The average Australian donates about $200 a year to charity. People in New South Wales are the most generous, women are more likely to donate than men and 10 per cent admit to never donating at all. These are just some of the key findings of new research on Australian’s relationships with charities.

The nationwide study, conducted by independent research consultancy Decibel Research on behalf of Canon Australia, found that those aged 18-64 donate to worthy causes on average about once every two months. However, half of us admit we could dig deeper if more options were available.

The number of Australians who admit to never donating was surprisingly high. One possible reason is that a third lack confidence that their donations are being used to full effect, while more than half feel they’re not well informed on how their contributions make a difference.

Charity seems to begin at home, with more than 90 per cent of Australians saying they would rather donate to local charities than those overseas. Charity also impacts consumer loyalty as 68 per cent of Australians said they would be more inclined to buy products if a percentage of the price was donated to charity.

In light of this, Canon Australia launched ‘Donate or Keep?’ a new campaign in partnership with local charities Cancer Council Australia, Australian Red Cross and Starlight Children’s Foundation. For the months of May-July, Canon will give consumers a chance to earn cash back, with a unique twist. Customers can choose to either donate their cash or keep it.

“The Starlight Children’s Foundation is thrilled to be involved in Canon’s ‘Donate or Keep?’ campaign,” said Holly Roberts, State Partnership Manager at Starlight Children’s Foundation.