Ways to give

Now that you’ve thought about how much you want to give, why you want to give, and what you want to give to, the question is, how?

There are a number of ways to go about your giving. We’ve outlined the most common ones below so you can consider what makes the most sense for you.

Set up a regular donation to an organisation you’re passionate about

Give through
your workplace

Join a Giving Circle, or start your own

Set up your own Fund
or Foundation

If you already know who you want to support, setting up a regular donation can be quick and easy. Head to the organisation’s website and look for the donate button. Most charities will provide an option for you to decide how much and how regularly you want to donate. If you don’t see this option, get in touch with the organisation.

Recurring donations are incredibly valuable for an organisation’s sustainability. This is also a great option if you only have a little bit to give - your contribution becomes more significant over time.

Why stop at one? You can create your own portfolio of giving by setting up regular donations to a number of organisations.

There are plenty of places to find great organisations to donate to online. As a start, Australian Communities Foundation has a Giving Platform that allows you to browse through organisations seeking donations and filter by your areas of interest, and Australians Investing in Women has a Project Portal that showcases organisations working to support women and girls.

Many workplaces have workplace giving programs in place. If you’re not sure if yours does, just ask. You might even inspire your organisation to create one!

Workplace giving is a great way to give as donations are typically deducted from your salary before tax, lowering your taxable income. When donations are set up this way they’re sent straight to the charity before your wages hit your bank account.

Many organisations also offer workplace giving incentives, like matching employees’ donations to their chosen charities, or to charities the business has identified - so there’s potential to leverage your impact by unlocking additional support from your employer.

Learn more about workplace giving from Workplace Giving Australia.

Giving Circles can be a great way to give with others to make a greater difference. A group of people come together, pool their collective donations, and decide as a group where to give.

If you want to meet other people who share your values, learn and get exposure to a bigger range of organisations to support, and create collective impact (10 people giving $100 each individually is great, but collectively $1,000 can be a much more meaningful gift for the recipient organisation!).

Learn more about Giving Circles, and how to set up your own, from Philanthropy Together (US) and Australian Communities Foundation.

Join an existing Giving Circle. We’ve created a list below.

Women & Change

100 Women

Melbourne Women’s Foundation

Women Kind Sydney

Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia Giving Circle

Groundswell

Impact100 Sydney

Impact100 Sydney North

Impact100 WA

Impact100 SA

Mannifera

The Funding Network (event-based collective giving)

If you know of a Giving Circle in Australia that’s not on this list, please let us know!

If you give (or intend to give) a significant enough amount to charity each year, it may make sense to ‘structure your giving’ by setting up a Fund or Foundation.

This means, instead of giving directly to charity organisations, you give into a Fund (also called a Named Fund, sub fund or Donor Advised Fund) or Private Foundation (also called a Private Ancillary Fund). This allows you to give when it makes the most sense from a tax and financial perspective, and decide which charities to support later with grants from your Fund or Foundation. The balance (or corpus) of your Fund or Foundation is also invested, so you have more to give over time.

These structures can enable a more planned, strategic approach at scale. They also make it easier to maintain a clear view of your giving activity and impact, engage the next generation of your family or group in giving, and give anonymously or create a clear public identity for your giving beyond you as an individual.

There are a number of factors that go into deciding whether a Fund or Foundation is right for your giving.

Learn more about Funds and Foundations from Australian Communities Foundation, Australian Philanthropic Services or your Professional Adviser. She Gives' resident Philanthropy Expert is also available to provide free advice and referral for women considering setting up a fund or foundation - yet another She Gives gift to you! You can get in touch to arrange a consultation.

Philanthropy Australia also has a publicly available Structured Giving Tool designed to help you think through the best way to give based on your intentions.

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