OzBargain 2024 Christmas Donations - $40,000 to Charities of Your Choice

Update:

  • 16 Dec: we have reached over 50 charities in the list. Thanks for all the suggestions, but no more will be added.
  • 20 Dec: we have reached over 1000 unique commenters. Donation this year will be $40,000 to 6 most voted charities.
  • 22 Dec: the poll has ended and the community has decided the following charities will receive the donations this year:

    • Cancer Council
    • Royal Flying Doctor Service
    • beyondblue
    • Dementia Australia
    • Lifeline
    • Kids With Cancer Foundation Australia

    I will sort out sending the funds over in the next couple of days.


OzBargain is doing the same donations to the community's choice of charities again this Christmas. Same amount, same rules — thus much copy 'n' paste from last year's post. OzBargain has been donating some of its earnings to charities every June and December for the past decade. Here is a list of past donations if you are interested in which charities we have been donating to.

For this year, OzBargain will be donating at least $30,000 to charity organisations, and whom we donate to depending on your suggestions and votes. I have pre-selected 25 charities from last year's Xmas donation poll. However, community can use the "Suggestion" box in the top-level comment to suggest more charities to the poll. Please note that I'm travelling at the moment, at hotels with crappy Internet, so suggestion-approval might take sometime.

Add your poll suggestion here

If you are suggesting a charity, please also

  • Check the current poll to make sure your suggestion is not already in the list.
  • Provide a link in the comment.
  • Add one or two sentences on what this charity is about, to help the community to decide.

The poll will run until Sunday 22 Dec @ 12AM. After poll expires, votes will be revealed and we will divide up the final donation amount to give to the top 6 charities. Donations will then be made over the weekend before Christmas.

Moreover, for each unique commenter in this forum post, we will be donating an extra $10 (capped at $10,000 extra) to the total sum of donations. For example, if there are 500 OzBargain users commented in this post, we'll be donating $35,000 to 6 different charities ($5,834 each). If 1000 OzBargainers commented, $40,000 will be donated ($6,667 each).

Note to the Charities

This is a poll for the OzBargain users. This is not a contest between charities, and please do not ask your staff or followers on your social media to vote for you here. We had similar incidents happen in the past and those charities got disqualified from receiving donations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which charity should I suggest?

There are some limitations on the charity that a user may suggest:

  • It must be a registered charity eligible for DGR (deductible gift recipient). That would make NPOs like Wikipedia & some international charities ineligible.
  • As we are OzBargain, it would be great if the charity is Australia based or benefits Australians.
  • The suggestion feature will also be closed after having 50 charities on poll.

Please note that all the suggestions will have to be manually approved by the moderators, so they might not show up straight away.

Q: Why is foo charity on the list? Why is bar charity NOT on the list?

All the charity organisations are suggested by the community (either this year, or from previous years). If you think certain charity organisation ought to be on the list, please suggest it (provided that we haven't reached the 50 options limit). If you do not think a certain charity should be there, please leave a comment in the post, and use "Report" to notify a moderator. We will assess your claim and decide whether to remove that charity from the list.

Q: Any bargain?

Free $10 to the top charity when you comment!

Poll Options expired

Comments

  • +1

    $10 donation comment. Thanks scotty.

  • +12
    Suggested Orange Sky Australia

    Orange Sky Australia is the world’s first free mobile laundry service, dedicated to supporting people experiencing homelessness and hardship.

    • +3

      +1 orange sky

    • +1

      +1 great idea. Would love to know how useful/successful it is

      • +1

        They set up near my house in Woolloomooloo all the time… They do a great service

        • +1

          I volunteered for Orange Sky for 2 years not long after they were established in 2014. Great charity set up by 2 young Brisbane lads.

          And contrary to what you might think the main focus of the service was, and I assume still is, not the washing and drying of clothes and showers for homeless people but to sit down and have a chat with them while their clothes were being laundered - to provide a support and friendship espcially in the early hours of the morning after many of them had been sleeping rough. The one thing I found most of them were after, especially in winter, was good warm socks and decent shoes. So one week I made up a flyer and letter boxed a lot of homes in my area, telling them all what I did and asking them to set aside decenrt (not rubbish - these people have pride too) socks and shoes that I could have on hand when I worked at the various shelters we serviced. I was humbled by what I got when I went to collect - so many people had gone on a special shopping trip to buy NEW socks for us that I literally had over a hundred pairs of brand new good quality socks and a few dozen near new and barely used sneakers, boots etc, to hand out.

          Orange Sky Laundry (the name came from the Alexi Murdoch song btw - check out the lyrics to understand why) had no shortage of sponsors from major corporations who provided the vans and fitted them out with top end high capacity washers and dryers plus more donations of pegs, toothbrush/paste kits and laundry powder than we knew what to do with. I assume that's still the case.

          A great charity that now has operations in all states and territories and NZ.

          They don't get my vote because I reckon they've now got a very high profile and have strong enough corporate support compared to many of the others on that list, including one which I'm heavily involved with now in the Indigenous area, but don't let that stop anyone here giving them their vote - they are a great organisation with no shortage of volunteers willing to give up many hours in the darkness of early morning and night as well as lunch times.

          So please, I urge everyone to consider volunteering for Orange Sky Lundry if you have the time. Especially those who have empathy and some life experience . When I was volunteering there were a heck of a lot of uni students and young professionals willing to get involved, but not so many people in older age brackets, Given the rapidly expanding homeless population due to the housing affordability crisis I reckon it's good to have a mix of volunteers of all ages who are able to connect.

          And a special thanks to the OzBargain for organising this wonderful community focussed donation work.

  • +1
    Suggested The Tukka Project

    Great initiative, my vote is for https://www.thetukkaproject.org/donate if it gets approved.
    A charity that works with high school children to teach them how to prepare meals for primary school children that would otherwise go without.

  • +$10

  • +10

    There is a charity I would like a donation made to, but I can't remember it.

    Oh now I remember it's Australian Dementia Network

    /$

  • +1

    $10. Thanks scotty

  • +1

    $10 👍

    Thanks Scotty

  • +1

    +$10. Thanks!

  • +1

    Another $10 donation comment., Thanks

  • +2

    If I have to make a valuable comment on OzB, this one will do!

  • +2

    Domestic violence is important issue that effects far too many people.

    • +1

      Just wondering why my option is still waiting for the moderators? Do I need to do something else?

      • FYI it was rejected due to the first clause:

        It must be a registered charity eligible for DGR (deductible gift recipient). That would make NPOs like Wikipedia & some international charities ineligible.

        Your suggestion was a nonprofit organisation (NPO) from the US (Denver).

    • -6

      Negs shouldn’t be anonymous. We should all know who is pro domestic violence.

      • +2

        Yeah not sure why you got downvoted but maybe it’s because your comment doesn’t have a suggestion attached.

        So it’s just a generic statement that DV is bad, might as well say water is wet.

  • Nice work.

  • This is a great initiative. Have voted and wishing everyone all the best.

  • Great stuff i hope the red cross gets a few $ they have helped a few people i know that were homeless

  • +3
    Suggested Worthy Australia

    Worthy supports families leaving Domestic Violence Refuges by furnishing homes for them so they can start their lives afresh. From fridges to beds to toys for the children, it's all provided. Families fleeing DV leave mostly with just the clothes on their backs, and starting over is very traumatic. Worthy takes the stress and worry away. Worthy.org.au for more info.

  • +2

    My vote is for the Smith Family. Saw excellent support for disadvantaged students at schools I was involved with.

  • +$10
    Happy Holidays

  • -4

    Kitten Rescue Australia was founded by Mona, an independent rescuer and passionate advocate for animal justice. She is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming abandoned, abused, and injured cats and kittens, providing them with medical care, shelter, and nourishment. They also advocates for animal welfare reforms, including stricter cruelty laws and initiatives like nationwide pet medicare, free desexing, and vaccination programs, to foster a more compassionate society.

    • +23

      Pet medicare? You have got to be joking! Yeah, vets cost a fortune but that is part of the responsibility of pet ownership. I don't want to see my tax dollars going to fund someone else's weird obsession with selectively bred animals with inherent health conditions.

      • +2

        I’ve seen my tax dollars spent on worse. (Lazy inefficient Government employees)

        • Pet owners should be licensed. Not pets. And you should provide evidence you can care PROPERLY for the pet for it's life.

    • Im hoping this charity wont be required in the coming decades but only becaise i wish people were better educated regarding the damage cats cause the environment and will choose another animal as a pet.

  • Good initiative. $10.

  • Merry Christmas. Thanks OzBargain

    • +1

      https://youthoffthestreets.com.au/

      Youth Off The Streets is a not-for-profit youth organisation. We work with young people, their families and communities to create safety, offer support and provide opportunities to build a positive future.

      Since being founded by Father Chris Riley, we have grown over the past 30 years to deliver a range of wraparound supports for young people. These include crisis accommodation and housing services, independent high schools, alcohol and other drugs counselling, youth justice support, life skills and employment programs, cultural support and community engagement, among other services.

  • +1

    Scotty and team - thanks for being so generous. You are awesome

  • Feed the people! Thanks Scotty

  • Suggested Cure EB

    Cure EB
    Helping find a cure for this skin disease
    https://cureeb.org.au/

  • +3

    Flying Doctors, because without them, there is no chance for A&E outside capital cities.

    • Agree. Very worthwhile cause.

      • +1 RFDS

    • +1

      I voted for RFDS too, though would have nominated Care Flight - there are a few charities doing great work in remote care.

    • Yep. My vote too. Though it's sad that in a wealthy country that it can't be entirely funded by government via taxes on mining companies.

  • +2

    Great work as always Scotty, happy holidays!

    • …why was I negged?

  • Love that you do this every year!

  • +2
    Suggested Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Australia

    Helping to improve the lives of those affected by type 1 diabetes.

    https://jdrf.org.au/about-us/

  • comment for extra $10

  • Nice one team

  • Great Work!

  • Thanks Scotty

  • Amazing Oz bargain!

  • Great initiative as usual 😊

  • +2

    So many charities that do great work, hard to vote for just one.

  • +$10 - thanks Scotty!

  • +$10

  • Always appreciate this. Nice work.

  • great work!

  • Thanks scotty and OzBargain :)

  • Good on you guys! made my vote

  • Wonderful initiative! +$10

  • +$10

  • +$10 :)

  • Thanks!

  • +1
    Suggested Friends with Dignity

    +$10.00 :D
    Suggestion - Friends with Dignity, a charity which supports victim-survivors of domestic & family violence

  • Nice :)

  • $10 for Gryffindor

  • Cheers

  • Thanks Scotty as always!

  • Awesome work Scotty! +$10.

  • Wonderful initiative!

  • +10

  • Great job as always Scotty!

  • Merry Christmas and a happy new year

  • +$10

  • Giving back is the way!

  • $10!

  • $10 👍

  • Farts

  • Great work as always! +1 vote for the RFDS

  • thanks

  • Good deal!

  • Suggested Foodbank NSW&ACT

    Foodbank NSW&ACT
    Helps charities, schools and individuals provide access to good quality food for those in the NSW&ACT community no matter their situation.
    https://www.foodbank.org.au/homepage/who-we-help/?state=nsw-…

    • I can't imagine not knowing where my next meal was coming from.

  • Comment!

  • So many great charities listed. Dementia has affected my family the most this year.

  • anything that helps animals and isnt corrupt pos taking all the money for themselves

  • Great work 👍

  • Thanks Scotty

  • Thanks ozbargain

  • +$10

  • Here to add $10

    • $ 1 0 .
  • +$10. Thanks OzBargain

  • 👍💸

  • Thanks Scotty

  • Keep on giving

  • Suggested Assistance Dogs Australia

    Great initiative! Suggestion:
    My partner and I volunteer for Assistance Dogs Australia - a lovely charity that places highly trained, accredited Assistance Dogs with people with physical disabilities, PTSD, and autism at no cost to them.
    https://www.assistancedogs.org.au/

  • $10.00!

  • +1

    Thanks for your hard work Scotty. This plus the $47k spent on the meetups shows how much you care about the community.

  • $10.00.

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