Donations of $2 or more to charity are tax deductible and a great way to give back to get back. Your donation will help children living in poverty and their communities while reducing your taxable income, which means you’ll get a nice boost on your tax return.
But, we understand that you may want to know how your money is spent. You worked hard to earn it, and when making a tax deductible charity donation, you want to be sure it’s actually helping the children and communities you care about.
Below are our top 7 ideas on how you can make a tax-deductible donation and help children and their families around the world this tax time.
1. Donate to help children in conflict
Families in Ukraine have been fleeing their homes since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Many children arriving into neighbouring countries such as Moldova and Poland are without adequate food, shelter and protection. Photo: Florian Bachmeier.
In Ukraine, at least two children have been killed or injured every day since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022. And, right now, many more children, and their families, do not have enough food or proper shelter and protection. Constant fear and uncertainty are negatively impacting their mental health.
ChildFund and our local partners on the ground are working with children and families facing conflict in places such as Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. Your donation could provide food parcels for displaced families, or emergency cash transfers so families can meet their children’s most urgent needs. An emergency transfer of cash gives families some control over their lives during times of extreme disruption. Your support could also help create safe places for displaced children where they play, learn and receive psychosocial support.
2. Donate a share of a deepwater borehole system
In rural communities, safe drinking water isn’t always accessible to the most vulnerable families. Drinking from creeks or open wells can cause young children to come down with diarrhoea, fever and other easily preventable health conditions.
When you donate a share of a deepwater borehole system, you and other like-minded people could help a school or community in a remote village to keep their children safe and healthy.
3. Donate a goat to a family
Goats make a great charity gift as they are easy animals to raise in harsh climates. They produce milk for mothers to feed their children and their manure is great for small gardens, providing families living in poverty with a valuable source of nutrition. Families can also sell the goat milk to supplement their household income.
4. Donate a hand washing station to a community
Good hygiene reduces the spread of disease and helps children stay clean and healthy. In developing communities, however, good hygiene facilities aren’t always easily accessible. As we move through the COVID-19 pandemic, access to clean water, hand sanitiser, soap and other hygiene essentials saves lives by slowing the spread of the virus.
When you donate a hand washing station as your tax-deductible gift, children and their families have a place in their community where they can wash their hands to stay healthy.
5. Donate school supplies
Families that can’t afford to pay for school materials may pull their children out of school. You can donate a school supplies set, which is a collection of essentials that every child needs to support them to stay and succeed in school.
One of our school supplies sets contains a bag, books, pens and pencils.
6. Donate a warm blanket and pillow
A warm blanket and pillow are a simple luxury that many children living in poverty can’t afford. Quality bedding enables children in the communities where we work to sleep comfortably, which means they’ll be able to have increased energy to study and enjoy the childhood they need.
7. Gift mosquito nets
One child under five dies from malaria every two minutes. Mosquito nets protect children and their families at night from insect bites, which spread malaria and other illnesses. When you choose mosquito nets as a charity gift, you’re providing a cost-effective way to save lives.
Donate a tax deductible charity gift to boost your tax return
If you can’t decide which gift you’d like to give but still want to make a tax-deductible donation, you can support our Children in Conflict Appeal. Cash transfers have been proven to be an effective means of emergency support, and your donation helps children and families caught up in conflict who need it the most.
You can also use our handy Tax Calculator to estimate the potential tax benefit of your donation.
Calculate your tax benefit
Use our tax calculator to estimate the potential tax benefit of your donation.
If you donate
$
On a before tax income of
$
The actual cost of your donation is
$xx.xx a xxxx
Because you save
$xx.xx a year on tax
This table is based upon 2018-2019 ATO individual Income Tax rates. The above rates do not include the Medicare Levy of 2%. The exact level of your tax deductibility will vary depending on your present financial circumstances. Please seek assistance from an independent taxation professional for formal guidelines.
Vikki and Chris, from Western Australia, were planning their wedding when a pamphlet from ChildFund Australia arrived in the mail, asking for support for children living in poverty.
Vikki and Chris (pictured above and below) responded, and that year they began a lifelong commitment to not only each other but to helping children. “We thought that it would be a good way to start our marriage doing something good for someone else,” Vikki says.
Seventeen years later, Vikki and Chris, who are still happily married, have turned their unwavering support for children into a legacy by writing a gift in their Will to ChildFund.
Long-time ChildFund Australia supporters Chris and Vikki began supporting children the same year they got married. “We thought that it would be a good way to start our marriage doing something good for someone else,” Vikki says.
“We support a number of charities, but ChildFund is by far the one that gets most of our support because we feel that there are so many children that don’t have opportunities, and we want to make sure we can help change that,” Vikki says.
“Chris and I don’t have children, and our families all have enough money to support themselves, so we wanted to make sure that any money that we have when we pass away goes towards doing good. We feel that if it goes to ChildFund, it can help children to get an education, and help families with what they need to support their children in the long term.”
Vikki works with a bus company, and Chris is a fitter machinist. Writing a gift in your Will to a charity is not only a worthwhile act that wealthy people can do, says Vikki.
“I would say that before leaving something to people who already have many possessions, think about people who are less fortunate,” she says.
When Chris lost his job several years ago, things became tough for the couple, but they felt strongly about continuing their support for children. It was about setting priorities, says Vikki.
“We just feel that many children don’t have the luxuries that we have; they are struggling just to get basic things like clean water.”
A fortunate childhood
Western Australians Vikki and Chris have decided to write a gift in their Will to ChildFund Australia. “We wanted to make sure that any money that we have when we pass away goes towards doing good,” Vikki says.
Both Vikki and Chris were born in Kalgoorlie and enjoyed the freedom of playing among nature in the countryside, but they know for many children in developing communities in similar rural areas, this is not the case.
“Chris and I both had fun childhoods,” Vikki says. “If a child needs to work when they’re six or seven years old and they’re not getting a childhood, and we feel we can help them, then we will.”
Vikki’s mother passed away when she was nine years old, but she remembers her father was still able to take her and her siblings away on holidays. “We never missed out on anything,” she says. “We were very fortunate in that way.”
Vikki and Chris have seen the positive impact their donations have had on the lives of children and their families. Among the many children they support is Nulu, from Uganda. They visited Nulu, and her family and community, in 2009. The smallest things, says Vikki, can have a big impact on children in places such as Uganda. “We brought koalas and soft soccer balls to Nulu’s school, and you could see the gratitude on the children’s faces. You can’t remove that memory from you mind.”
Today, Nulu is all grown up and runs her own salon. “It’s so worthwhile to know that we’ve played a small part in helping her achieve her dreams,” Vikki says.
“I see our donations as helping children to start on a path to a better future.”
