Australians increased their charitable giving during the first seven months of 2012 by almost 5 per cent on the previous year with giving to medical research and services, cancer and health and disability-related organisations all up, according to the first NAB Charitable Giving Index.
Released this week by the NAB, the data shows giving increased by 4.7 per cent, year on year, in the first seven months of 2012, up slightly on the 4.6 per cent increase recorded in the first seven months of 2011.
PICTURE: TimHesterPhotography/istockphoto.com
The index also shows that while giving to humanitarian services accounts for 32 per cent of total donations – the largest of any category – it was the only category in which giving dropped (by two per cent) in the first seven months of 2012 compared to the same period last year.
Elsewhere the data puts the average annual donation size at $292 in the year to July 2012, a rise of 0.7 per cent on the previous year.
Inner Melbourne suburb Middle Park was the most generous postcode locality in Australia with an average annual charity spend of $334 a person followed by Vale Park in South Australia, Killara and Vaucluse in New South Wales, and Canterbury in Victoria. New South Wales accounted for six of the top 10 postcodes for giving.
However the Victorian coastal community of Lakes Entrance topped the list when charity given was taken as a proportion of mean taxable income – people there gave 0.34 per cent of their annual income to charity in 2009-2010. It was followed by Vale Park in South Australia, Middle Park in Victoria, and Gungahlin in New South Wales.
The report was compiled by the NAB and data analytics firm Quantium using data showing donations made by credit card, BPAY and EFTPOS.
For a complete copy of the report, see http://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/nab-giving-index-july-2012.pdf
