Bushfires and Donations Links

newbiesh on 04/01/2020 - 00:27
Last edited 06/01/2020 - 00:50 by 2 other users

Saw this online thought would share it here as well:

I’m just curious to see if anyone here has donated money to the volunteer fire fighters or some of the online campaigns that are getting around. Seeing as many users here are financially secure I wondered if that correlated with more donations and what the general consensus is regarding donations.

https://www.redcross.org.au/campaigns/disaster-relief-and-re…

https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/donate/make-a-donation/dona…

https://donate.vinnies.org.au/appeals-nsw/vinnies-nsw-bushfi…

https://www.communityenterprisefoundation.com.au/make-a-dona… (Vic emergency recommends)

https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brig…

https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/emergencies-and-safety/recovery…

https://givit.worldsecuresystems.com/items-needed?campaign=5… (Givit for NSW )

https://givit.worldsecuresystems.com/items-needed?campaign=4… (Givit for QLD )

Animal care charities:

https://www.rspcansw.org.au/bushfire-appeal/

https://mkc.org.au/donations/trcqld

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thirsty-koalas-devastated-by…

https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund

https://donate.wwf.org.au/donate/koala-crisis/koala-crisis?t… (WWF Koala relief)

Mod: Bushfire Relief Deals/Event Tag & Disaster Relief Wiki <— Feel free to contribute/edit.

General Discussion Bushfire Relief

Comments

littlekd on 04/01/2020 - 12:39

+1

I have donated to CFA (https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/home) and Rescue Collective
CheapskateQueen on 04/01/2020 - 19:48

I've donated to NSW Rural Fire Service.

I was actually wondering what I should be donating not to be a cheapskate.
Meho2026 on 04/01/2020 - 21:56

+12

I reckon we should try and donate to organisations that are not going to have to use a portion of our donation to fund their costs.
I avoided giving to any of the big charities because of that.
I'm not knocking what they do at all and it might just be the nature of the world we live in but an example is The Australian Red Cross it looks like only 58.3% of their income actually goes towards the actual causes.
https://www.redcross.org.au/annual-reports/annual-report-201…
I wanted all of my money to go to the cause.
Cos I live in NSW, I went with https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brig…
Dunno if they have to cover admin costs too though.
Of course we should all be giving the state and federal governments absolute hell to make them fund the service.
- freakatronic on 06/01/2020 - 10:22
  
  +2
  
  That's the thing. I've got money ready to go but I don't want it squandered by a middle-management-fat organisation that's more interested being an organisation than being any good.
  
  To whom do I send money so that it will be of the most benefit to people who have suffered from the fires?
- Autonomic on 06/01/2020 - 10:56
  
  +4
  
  You should donate based on the quality of work. As an organization gets bigger they can do more and they can do it efficiently with long term planning and sustainable solutions instead of temporary ones. However this also increases administration costs - it's just the reality of how things work.
  
  I'm not saying bigger organisations are always better but they definitely are not always worse.
  - capslock janitor on 06/01/2020 - 13:05
    
    -4
    
    How can adminning be so tough, Receive donations, bank transfer to recipient, have an accountant in the back
Meho2026 on 05/01/2020 - 08:07

+6

The RFS now has specific bank account details if anyone wants to donate directly to the families of volunteer firefighters that have died on duty fighting our fires.
https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/news-and-media/general-news/featu…
- serin on 06/01/2020 - 09:35
  
  +1
  
  I was wondering if anyone who donated has received any response from [email protected]?
  
  I made donation to the bank account before Christmas but my email of requesting tax receipt has received no reply. I believe they are working in full load and I don't even mind receiving receipt months later but a response of acknowledgement will be appreciated.
  - MondaySleeper on 06/01/2020 - 18:05
    
    +1
    
    I paid using the card (actually 2 payments - one for each family/group) and I got the receipt in 5 minutes, something like below. Bank Transfer may take some time and then they have to reconcile it.
    
    https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/62529/76060/2020-01-06…
    - serin on 06/01/2020 - 22:48
      
      Thanks for the info. I made bank transfer and it was more than 10 days ago. I will email them again and will donate to the third family once this is resolved.
- MondaySleeper on 06/01/2020 - 17:54
  
  +3
  
  I used the same and donated to the family directly. They lost their lives for us, it was not mandatory for them, they volunteered for us.
- Giraffe on 08/01/2020 - 22:16
  
  +1
  
  Thanks for posting this
newbiesh on 06/01/2020 - 00:49

+1

So yea if mods pin this post to homepage would be good.
thriftybunny on 06/01/2020 - 05:08

I donated to the Victoria CFA (Country Fire Authority)
https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/supporting-cfa#donate-cfa
& wildlife bushfire appeal (Victoria)
https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/donate/donate-to-wildlif…
& Victoria disaster bushfire appeal
https://www.communityenterprisefoundation.com.au/make-a-dona…

I live in Victoria so donated to the charities with a focus in Victoria, picked one for the brave firefighters, one for the poor wildlife, and one for our incredibly resilient communities.
Miss B on 06/01/2020 - 07:31

+4

I haven't got a lot to donate until the 30th, hopefully then it will be donating to rebuild and the worst will be over. I have registered my interest to become a volunteer firefighter, maybe next year I can do more to help.
- capslock janitor on 06/01/2020 - 13:06
  
  is acceptance criteria hard
  - Miss B on 06/01/2020 - 17:28
    
    They'll contact me within 7 business days and let me know next steps. There's a medical and maybe other checks. Apparently there may be different requirements depending on which brigade you'd be joining. In Victoria.
BuDWiZe on 06/01/2020 - 08:05

i to would like to donate but have currently held back as i want to find the right place who will hand all my money direct to them without 50% " admin fees"
speaking of donations where are all these countries with their australian disaster relief fund where they give us 100mill while both Pms smile and shake hands?
maverickjohn on 06/01/2020 - 08:22

Donated to nsw RFS . They have done so much to help our state.
6000SUX on 06/01/2020 - 08:28

Great post - thanks OP
CocaKoala on 06/01/2020 - 09:01

+1

Thank you for posting this! I've donated to VIC bushfire disaster appeal as I live in VIC.
abb on 06/01/2020 - 09:32

Wildlife Rescue South Coast NSW - another one to consider.
h0mbre on 06/01/2020 - 09:33

Why do we need to donate?
Shouldn't our government be funding all of this?
- sheamas88 on 06/01/2020 - 09:41
  
  +2
  
  Yes, and insurance too, but the turn-around time on getting a payout from either of those can be quite long. Too long for the people who are desperate for help now.
  - scuderiarmani on 07/01/2020 - 19:57
    
    Not trying to stir, but would it affect insurance payouts if someone was already donated money? Would it be different for an individual or a business?
- digitalbargain on 06/01/2020 - 10:03
  
  +1
  
  you don't need to donate at all..
  
  a donation is more akin to a gift.. a voluntary transfer of funds or possession, different to government funding via taxes..
  
  if you have the means, i'd encourage a donation of whatever you can.. if not, that is of course fine too
  - h0mbre on 06/01/2020 - 10:17
    
    -8
    
    I'm just wondering why people require donations if this is the status quo in regards to weather/climate.
    
    If this is normal cyclical weather, then I'm assuming the people will have the correct measures and insurances in place etc
    
    Is this the biggest practical joke ever played on our society?
    
    It's not the federal government's responsibility, it's up to state governments, no it's not up to state governments it's up to local volunteer groups selling sausage sangas and (profanity) Cadbury chocolates, nope it's not enough it's up to crowd sourced fundraising from society at large.
    - Hansi on 06/01/2020 - 10:28
      
      +4
      
      Settle down, digitalbargain above explained it very well. No one forces you to donate, but many people do.
      
      I for one prefer to live in a society where people help each other and look out for each other and have the uttermost respect for people who give up their own time to volunteer for causes they appreciate.
      
      If you want change in the political field you can contact your local MP or become active yourself. Complaining online doesn't help….
    - giventofly on 06/01/2020 - 10:47
      
      +1
      
      Nobody is forcing you to donate, but it's usually what people do to show they care.
      
      Can't force you to care or show empathy.
      - h0mbre on 06/01/2020 - 12:56
        
        -2
        
        @giventofly: If people cared they would vote in a government that would look after its citizens when they need it the most.
        People don't care until the horror is staring them in the face hence why we voted for basically a short term tax break and to retain negative gearing.
        
        If the majority of society actually had empathy, it wouldn't take photos of BBQ'd wildlife and videos of roaring fires and firefighters on the job to kick them in to action.
lltravel on 06/01/2020 - 10:30

-3

What a joke, the government should be funding this instead of politicians ridiculously high wages. They should take a 50% cut in wages while this crisis is in place.

Giving to charity is a waste of time. They waste it all on their wages and admin fees

I have done IT work for a charity and all they care about is how much profit they make. I will not name the charity but it was very large, around 10k a day in donations

Although I have sympathy for the people in the fire, the government is to blame with huge funding cuts & ignoring climate change.
- sheamas88 on 06/01/2020 - 10:45
  
  Whilst you are correct for some of the larger charities, there are many that are not like this. Everyone needs to do their own research into where the money they donate actually goes.
  
  If a charity cannot provide the percentages themselves then I will not give to them. For example GIVIT state that 100% of the money donated goes to the cause. All admin and overheads are covered by sponsors, so I am happy to give them my money. Also you can directly donate the goods to the person that requested them, cutting out any middlemen directly.
  
  As for the government, this Liberals have made it clear time and time again they do not believe in climate change and people keep voting for them. If they clearly state their stance on the issue and people keep voting for them, then it's just as much the peoples fault as it is the governments.
- 91rs on 06/01/2020 - 15:35
  
  -2
  
  Your ignorance at how and where things are funded is quite clear. Maybe look in to where existing funding comes from and how it works.
  Not sure which cuts you're complaining about as the 40mil everyone bangs on about being cut was shown to be false, look in to that.
  
  As for climate change, I'd rather bigger questions that have more impact were answered or dealt with, like why as a huge country that burns on a regular basis, why don't we have a fleet of aircraft equipped to assist in these situations? Where are the additional resources on the ground to clear fire trails and do fuel reduction burns?
  
  Then to deal with the arrogance of people expecting because we live here we can control it all, sadly this wont stop until it burns out, it would have been happening well before we were here and will continue to happen well after we're all gone.
- [Deactivated] on 06/01/2020 - 15:42
  
  +5
  
  So much terrible information in this post
  
  For charities the 'profits' you speak of are what goes to the cause - of course they care about this. It's highly unlikely they are taking profit because well then they wouldn't legally be a charity/not-for-profit organisation
  
  Politicians needs to be paid well to make the job attractive. If you paid politicians peanuts two things will happen - 1) far far less people would be interested in becoming politicians. If you think the caliber of politicians are bad now let's see what happens if we don't pay them well. 2) Politician's become a lot more susceptible to bribes - combining power with low income is recipe for corruption and attracting people more likely to abuse power to get additional income.
  
  Charity wages and admin - a charity is basically a business that donates its profits. It takes money to run a business and it takes money to attract the right talent to lead and run these businesses. That investment ultimately results in more efficient use of donations.
  
  a 50% cut in politician wages during crisis? …. i don't even know how to approach that level of stupidity
Jackkkkkk on 06/01/2020 - 14:55

+1

Foodbank also accepts large donation ready to eat snacks and water which we run to communities
00000000 on 06/01/2020 - 15:34

+2

I have donated to the CFA directly.

But i won't donate to any gofundme pages, its hard to tell if they are scams or not.
j4ck on 06/01/2020 - 15:48

+1

Donated to the NSW RFS, Red Cross, Vinnies, and the Rescue Collective (Mini Kitty Commune).

Every bit helps!
CheeryCheapskate on 06/01/2020 - 16:34

+1

Very nice post OP. Red Cross and CFA are my go-to organisations. I'd urge people to stick to the heavy weight charities/organisations since there usually are some dodgy scammers out there trying to make a buck. It's been great seeing a lot of the community and businesses pitching in where they can and makes me proud to be an Aussie in the times of need.
scuderiarmani on 07/01/2020 - 20:20

This WWF Koala one seems more taking advantage of the situation by asking for assistance to a problem that already exists prior to this….
Tacooo on 14/01/2020 - 14:15

For (mod: removed personal info), the guy who just posted the "Donate to Bushfires in Australia [AUSTRALIA]" link - I've reported your domain to your host Zuver, their wholesale provider Synergy and also to the Australian Scamwatch for impersonation of a charity. Good luck!

Bushfires and Donations Links

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