average tax deductible donations made and claimed by what are known as "individual sole trader business taxpayers" came from those in the rental, hiring and real estate sector. These taxpayers made an average tax deductible donation of $1409.
The next highest figure came from those in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry ($1406), while third were those in the financial and insurance services industry ($1116).
Those in the rental, hiring and real estate sector also give the highest percentage of their incomes to deductible gift recipients, according to the figures. During 2006 they gave the equivalent of 0.82% of their taxable income as donations to deductible gift recipients. Second were those in the agricultural, forestry and fishing industry (0.74%) while close behind were those in the financial and insurance services industry and people in the arts and recreation services industry (both just under 0.7%).
Source: McGregor-Lowndes, Myles, and Newton, Cameron (2008), An Examination of Tax-Deductible Donations made by Individual Australian Taxpayers in 2005-06, available here.
Using responses from both the 2005 Giving Australia survey, as well as from www.GiveNow.com.au, among the reasons why people give are:
Yes, and in dramatically increasing numbers.
From an Australian perspective, the GiveNow.com.au online donations portal (operated by the Our Community Foundation) has seen exponential growth in both the amount of money donated, the number of donors giving online, and the number of organisations with online appeals.
Donations through GiveNow.com.au have risen from $588,153 in 2005-06 to $2.85 million in 2008-09. The number of appeals on GiveNow has more than doubled - from 783 in 2005-06 to almost 1600 in early 2010.
How does this compare to online giving overseas?
The local growth in online giving is reflective of overseas trends during the past decade.
As with many things linked to philanthropy, the US has led the way with online giving. According to figures cited by Mobile Giving, the amount given online in the US has risen from $US300,000 in 1997 to $US10.4 billion in 2007.
American organisations accepting online donations have seen online donation growth rates of between 33% and 50% since 2006.
Various US-based studies have found:
In the UK, the UK Card Association found that credit and debit card donations jumped by almost 20% in 2008, largely due to the increasing trend towards online donations. UK donors gave the equivalent of $A2.22 billion to charities on plastic cards during 2008.
Why should online donors look beyond just giving to Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs)?
Deductible Gift Recipients, or DGRs, are organisations which have been endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) as entitled to receive income tax deductible gifts, and therefore offer tax deductions to those who donate more than $2 to them. Organisations' DGR status can be checked on the Australian Business Register (www.abr.business.gov.au), and is also indicated for each organisation listed on the GiveNow.com.au website.
But only around 20,000 of Australia's 600,000 or more community organisations have DGR status, and many of these organisations are larger charities.
This means numerous community organisations - a term we use for any not-for-profit organisation operating in Australia - which are also doing good work for no material gain (for exmaple: schools, kindergartens, sporting and arts groups) cannot offer tax deductible donations to supporters.
We believe that all groups, no matter their DGR status, are deserving of financial support. GiveNow.com.au lists a large number of causes fro groups without DGR status, and we would encourage prospective donors to consider supporting them as well as those from groups with DGR status.
There are a number of sources online which provide further information on giving and the not-for-profit sector.
They include:
The GiveNow.com.au online giving service
GiveNow.com.au is an initiative of the Our Community Foundation, a not-for-profit program established through the financial support of Our Community. Our Community is a privately held enterprise that provides a number of business and community services, some of them free, some of them paid, many of them discounted for community organisations. Find out more about Our Community here.
Some of the profits from the operation of the Our Community enterprise have been used to establish the Our Community Foundation, a principal activity of which is the operation of the GiveNow.com.au website.
This commission-free online donations service is part of Our Community's mission to democratise giving in Australia - ensuring that even the tiniest community groups have the same access to safe, secure online donations technology as the largest groups. It is our belief that these small, grassroots community groups are every bit as important to community life as the larger ones, and that they should be supported by their communities.
We also believe that donations made in good faith to community organisations should not be subjected to hefty administrative fees.
The GiveNow.com.au online donations service is offered free to any community group in Australia, regardless of size or purpose or tax status. The service is non-exclusive, non-binding and fee-free (only credit card fees are deducted from donations). This allows any community group with a bank account and the will to raise funds to take advantage of this important and rapidly growing mode of fundraising.
We also seek to raise the profile of giving in general - providing a range of ideas on non-monetary ways to give as well as help sheets on how people can become more strategic givers.
In addition, GiveNow News, a monthly e-newsletter, provides ongoing education for members of the Australian public who want to become bigger and better givers.
GiveNow.com.au is proudly supported by Westpac.
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Telephone (03) 9320 6800 Email service@ourcommunity.com.au
