How generous is that!

The Australian government might be failing to meet its commitment to give 0.7% GNP to help the poorest countries meet the Millennium Development Goals, but Australian citizens are giving more than ever.




Australians gave $1.5 billion in 2004-05, according to a study of the latest Tax Office data by Queensland University of Technology's Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies has found. The study examined official figures on tax-deductable donations. It does not include all those small amounts we dropped into the charity tin, or the raffle tickets we bought.

NSW taxpayers donated an average of 0.42 per cent of their taxable income, followed by ACT taxpayers with 0.38 per cent and Victorian taxpayers with 0.37 per cent. This compared with a national average of just under 0.35 per cent.

The public response to the Indian Ocean tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 caused a sharp rise in tax-deductible gifts. However, even without the tsunami-related giving, tax-deductible donations have been well above the average growth rate over the past five years. Fifteen years of economic growth and a 30-year low in the unemployment rate underpinned the donations.

The report said fears that some charities would suffer from donor fatigue after the tsunami were misplaced.

The strong indications are that giving has expanded to meet the challenge of the tsunami and, in fact, increased further due to the public focus on giving.

In 1994-5, 33% of tax-payers claimed a tax-deductable charity donation, in 2004-5 this had increased to 38.4% of tax-payers and the average individual claim for tax-deductable gifts had doubled. More Australians are giving, and they are giving more!

And is it true that the more you’ve got the more you give? Apparently, it is. People who earnt more than $1mill gave way an average of 1.98% of their taxable income, compared with the national average of .35%. Oh, and the figures show that women are more generous than men – on average women gave 0.37%: men 0.33%.

So, we can all keep up the good work! Is ‘generous’ as strong a part of the Australian character as ‘larrikin’ and ‘fair go’? It will be if we make it so. I encourage you to find a good project that you have confidence in, and give it your support. Make a difference!



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End of the month

It’s time to look at the bank account and decide what to donate. Some of my donations are set on automatic deduct, but I always like to to think about what I send to the School of St Jude. I have chosen not to sponsor a child because I think that others like to do that. So I usually send a general donation. Sometimes I nominate a bus or teacher or computer donation.

Thank you letters from kids at St Judes

I don’t really mind which one I nominate because all the money is used to run the school. I always get an email confirmation that the money has been received. And I read the School’s monthly newsletter online.

Every now and then an airmail letter arrives from the school and I find a charming thankyou letter written by the kids. It’s a simple one-line thankyou, decorated by drawings and stickers. Now we know why the kids love to receive stickers!

What we give comes back to us in the achievements of everyone connected with St Judes – the children, their parents, the teachers and supporters world-wide.

Michael Liubinskas, an Australian supporter, says,

I always had fun visiting St. Jude's and was proud of what Gemma and the team had been able to do in such a short time. The school is well-built and well-run, and will provide a great long-term benefit to the people of Tanzania. I'm glad to be a sponsor.

So, I would encourage you to find out more about this terrific project that is Fighting Poverty Through Education in northern Tanzania. If you would like to make a small donation, you can do that right here – just click on the Chipin button at the top of the page.

Peter Singer – Professor of Ethics

Peter Singer, an Australian, and the professor of ethics at Princeton looks at the ethics of philanthropy in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Peter Singer, Professor of Ethics at Princeton

He asks how our beliefs about the value of human life square with our actions in a world in which more than a billion people live at a level of affluence never before known, while roughly a billion others struggle to survive on the purchasing-power equivalent of less than $US1 a day.
He applauds the actions of the world’s richest people, Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet in pledging more than $US67 billion directed towards the world’s poorest.

Singer then analyses the incomes of the richest Americans – the top 0.01%, the top 0.05%, the top 1% and the top 10%.

He figures that the 14,400 people in the top 0.01% who earn an average of $US12.8 million could give a quarter of their income without hurting. The next categories are asked to give 20%, 15% and 10%. On his figures, this philanthropy would yield $US404 billion.

Extending this scheme worldwide would provide $US808 billion annually for development aid. That's more than six times what the task force chaired by Jeremy Sachs estimated would be required for 2006 in order to be on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Of course, it is very easy to do this kind of armchair calculation; the difficulty lies in persuading the mega-rich to share their wealth. The fine leadership of Gates and Buffet has defined the first decade of the 21st century as a new "golden age of philanthropy", but it won't appeal to most rich people.

The effort to bring our actions in line with our values is an ongoing personal challenge for most of us. If you value human life and believe that equality is an important principle, you can act to support these principles by helping the School of St Jude to Fight Poverty through Education.

The school is one of those energetic, well-run and successful projects that are making a difference to hundreds of lives. Your donation, large or small, will be well-used.