Australia's giving peak is 30 June, not December. If your charity is DGR-endorsed, donors can claim gifts of $2 or more as a tax deduction, and the receipt has to be right or they can't.
- Confirm your DGR endorsement is current before you send a single appeal email. ACNC registration and DGR endorsement are two separate things.
- Get the appeal out with enough runway that gifts settle before 30 June. Many donors act in the final days, so plan for a late-June push.
- Receipts must include your charity name, ABN, a DGR statement, the donation amount, and the date. Missing any one of those fields blocks the donor's deduction claim.
- Raffle tickets, gala dinner tickets where a meal is included, and auction purchases are not tax-deductible, even if the buyer thinks they are. Say so plainly in your appeal.
- If you're not DGR-endorsed, be honest with donors rather than going quiet. Look at whether a DGR umbrella structure fits your organisation's category.
In this article:
What EOFY fundraising actually is (and why 30 June matters)
EOFY stands for End of Financial Year. Australia's financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June, so 30 June is the hard deadline by which donors must make a gift if they want to claim it as a tax deduction in that year's return.
From July onwards, donors lodge their income tax returns with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and claim any deductions for qualifying donations made during the year. A donation made on 1 July sits in the next financial year entirely. That deadline creates a real, behaviour-driven giving moment: donors who have been meaning to give all year act, donors who want to reduce their taxable income act, and charities that plan well capture both groups.
For small and mid-sized not-for-profits (NFPs) in Australia, this is rarely just another appeal. Grants are competitive and slow to land; many small charities apply for a dozen or more and hear nothing positive for years. The individual-donor EOFY appeal often carries a disproportionate share of the annual budget as a result. Getting it right matters more than it might appear from the outside.
The lead-up to 30 June is also when donors at larger organisations receive employer-matched giving prompts and when major charities run their biggest campaigns. The competition for attention is real, which is why planning early and being specific about your cause and your receipting process makes a material difference.
Check your DGR status before you launch the appeal
Before you write a single appeal email, confirm whether your organisation is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR). This is the single most important check in your EOFY preparation.
A donation is only tax-deductible if it goes to a DGR-endorsed organisation. The ATO endorses DGRs under 52 categories set out in Division 30 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997. The ACNC registers charities separately. These are two different processes with two different regulators. Being registered with the ACNC does not automatically mean your donors can claim a deduction.
Roughly 41.5% of ACNC-registered charities hold DGR endorsement, per ACNC data. That means the majority of registered charities in Australia cannot truthfully promise donors a tax deduction.
Donors can verify your DGR status themselves using ABN Lookup. Many will check before they give, especially on larger gifts. If your DGR entry is missing, expired, or shows the wrong category, fix it with the ATO before the campaign launches.
If your organisation is not DGR-endorsed, be straightforward with donors: their gift still matters, it is simply not deductible. For sports clubs, the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) operates as a DGR umbrella for the sports sector. Other umbrella structures exist for specific categories. A community legal centre or Justice Connect's Not-for-profit Law service can help you understand which DGR category, if any, applies to your work.
If you are not yet ACNC-registered as a charity, the path to DGR endorsement starts with registration. A guide to starting a charity in Australia covers the steps involved.
NSW compliance note (1 April 2026 update): From 1 April 2026, ACNC-registered charities are automatically deemed to hold a NSW fundraising authority, removing the need for a separate application to NSW Fair Trading. Other states and territories are at different stages of adopting the 16 National Fundraising Principles harmonisation framework. Check the rules for each state or territory where your supporters are based.
Plan your EOFY campaign timeline (May kickoff, June push, July receipting)
A well-run EOFY appeal is not a single email on 28 June. It is a four-to-six week sequence with enough runway for donors to think, decide, and act before the deadline. Here is a practical structure for a small AU charity:
Early to mid May: Build your donor list, set your fundraising target, confirm your DGR status, and test that your donation form issues receipts automatically with all required fields. Fix any technical gaps now, not on 29 June.
Late May: Launch your appeal with a direct, specific ask. Name your target, name the cause your funds support, and state clearly that donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible (if you are DGR-endorsed). A personal email from a board member or lead volunteer outperforms a generic newsletter blast.
Early June: Follow up with donors who opened but didn't give. Share a brief impact update. If you are running an EOFY event (trivia night, gala dinner), this is the window to promote it and note which components of the cost are and aren't deductible.
20 to 27 June: The high-intent window. Many donors act in the final week. Send a direct, deadline-framed appeal: "30 June is the last day to make a tax-deductible gift for the 2025-26 financial year." Keep it short, personal, and specific.
28 to 30 June: Final push. Social posts, a short video from someone in your team, a thank-you-in-advance message to lapsed donors. Monitor your donation form for any issues.
1 to 31 July: Receipting and thank-yous. Ensure every donor has their receipt. Plan for donors who gave multiple times across the year and want a consolidated statement (more on that in the post-30 June section below).
Write an EOFY appeal that names the tax-deductible line
The single most effective change most small AU charities can make to their EOFY appeal copy is also the simplest: name the tax-deductible line directly and early.
AU donors, especially those making larger gifts, are motivated by the deductibility. They are not just being generous; they are making a financial decision before their tax year closes. Your appeal copy should honour that by making the deductibility clear from the first paragraph, not buried in a footer.
The canonical line, used by Australian Red Cross, Cancer Council, Fred Hollows Foundation, and virtually every major AU charity, is: "Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible."
Use that line verbatim or as close to it as possible. Do not invent a variation like "a portion of your donation may be deductible" or "your gift could be tax-deductible." If you are DGR-endorsed, say it plainly. If you are not, do not say it at all.
Beyond the deductibility line, EOFY appeal copy works best when it is specific. Instead of "help us support vulnerable people," write "your gift today funds [specific program or outcome] before 30 June." The deadline is a genuine call to action, not artificial urgency. Use it.
Keep sentences short. AU donors respond better to direct, warm copy than to US-style emotional ramp-ups. One idea per sentence, 15 to 20 words on average.
Set up tax-deductible receipts that meet ATO requirements
A receipt that does not contain the right fields cannot support a donor's deduction claim. The ATO requires that a valid receipt for a tax-deductible gift includes:
- The charity's full legal name
- A statement that the organisation is DGR-endorsed (for example: "Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible")
That's it. There is no specific format required. Email receipts are fine. The donor keeps the receipt and uses it when lodging their return.
For a deeper breakdown of receipt formats, what triggers a receipt, and how to handle edge cases, the ATO not-for-profit hub is the primary source. The ACNC DGR fact sheet is also worth bookmarking. For a detailed guide on the receipting mechanics, a guide to tax-deductible receipts in Australia covers the field.
What is not tax-deductible (and trips up EOFY appeals every year):
- Raffle tickets (a purchase, not a gift)
- Gala dinner or event tickets where the donor receives a meal, entertainment, or any other benefit
- Silent or live auction purchases
- The value of a volunteer's time or skills
- Donations to organisations that are not DGR-endorsed, even if they are ACNC-registered charities
This catches charities out regularly. A donor who paid $150 for a gala dinner ticket cannot claim the full $150 as a tax deduction. If part of the ticket price is a genuine donation and part covers the cost of the event, the charity needs to document and communicate the split. Consult Justice Connect's Not-for-profit Law resources if you are unsure how to handle mixed-purpose events.
Pick the right EOFY channels for a small AU charity
You do not need a sophisticated multi-channel campaign to run an effective EOFY appeal. Small charities with limited capacity should focus on the channels where their existing donors already are, then add one new channel if bandwidth allows.
Email is the highest-return channel for an established donor base. Personal, specific, and direct. A series of three to four emails across the campaign window (launch, mid-campaign update, final push, thank-you) typically outperforms a single blast. Email marketing for not-for-profits covers the mechanics.
Social media extends reach to supporters who have not yet donated. Keep posts concrete: name the target, name the deadline, include a direct link to your donation page. Video content from someone in your team, even short and unpolished, outperforms static graphics on most platforms. For more on social media for not-for-profits, there are practical guides available.
Peer-to-peer (P2P): If you have passionate supporters willing to fundraise on your behalf, a P2P campaign sitting inside your EOFY appeal can significantly extend reach. Supporters set up their own pages, share with their networks, and bring in new donors who would not otherwise have heard of you. Peer-to-peer fundraising is a dedicated channel worth understanding.
Regular giving: EOFY is a strong moment to convert one-time donors to regular givers. A monthly gift of $25 is manageable for many donors and gives your charity predictable income. Frame it as a commitment to your ongoing work, not just a tax deadline play.
In-person events: Trivia nights, gala dinners, community fetes, and other events can amplify your EOFY appeal, but come with compliance considerations. See the next section.
Run an EOFY event without tripping the GST or gaming rules
Events can be a powerful part of an EOFY campaign. They create a deadline, build community, and give donors a reason to act. But they come with compliance considerations specific to Australia that trip up small charities regularly.
GST on event tickets
If your organisation is registered for GST, event tickets are generally a taxable supply. You must issue a GST tax invoice showing the ticket price and the 10% GST component separately. A regular charity receipt is not a GST tax invoice, and mixing the two causes problems for attendees who are businesses claiming input tax credits.
Straight donations, where the donor receives no benefit in return, are not consideration for GST and are handled through your normal donation receipting process. The distinction matters for how you structure event registrations versus accompanying donation asks.
Zeffy does not currently issue GST tax invoices on event tickets. For GST-registered charities running ticketed events, discuss the invoicing requirement with your accountant before choosing your ticketing platform. The donation component of your EOFY appeal is unaffected.
Raffles and gaming regulation
Raffles and lotteries are regulated as minor or community gaming at the state and territory level, not federally, and the rules differ significantly across jurisdictions:
- Victoria: A Minor Gaming Permit is required if the total prize value exceeds $20,000. The VGCCC is the regulator. Cash prizes are prohibited except in limited circumstances.
- Queensland: Large raffles are regulated as 'art unions' under the Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act 1999. The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) oversees these. See ACNC's QLD fundraising guide for the cross-border recognition context.
- NSW: Raffles fall under the Community Gaming Act 2018. NSW Fair Trading is the regulator.
- All other states and territories have their own frameworks.
Raffle ticket sales are never tax-deductible, in any state. Donors who buy raffle tickets during your EOFY appeal cannot claim those purchases as a donation.
Auctions are a different surface and a normal part of AU charity gala events. Note that auction purchases are not tax-deductible either, since the buyer receives a benefit.
Handle the post-30 June admin (receipting, thank-yous, reporting)
Once 30 June passes, the EOFY appeal is not quite over. The weeks from 1 July to the end of the month are when receipting, thanking, and reporting take up the time you freed up by planning the campaign properly.
Receipts: Every donor who gave during the EOFY appeal should receive their receipt promptly, ideally on the same day as the gift. If your donation platform issues receipts automatically, check that the emails are not landing in spam and that the required fields are correct. A receipt that arrives in August is not a compliance failure, but it does erode donor trust.
Consolidated statements: Many donors, particularly regular givers and those who gave multiple times during the year, will ask for a single statement covering all their gifts for the 2025-26 financial year. This is a real expectation from AU donors and worth planning for. The ATO does not mandate a specific format for consolidated statements, but producing one per donor request is good practice. Set the expectation in your post-30 June thank-you that statements are available on request if you cannot send them automatically.
Note: Zeffy does not currently issue consolidated annual giving statements. If your donor base includes regular givers with multiple transactions across the year, plan a manual or semi-manual process for producing these on request.
Thank-yous: A personal thank-you email or letter sent within 48 hours of the gift closes the loop and sets the tone for the next appeal. Make it specific: name the amount, name what it will fund. Donors who feel genuinely thanked give again. For guidance on thank-you letters for donations, there are practical templates available.
Donor data handling: Under the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles, NFPs with annual turnover above $3 million are bound by the mandatory data-breach notification scheme. Smaller organisations can opt in. Post-EOFY is a good moment to review what donor data you collected, confirm it is stored securely, and delete anything you no longer need. Data sovereignty is a genuine concern for AU donors; AU-native platforms often lead with 'data stored in Australia' as a trust signal. Handle donor data with care regardless of your size.
Reporting: EOFY results are worth capturing formally, even for a small charity. What did you raise versus target? Which channels performed? Which donor segment responded best? This informs next year's appeal and gives your board or committee useful data.
EOFY is also a natural moment to think about longer-horizon giving. Gifts in wills (bequests) are a growing source of income for AU charities and align well with the tax-planning mindset that EOFY activates. A brief mention in your post-30 June communications of how supporters can include your cause in their plans can plant a seed. A guide to gifts in wills in Australia covers the topic in more depth.
Common EOFY mistakes AU charities make
Most EOFY appeal failures come back to a small number of avoidable errors. Here are the ones that show up most often.
Promising a deduction you can't deliver. If your organisation is not DGR-endorsed, or if the specific product being sold (gala ticket, raffle entry, auction item) is not a qualifying gift, saying "your donation is tax-deductible" is incorrect. Donors who rely on that claim and are then rejected by the ATO will not give again. Check before you write it.
Launching too late. An appeal that goes out on 25 June gives donors almost no time to think, arrange a larger transfer, or set up a regular gift. A 28 to 30 June launch typically captures only impulsive donors, not planned ones. Start in May.
Using a receipt template with missing fields. The most common gap is omitting the DGR statement from the receipt email. Without the phrase "Donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible" (or equivalent DGR confirmation), the receipt does not support a deduction claim, even if everything else is correct. Check your receipt template against the ATO fields before launching.
Treating ACNC registration as DGR endorsement. This is the most consequential mistake on this list. They are separate. Check your DGR status on ABN Lookup before every appeal season.
Over-promising on consolidated statements. Donors who gave multiple times during the year often expect one clean statement in July. If your platform does not produce these automatically, and many do not, have a plan before the requests arrive.
Conflating a trivia night ticket with a tax-deductible gift. Event ticket purchasers receive a benefit (entertainment, a meal). That benefit means the ticket is not a qualifying gift. If part of the ticket price is a genuine donation, document and state the split clearly.
Free tools to run your EOFY appeal
Running an EOFY appeal does not require five separate platforms. Zeffy is a free fundraising platform for not-for-profits that consolidates donations, ticketing, peer-to-peer, auctions, memberships, and donor management in one place, with no platform fee, no transaction fee, and no credit card fee.
On DGR receipting: automated DGR tax receipts are a real Zeffy capability in Australia and were a top reason AU operators chose the platform. Receipts include the required fields (charity name, ABN, DGR statement, amount, date) and issue automatically at the point of donation, which removes the manual receipting burden that EOFY creates for understaffed teams.
On ticketing: if your organisation is GST-registered, confirm your invoicing requirements with your accountant before using any ticketing tool for an EOFY event. The GST caveat applies across platforms, not just Zeffy.
On data sovereignty: AU-native competitors including GiveNow and TryBooking lead with 'data stored in Australia' as a trust signal. Zeffy is a Canadian-founded platform, not Australian-owned. We mention this honestly rather than hiding it. AU adopters have noted that the Canada-Australia relationship is a positive association (mirrored legal and cultural systems), and the platform's free model and DGR receipting capability have been the deciding factors in practice. Review your organisation's data obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 and make the choice that fits your needs.
On cost: Zeffy's free model is unconditional. There is no platform fee regardless of how much you raise. The free fundraising platform page explains how the model works.
For charities that want to diversify their income beyond the EOFY appeal, fundraising ideas for not-for-profits and community fundraising ideas are worth exploring. And for teams thinking about grants for not-for-profits in Australia, an honest look at what makes grants work (and why they often don't for small orgs) is a useful companion to the EOFY individual-donor focus.
Frequently asked questions
Is my donation tax-deductible?
donation is tax-deductible if it meets three conditions: it is a genuine gift (no benefit received in return), it is $2 or more, and it goes to a DGR-endorsed organisation. You can check whether an organisation is DGR-endorsed using ABN Lookup. If all three conditions are met, you claim the deduction on your personal income tax return after 30 June.
What is the $2 rule?
The ATO sets the minimum qualifying gift for a tax deduction at $2. Donations below $2 do not qualify, though most donors give well above this threshold. The $2 minimum is set by Division 30 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and applies to all 52 DGR categories. Your receipt must confirm that donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible to support the claim.
Can donors claim raffle tickets or gala dinner tickets as a tax deduction?
No. Raffle tickets and event tickets where the buyer receives something in return (a meal, entertainment, entry to a draw) are purchases, not qualifying gifts. They are not tax-deductible regardless of the charity's DGR status. If a gala ticket includes a split between a genuine donation and an event cost, the charity must document and communicate that split, and only the genuine donation component qualifies.
When must a charity issue the receipt?
There is no strict statutory deadline for issuing a receipt, but practical best practice is same-day or next-day. Donors lodging their tax return from July onwards need their receipts to hand. The ATO requires that receipts contain the required fields (charity name, ABN, DGR statement, amount, date). A receipt issued in August is not a compliance failure but may frustrate donors who are trying to lodge early.
What if my charity is not DGR-endorsed?
Be straightforward with donors: their gift still supports your work, it simply cannot be claimed as a tax deduction. Going quiet on DGR status erodes trust when donors find out. Check whether a DGR umbrella structure fits your category (the Australian Sports Foundation covers sports clubs; other umbrella structures exist for specific purposes). Justice Connect's Not-for-profit Law offers free guidance on DGR pathways.
Does an EOFY appeal work if we're not a registered charity?
You can run a fundraising appeal if you are an unincorporated community group, a club, or an association, subject to your state's fundraising authority rules. However, you cannot promise tax-deductible receipts unless you hold DGR endorsement, which requires ACNC registration as a charity first. If your organisation is not yet registered, a guide to starting a charity in Australia outlines the registration pathway.
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