Choosing a charity? Go local!

News Updates

If you’re a contemporary business and reading this, you are most likely becoming increasingly aware of your corporate social responsibility. If so, good for you! You’ve reached a point in your business journey which has allowed you to actively consider how your brand can positively influence others – outside of day-to-day business operations. So, congratulations, you’re off to a good start.

The biggest challenge you’ll now face is identifying who you and your company wish to support. If you have already began searching around, you’ll realise just how many charities there are – locally, nationally, and internationally.

In Australia alone, there are over 54,000 registered charities (and growing). How do you refine that number to just one?

The great thing about donating to a charity is that there is no ‘wrong’ choice. All serve good causes across a huge scope of vital initiatives.


Thinking locally can be a great way to narrow your focus. Here’s why:

  1. Community – Why not put your hard-earned dollars back into your own community? Injecting funds locally allows you to witness first-hand the positive change your donation makes. There’s nothing wrong with making a charitable decision based on personal ties and feeling good about giving back to the place you love and do business.
  2. Company Visibility – Donating locally builds trust and positive relationships between your business and the people within its reach. While the primary purpose of donating is to improve the lives of others, developing a strong corporate social responsibility strategy and improving your brands public image is a sound business decision.
  3. Survival – Many local charities (including Cottage by the Sea) rely entirely on individual and corporate donations as they are not government funded organisations. Non-government and not-for profit means that without donations, local charities simply could not provide the important services and support that they do.
  4. Percentages – Local charity organisations can tell you where your donation is going. Smaller charities can funnel the funds directly back into the immediate cause and avoid the bureaucracy of bigger charities which are likely to disperse your donations to cover admin costs, marketing fees and other non-charitable costs.
  5. Value – As a corporate sponsor, smaller local charities value your donations and actively advertise your partnership through media outlets and online channels. This helps the charity with future sponsorships and awareness, while assisting your business fulfil its corporate social responsibility and improve local awareness.
  6. Tax deductible – Any donations over $2.00 AUD are tax deductible, which makes supporting a local charity viable to all businesses, large and small.
  7. Not just financial – There are more ways to help local charities than pure financial aid. Check out our wish list to see how else you can support our cause.

The first steps –

You may have prior experience with charitable business donations or a complete newbie to the whole process. Whatever your situation is, supporting Cottage by the Sea is easy! You can make a single or monthly donation online or via telephone, or send a cheque made out to Cottage by the Sea to 29 Flinders Street Queenscliff, Vic. 3225.

For further information, get in contact with us today.

Would you like to help?

Last year, more than 1,400 children were inspired, had fun and accessed new opportunities through our children’s programs. As Cottage by the Sea programs receive no government funding, we rely on the generosity of corporate sponsors, individual donations and contributions.

If you would like to make a financial donation, please click here or call us on
03 5258 1663