Residents dig deep for charity
WE ARE one of the most charitable areas in Queensland with Toowoomba residents who donate gifting an average $414.37 to worthy causes over the past two years.
A NewsRegional analysis of Australian Taxation Office tax-deductible giving data shows the number of locals donating to charities and the region’s average gift per donor fell in the 2015-16 financial year from the previous 12 months.
In 2015-16, 28,609 residents donated about $411.75 each compared to 29,219 locals giving $416.93 each in 2014-15.
While our region had the fourth highest average donation per giving resident across 13 major regional centres in Queensland, collectively we donated $11,779,655 in 2015-16 – about $400,000 less than the previous year.
Guide Dogs Australia relies on donations to fund its lifechanging work for people with sensory disabilities.
The organisation was named the country’s most trusted charity this year.
Guide Dogs Queensland community engagement general manager Jock Beveridge said the generosity of our region helped fund guide dog breeding and training programs and other support services.
“We have great support from regional areas,” Mr Beveridge said.
“More than 90 per cent of our revenue comes from donations and people raise money
for us in all sorts of ways – through barbecues, fundraisers, gifts in wills.
“Regional residents are critical to our work.”
Women are more likely to donate higher portions of their income to charity but men give more money overall, researchers at QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies found.
Police, teachers and ministers of religion were the most generous donors and CEOs, managing directors and surgeons claimed the most tax deductible donations, Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes said.
“When it comes to occupations with the highest percentage of donating taxpayers, police came out on top for the sixth year in a row, with almost three-quarters of officers giving, followed by school principals,” he said.