2018-06-22
At this time of year, it’s likely you're getting letters and emails from organisations encouraging you to make a tax deductible donation. But what does that actually mean?
By Susan Griffiths-Sussems
At this time of year, it’s quite likely that you are receiving letters and emails from myriad organisations asking you for a donation. That’s because it’s almost the end of the financial year, and gifts made to organisations that are deductible gift recipients (DGRs) are tax deductible.
Political parties are not DGRs, but you can make tax deductible donations up to $1,500 in a year to any political party registered under Commonwealth, state or territory legislation. Obviously, we’d like it very much if you made them to the Greens.
That’s all well and good – but what does it all actually mean?
It means that your gift is taken from the amount of money that you pay tax on. So, if you earn $30,000 per year and donate $1,500, you will only pay tax on $28,500. This is a nice fat carrot to some people.
Why EOFY matters
Of the four fundraising appeals coordinated by the National Office, the End of Financial Year (EOFY) appeal is by far the most successful and therefore most important in the year. While there has been some debate in the not-for-profit sector about the relevance of EOFY appeals, there is little doubt that, for the Greens, tax deductibility matters.
Traditionally, the highest performing platform for fundraising are our appeal letters. Why, in this day and age, do we send snail mail? Because it works. We, on average, get a better response rate from direct mail than we do from email. We also receive a higher average gift and we reach people who don't have email.
The gap is closing between online donations, with many people preferring to make their contributions online via our website, or in response to an email.
We are also seeing organisations such as Oxfam and Amnesty using Facebook prolifically. We are trialing this as well, with mixed results so far ... but keep an eye out for fundraising posts from us as we get closer to June 30.
Donate this June
This June appeal we have a target of just on $100,000. Income is generated by a variety of platforms – emails, letters and our websites – and this income will find its way back to the donor's home state. Your home state. This money is critical to the campaigning activity that happens on the ground in your state, because as you know, we Greens do not accept donations from the big end of town. We rely on donations from our members and supporters – people like you.
So, as you ferret about in your paperwork, trying to pull it all together for your tax agent, remember to make your tax deductible donation to your favourite organisation (hint – it’s The Greens) before June 30.
Susan Griffiths-Sussems is the Australian Greens National Fundraising Coordinator.