Giving Together: The Power and Potential of Collective Giving in Australia

Australia’s first national snapshot of collective giving reveals a movement at an inflection point – no longer emerging, but not yet fully realised. Momentum is growing, participation is expanding and targeted investment could accelerate both. 

Giving Together: The Power and Potential of Collective Giving in Australia is the first national research of its kind, providing a comprehensive snapshot of collective giving across the country. Drawing on data from 55 collective giving groups that engage over 11,000 participants, the research explores a number of themes. 

• Collective giving helps build trust, connection and a sense of community 
• Participants give more than the national average 
• The movement is largely women-led and fuelled by volunteer effort 
• Greater investment in the collective giving will supercharge its impact  

The research shows that the impact of collective giving, or pooled funding, goes far beyond the dollars. It is a gateway to deeper and more sustained civic engagement. 

Unrealised potential 

At the same time, the findings show that the movement is progressing without the infrastructure and support it needs to fully flourish. Growth has been largely organic, led by volunteers and operating with few resources. To truly thrive and realise its potential as an accessible and easy form of philanthropy for millions of Australians, collective giving needs investment in coordination, capacity building and core systems. 

The report identifies two complementary recommendations that address both system-level coordination and organisational-level sustainability.

1. Establish a national backbone entity to coordinate and strengthen the field.
2. Provide targeted core capacity funding to support group sustainability and growth.

Thank you to the many people who collaborated to create this report, in particular the steering committee, the research contributors and the generous funders, Minderoo Foundation, 5Point Foundation and Australian Communities Foundation.

Philanthropy Australia invites you to read the Giving Together report and consider what is tells us philanthropy can be when it is collective. Who it can include and how it can shape a more generous, just and sustainable future for Australia.

^{Paul and Sophie Chamberlain shared their experiences of collective giving with Philanthropy Australia. The couple are co-founders of a group pooling funding for arts projects in Western Australia. The video was possible thanks to support from Lotterywest.}