Survey of Australians on Giving Effectively: Research Report

We conducted the online Survey of Australians on Giving Effectively (SAGE) of 1,059 Australians in May 2024 to investigate Australians’ attitudes towards effective charitable giving - that is, giving to charities and programs that do more good, per dollar. Australians think charity impact and effectiveness are important, with 9 in 10 preferring to donate to charities with clear, measurable impact; 8 in 10 demanding that charities be accountable for the impact of their work and the effectiveness of their programs; and 8 in 10 willing to switch their donation to a highly effective charity. Australians have an unmet need for information on charity effectiveness, with 3 in 10 Australians confident that their most recent donation had a lot of impact; transparency and evidence of impact being more important factors for charity choice than overheads and innovation; and half of donors researching a charity before donating. When asked to estimate the difference between the ‘best’ and ‘average’ global health charity programs, Australians thought the best program was 1.44x as effective, when experts estimate the actual difference to be 10 - 100x. Providing Australians with independent, trusted information on charity effectiveness could help align their donation decisions with their values, maximising the impact of the $13B spent on charity in Australia each year.