Arts, Ageing and Indigenous Communities Missing Out on Workplace Giving

A workplace giving industry evaluation by Good2Give has revealed that of all the causes receiving donations through their online platform this year, Indigenous communities, arts and ageing receive the least amount of support.

Good2Give CEO Lisa Grinham said when releasing the figures on Tuesday, that across every index of social progress, wellbeing and life chances, Indigenous communities were faring worse than any other community group – and yet they were attracting the smallest percentage of donations.

“We also know there will be an increasing need to support ageing communities in the decades ahead, and yet this cause area only receives a fraction of 1 per cent of overall donations from our community of givers,” Grinham said

“There’s so much positive news around Workplace Giving Month, and we’re a part of that story – we’ve distributed over $9.5 million in workplace giving donations in the last year and our participation rates continue to grow with more corporates than ever working with Good2Give to support charitable communities.

“We can’t tell people how and why to give, but we’re keen to continue – along with others in the sector – informing people of where the greatest need is.”

Grinham said the current hardships facing people in the Middle East and Africa had seen a connection to causes in overseas aid and development, attracting the highest proportion of workplace giving donations.

“In terms of the most generous industries based on Good2Give’s client list, professional services led the way just ahead of property and construction last year,” she said.

The Good2Give research showed that company matching tripled employee engagement with workplace giving programs, and the healthcare, and energy and water sectors were at the top of the class with 100 per cent matching.

The Good2Give’s Workplace Giving Industry Evaluation included several other key findings:

• Gender: more women (53 per cent) give than men (47 per cent).
• Monthly donations: energy and water sector averages $141 in donations each month compared to professional services giving an average of $122 at the top end of the scale. Government holds the wooden spoon with an average monthly donation of just over $22 and second-to-last is retail and wholesale.
• Overseas aid and development attracted the highest amount of contributions (24 per cent).
• Children and young people came in second (15 per cent), then health and wellbeing (13 per cent).
• In addition to Indigenous causes receiving only 1 per cent of all donations from participants in workplace giving with Good2Give, the same percentage was pledged to arts and culture, whilst supporting the ageing population didn’t even make it to 1 percent.