NAB Charitable Giving Index: Indepth report – August 2014

Australians are giving more to charity than ever before, with the average annual donation size for all charities increasing by 3.6 per cent ($11) to $315 per donor. Overall charitable giving growth also continues an upward trend, increasing by 6.4 per cent in the 12 months to August 2014.

By NAB Group Economics

Charitable giving growth slowed to 6.4% in the year to August 2014, from a peak of almost 9% in early-2014.

Difficult economic conditions appear to be playing a role, with sub-trend economic growth, a tepid labour market and subdued consumer confidence unsettling some donors. NAB surveys of consumer anxiety show that concerns over the cost of living remain elevated and in response, one area of spending where consumers are cutting back is charitable donations. All charity categories have experienced a slowdown in growth in recent months except Humanitarian Services. Donations have slowed across most age groups (65+ is a notable exception), both in metropolitan and regional areas.

Against this backdrop, it’s encouraging to see the average annual donation size for all charities increase by $11 over the past year to $315 per donor.

In this edition, we release new data showing giving by payment type. The split in overall charitable giving is around 90% for credit card and EFTPOS (combined), having grown 25% since December 2010, and 10% for BPAY and direct debit. Overall levels of giving by credit card and EFTPOS have significantly outpaced giving by BPAY and direct debit in recent years, with the latter having fallen by 1%.

Finally, postcode data continues to show a strong relationship between average incomes and average dollar giving. However, the postcodes for Middle Park (3026) and Fitzroy North (3068) are the only ones to feature in both the top 20 Australian postcodes for charitable giving by dollar amount and as a percentage of income.

For further analysis download the full report.

NAB Charitable Giving index: Indepth report – August 2014 (PDF, 3MB)