Media Release
Donations through Australia's leading donations website, GiveNow.com.au, breached the $1 million mark and kept on climbing during December.
Australia's oldest and only commission-free donations website recorded donations to 1177 causes totalling $1.1 million in December. It's the first time more $1 million has been collected in December since the Christmas 2004 Asian tsunami. This compares with a total of $804,000 during December 2013.
GiveNow is an Australian donations website listing more than 3000 not-for-profit causes. It is funded and operated by Our Community, one of Australia's oldest and most successful social enterprises.
A total of 10,841 donations were made through GiveNow in December, compared with 7613 in December 2013. The largest donation recorded in December 2014 was $20,000, which was given to a family violence charity.
The average donation in December was $101.43, in line with the full-year average of $101.12 but well down on last year's December average of $105.62.
The organisation that received the most donations during the festive season was Melbourne's Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, which raised around $360,000 through its Christmas appeal. "It's interesting that while asylum seekers are on the nose politically in Australia, a strong section of the community is voting with its wallet and throwing its support behind this amazing organisation," said Our Community group managing director Denis Moriarty.
"And we're pleased to report that not one dollar was lost in commissions in transferring money from donors to the cause using GiveNow. Instead, that money is going directly to where it can do the most good."
Analysis of all donations made through GiveNow in 2014 has found:
- $9.3 million was donated to all causes listed on GiveNow from January 1 to December 31, 2014 (up from $8.1 million for the 2013 calendar year)
- 91,554 individual donations were made during 2014 (up from 73,491 in 2013)
- $101.12 was the average donation during 2014 (down from $110.84 in 2013)
- The busiest month of the year for donors, June, recorded donations of $2.8 million in 2014 (from 13,355 donations), half a million more than the $2.3 million (from 10,398 donations) donated during the tax-time giving rush in June 2013.
The figures show a continuing uptrend in the number of donations and the total value of money being donated through GiveNow, with donations growing 13.6% from 2013 to 2014.
But they also show a continued downward move in the average donation, a trend that began in 2012. The average donation figure climbed from $102.50 in 2008 to $115.64 in 2011, then started dropping - $111.08 in 2012, $110.84 in 2013 and $101.12 in 2014.
"GiveNow has been around for 15 years now, and it's continuing to boom," Mr Moriarty said. "The downturn in the average donation corresponds with a downturn in consumer confidence, which is typical."
GiveNow facts
- Australia's first giving portal, founded in 2000 by Our Community, Australia's oldest social enterprise, and one of the country's highest-ranking B Corps (accredited in December 2014)
- Australia's only commission-free web-based giving service, resulting in savings for participating not-for-profits of more than $500,000 a year, based on average commissions charged by other platforms
- More than $1.3 million invested in the technology by Our Community
- 3084 causes currently listed on the site
- Biggest ever donation: $100,000 (2005)
- Total donations since GiveNow began: $47.2 million
Links
More information:
Denis Moriarty: 0417 184 744 | denism@ourcommunity.com.au
Kathy Richardson: 0439 397 781 | kathyr@ourcommunity.com.au