Donations to Charity Growing But Slowing Down

The amount of money that Australians gave to charity is growing but the rate that it is growing at has slowed down, according to the latest figures.

The National Australia Bank’s bi-annual Charitable Giving Index showed that overall giving to charity had grown by 4.9 per cent in the 12 months to August 2015. This was down from a growth of 7.8 per cent in the previous year.

The report looked at more than two million non-cash transactions made every day, with the figures scaled up to replicate the broader economy.

NAB Group Chief Economist, Alan Oster, said the recorded growth in giving was achieved despite subdued household income and wages growth and an uncertain economic outlook.

He said the average donation size across all charities actually grew by $9 to $346 per donor, with the average annual donation size increasing in all charity categories.

“The slowdown in giving was consistent with an ongoing reluctance by consumers to spend on ‘non-essentials’ amid elevated unemployment, subdued household income and wages growth and an uncertain economic outlook,” Oster said.

“Growth in charitable giving was strongest for over 65s and weakest for 15-24 year olds. Other NAB research shows older Australians are more likely to be financially secure, consistently report the lowest levels of consumer stress and are more likely to recognise the positive impact that charitable giving has on their own personal well being.”

Middle Park in Victoria retained its place on the top of the list of highest donation postcode, with average donations of $342 per person. Mosman in NSW was next best, with average donations of $268 per person.

In terms of giving as a percentage of income, people from Castlemaine in Victoria continued to lead the country for generosity, donating 0.36 per cent of their annual incomes, closely followed by Sturt, Prospect and Leabrook in South Australia, and Blaxland in NSW, all donating 0.33 per cent.

Humanitarian Services charities attracted the biggest market share of all donations, with 35 per cent of all donations. Health and disability and charitable lotteries received the next biggest share (12 per cent), with Community Services (11 per cent) and Cancer charities (9 per cent) the next biggest.

NAB’s Head of Community Engagement, Rebecca Kotow, said the index played an important role in helping the Not for Profit sector leverage fundraising as a major revenue stream for their business.

“The NAB Charitable Giving Index is an important tool we provide to empower the community sector. It provides the current insights needed to understand trends in giving,” Kotow said.

The full report can be viewed here.