Changing the world will cost you only ‘five bucks’

As the name of Brianna Kerr’s organisation suggests, a pledge of five dollars a week is all it takes to join the movement.

The social enterprise and human rights expert has witnessed the need for philanthropy through her work in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malawi and India, but says many Australians don’t realise the positive impact they can have.

“I've run my own not-for-profit, but I didn't really know a lot about philanthropy because I'd previously worked in the social enterprise sector, which meant that the organisation I was running was self-funded through sales and things like that.

“I met a few people that were working in different parts of the philanthropy sector in Australia and learned two things that really shocked me. One is that on a per-person basis, giving in Australia has been on the decline for over a decade.

“And then also compared to our counterparts like the US, the UK, Canada and New Zealand, as a country, we collectively give considerably less, and when I learned those two things, I think it burst a bubble because I was like, ‘Really? We give less than all of those?’”

Figures from a Philanthropy Australia study showed Australians give much less as a percentage of GDP than comparable developed countries.

“We’d have to double our donations to match New Zealand donors,” Ms Kerr said.

She said that everything she’d read suggested “every segment is going to need to give”, including young people, for Australia to catch up to the rest of the world.

“It's not just about focusing on rich folks, which we obviously should be, but everyone needs to think about generosity and donating.”

Ms Kerr said she hadn’t been able to find much data on how young people were giving, which prompted her to look for answers. Her survey of 159 young Australians aged 23–36 showed there was a new generation of philanthropists ready to act but the perceived cost of becoming a regular giver was holding people back.

The study found 81% of respondents thought about donating and wanted to give more, and 83% agreed they could give more. Of the group, 90% currently donated less than one per cent of their income. The top two reason for failing to give were “financial constraints” (65% of respondents) and feelings of cynicism and distrust (57%).

Many of those study participants have subsequently joined the movement.

The study also showed support for Five Bucks’ three areas of philanthropic focus, which are climate, living standards and education – chosen for their urgency and because improvements in one of those areas tend to create improvements in the others.

Last week, Ms Kerr launched the Five Bucks website, with the backing of the Australian Communities Foundation, which agreed to list Five Bucks as a “named fund” and securely distribute the funds to target areas. This also means donors will be able to claim the coveted tax deduction under deductible gift recipient (DGR) rules.

Ms Kerr said anyone signing up to Five Bucks before the end of today, Wednesday, July 31, would be classed as a “founding member” and become part of a learning community that would share resources and knowledge about social impact and philanthropy.

“A big part of Five Bucks will be that sense of community. I think that if young people are cynical and distrustful of charity, it's no good for them to donate and not be learning anything or feeling like they're getting resources to make them feel like empowered givers. So learning is going to be a big part Five Bucks … and just making them have a deeper understanding of how giving to a charity leads to impact.”

Ms Kerr was hoping to get the magic 100 members by the end of the day.

“Small change, when pooled, can have a big impact. If one million Australians chipped in five dollars a week, we’d raise $260 million a year.”

Ms Kerr is a past recipient of the Westpac Future Leaders scholarship and has worked with asylum seekers in Indonesia, in healthcare in Malawi, in education in India, and as a Rotary International volunteer and World Bank media contractor in Papua New Guinea. She is also a former director of Kua, a social enterprise that distributes coffee to Sydney workplaces and directs profits to climate action in Uganda.

More information: https://fivebucks.au/