Older Australians Giving More to Charity – Report
17 September 2015 at 12:44 pm
Australians over the age of 50-years-old are responsible for half of all donations to charity while those aged over 65 make the highest average donations, according to an analysis of more than 18.5 million donations.
In its Spotlight on Giving, Commonwealth Bank looked at electronic payments made from 2013 to 2015 and found that more than two million customers had donated to 185 charities.
Analysing the data, Head of Not for Profit Sector Banking, Julienne Price, said that people aged over 65 give away the most in a year at $425 on average, compared to $147 for those aged under 30.
Price said women as individuals were more likely to give to charity than men but men provided slightly greater amounts when they did donate. The majority of donations came from couples and families.
According to the data, the types of charities which attracted the most financial support were humanitarian services at 44 per cent of all donations, followed by health and disability services (21 per cent), children’s services (11 per cent) and animals and environment (9 per cent).
“We found that customers who donate across several charity types generate more value for those organisations than those who donate to only one brand. A total of 11 per cent donate to more than five brands, generating 33 per cent of the total value,” Price said.
“There is virtually no difference in the population share and donation values from State to State but the analysis found that Queensland recorded the greatest donation value increase from one year to the next. And rural and regional centres recorded greater charitable growth than metropolitan centres over the study period.”
The top three suburbs by number of donors were all in Victoria at Reservoir, Frankston and Berwick, while the top three suburbs by value were Mosman in NSW followed by Victoria’s Camberwell and Kew.
“Many of our NFP clients are looking for insights and advice to help them with the various challenges they face which of course includes fund-raising and this analysis can really help them,” Price said.
“We also found the average donation size is around $50 and that the winter months are the most popular time for donations. These sorts of insights can help charities better plan and target both existing and prospective donors in their fundraising efforts.”
