Visual Impact for Giving Australia Project
8 March 2016 at 11:28 am
The latest phase of one of the largest studies on giving and volunteering in Australia is looking for visual representations of people in the field – photographs of the way Australians participate in giving.
The Giving Australia 2015-2016 project led by QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) and research director Dr Wendy Scaife aims to find out more about the views of thousands of Australians from all walks of life as to why they give (or don’t) their time and dollars to charities or Not for Profit organisations.
Dr Scaife has called on volunteers and Not for Profits to provide a visual record of what is happening in the field.
This latest phase also includes discussions with Not for Profits in forum groups around the country as well as a detailed online survey.
However, Dr Scaife said she was keen for volunteers and organisations to offer up photographs of what is actually happening in the field, depicting people “giving” their time or working on and for their causes. She said the photographs would be used in the final report which is likely to have an international impact.
“We know that since 2010 the average donation has increased but there is still a lot of unmet need in the community that government coffers will never cover,” Dr Scaife said.
“We hope to find out how people choose which charities to support as donors and volunteers, how they decide on what they can give and how they choose to contribute this support.
“We know, for example, that the number of people participating in workplace giving has increased since 2012. At QUT, for example, hundreds of staff are ongoing payroll givers to QUT’s Learning Potential Fund which assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete a university degree.
“The results of this research will ultimately affect everybody in the community because the charitable organisations that provide us with a huge number of services rely heavily on the goodwill of all Australians.”
Dr Scaife said the research was looking for gaps, barriers and opportunities to make it easier to give and volunteer.
“We hope the research will prompt new, ongoing giving and volunteering by Australians,” she said.
“Our findings will help the Not for Profit sector which must do lots with little and inform government policy through our research funders, the Commonwealth Department of Social Services and the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership.”
Dr Scaife said Australians were encouraged to have their say and provide photographs by registering to participate in or receive updates about the project via the study website.
The Giving Australia 2015-2016 project is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Social Services and is an initiative of the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership.
The project is a collaborative effort of QUT and the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology, the Centre for Corporate Public Affairs, and four key peak bodies, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, Fundraising Institute Australia, Philanthropy Australia and Volunteering Australia.
