Aussies Prefer the Hump Day to Give

New research reveals Australians use “giving” to beat the weekday blues and they feel most inspired on Wednesdays.

An analysis by global online giving platform, JustGiving shows that Australians are most benevolent when it comes to giving to charity mid-week, with giving online hitting a high on Thursdays at 10am.

“Giving to a charity helps to lift our spirits – with close to 60 per cent saying this inspired them out of their weekday blues,” JustGiving’s Country Director in Australia, Nikki Kinloch, said.

The analysis found that one in four donations in Australia now comes from a mobile device, with Facebook mobile the most popular referrer.

November also sees the peak of Australian generosity, with average donations in November beating those of any other month.

“26 per cent of Aussies saying they feel the least inspired on Friday afternoons, and women feeling it the most at 29 per cent,” Kinloch said.

The analysis also found that 57 per cent of Australians agree that when they help others or donate to charity they feel more inspired and positive.

Launching officially in Australia this month, JustGiving says it has developed Inspiragram, a Facebook app to help Australians to both give and fundraise for the causes they care about.

“Inspiragram is an inspirational quote generator that allows fundraisers to share quotes and images in support of one of seven partner charities,” Kinloch said.

According to Kinloch, the decision to launch JustGiving in Australia was made simple by Australia’s well documented love affair with all things digital.

“In 2012, over $1.9 million was donated via JustGiving from Australians to charities in other countries,” she said.

Charities on-board with JustGiving’s Australian launch include, but are not limited to: ChildFund Australia; Shane Warne Foundation; Evolve; Australian Red Cross; Guide Dogs SA and NT; Australian Cancer Research Foundation and the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation.

Other key research findings include:

• One third of Australians (33 per cent) feel the least inspired to do things on Monday evenings;
• One quarter of Australians (26 per cent) feel the least inspired to do things on Friday evenings;
• 35 per cent of males experience lower inspiration levels on Monday afternoons as compared to 31 per cent of females;
• 29 per cent of females experience lower inspiration levels on Friday afternoons as compared to 23 per cent of males;
• 79 per cent of Australians said that they are more productive and positive when they are inspired.

JustGiving is described as one of world’s largest online fundraising platforms and has helped 13 million people raise more than $2.2 billion for more than 12,000 charities since 2001.