Generosity is holding firm against rising costs
Posted on 14 Mar 2024
By Matthew Schulz, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia
UPDATED: A national study of Australian donors has found most are sticking with giving, despite financial pressures on households.
According to The Empowering Impact report by McCrindle released today, the social research, demographics and data analytics agency found “donor motivation and engagement” has remained steady over the past few years.
While 25% of donors have cut how much they give to charities in the past few years, the representative sample of more than 2,000 people aged 18 to 78 found one third (33%) had been “unchanged in their motivations or financial giving” while 26% reported an increase in giving.
Other key findings were that:
- nearly half (48%) of respondents thought governments should fund charities to increase their sustainability and reduce their reliance on donations
- 84% of Australians give financially to charities or not-for-profits
- 75% of Australians give at least annually, slightly up on seven years ago (72%).
“Many Australians continue to be moved by the needs and challenges charities seek to support and so many have either continued or increased their giving in the past three years even in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
McCrindle Research social researcher and managing director Sophie Renton said the findings showed Australians remained generous in the face of “significant global events and economic flux”.
“Many Australians continue to be moved by the needs and challenges charities seek to support and so many have either continued or increased their giving in the past three years even in the aftermath of the pandemic.”
She said the suggestion of increased support for charities was also significant.
“In tough economic times, people often believe governments should play a role in service continuity and sustainability, and the research points to this with half of Australians agreeing governments should be contributing in this way,” she said.
McCrindle’s 2024 NFP Trends report addressed changes in the NFP landscape, motivations for giving, volunteering trends, effective advocacy, engagement and perceptions of the charity sector. Details.