JOY BLOG

It’s the rainbow’s favourite day of the year! GiveOUT Day, Thursday 26 October, is Australia’s annual day of giving to LGBTQIA+ charities, not-for-profits and community projects: a day of raising funds, raising awareness, and celebrating how far this country has come. Since GiveOUT Day began four years ago, more than $1 million have been raised for vital services, and organisers expect this year, its fifth, to be the biggest yet.

What is it?

GiveOUT Day is no ordinary fundraising day. It’s an opportunity for the public to give back and to double their impact. Every donation made to participating organisations through GiveOUT Day is matched dollar-for-dollar* by GiveOUT; match-funding magic that’s possible thanks to the support of heavy-weight philanthropic supporters such as Sidney Myer Fund, Fay Fuller Foundation, Slingsby Foundation, Reichstein Foundation, Tripple and The Wyatt Trust. Last year over $300,000 was raised for more than 80 not-for-profit organisations.

*T&C’s apply. See the GiveOUT Day website for details.

Who gets funded?

There are GiveOUT Day projects providing vital services to every location and intersection within LGBTQIA+ communities. Via  giveoutday.org.au public donors can select a cause closest to their heart and then see their donation doubled. Participants include health service providers, trans support groups, First Nations-led organisations, decarceration projects, suicide prevention services and support for vulnerable youth, to name just a handful. The majority of these organisations are volunteer-led, and operate on less than $10,000/year.

“I think the beautiful thing is that when you do start scrolling [through the GiveOUT Day website] and you don’t really know what you’re looking for, you’ll come across some organisations perhaps that you haven’t heard of before that really resonate with you.”
– Louis Hanson, GiveOUT Day Ambassador, on JOY Breakfast

Why is it necessary?

Australia has made leaps and bounds towards equality in the nearly six years since we decided that the right to marry would not be determined by sex or gender. But equality is not a reality experienced by all rainbow folk. Due to ongoing stigma and discrimination LGBTQIA+ communities in Australia still experience disproportionate rates of homelessness and suicide. And despite at least 11% of Australians identifying as LGBTQIA+ the sector is acutely underfunded: just 5 cents in every 100 philanthropic dollars reaches LGBTQIA+ organisations (per rainbowresources.org.au). Community organisations are the ones who are best placed to serve the needs of their own communities but lean operating environments mean these organisations don’t have resources dedicated to public fundraising nor the leverage to access funds from big philanthropy.

“The 80+ organisations participating in GiveOUT Day work tirelessly to improve health and economic outcomes for rainbow communities. These frontline organisations know their communities best and know exactly where to use funds for the greatest impact; but they are critically under-funded. If every LGBTQIA+ ally in Australia donated $30 this GiveOUT Day, our sector would have the resources to effectively stamp out the inequality caused by stigma and discrimination.”
– Emily Scott, GiveOUT CEO

How can you get involved?

To donate, head to the GiveOUT Day website and check out the full list of organisations.