Christmas is a season of connection, kindness, and generosity. While many gifts are unwrapped and forgotten, charitable Christmas gifts have the power to last a lifetime. Instead of another candle or pair of socks, you can give a present that brings real change (whether it’s supporting women and girls, funding essential services, or helping communities thrive).
At CARE Australia, we believe the most meaningful Christmas giving is about empowering women and their communities. Through ethical Christmas gifts, your generosity can help provide food, water, education, healthcare, and improve livelihoods.
Donate now and give a Christmas gift that truly makes a difference.
To help you share the joy, we’ve thought of a few simple ways you can give the gift of giving this Christmas.
Why Charitable Gifts Make the Perfect Christmas Gift
Each December, billions of dollars are spent on gifts that get discarded. Candles burn down, gadgets collect dust, and novelty items are stuffed in drawers. While gifts can be great, they often have short-lived impact.
Gifts that make a difference are another story. When you give through CARE Australia, your gift does more than just celebrate the season, it helps create opportunities for women, girls and communities to improve their lives. The emotional impact of a gift donation can be profound. Loved ones feel proud knowing a gift was given in their name, and those who need it most feel the support.
One additional bonus? Gifts that are charitable can be a financially savvy option. If you’re looking for the best charity to donate to for tax purposes, gifts made through registered organisations (like us!) may be tax-deductible, meaning you get to help others while making the most of your giving.
Types of Charitable Christmas Gifts You Can Give
No matter your style of giving (small or large, personal or shared), there’s a charitable Christmas gift that can make a real difference.
One-off Donations
If you’re looking for a simple way to make a real difference this Christmas, a one-off donation to our Global Emergency Fund is a powerful choice. Your gift helps people in urgent need all over the world, whether it’s responding to sudden disasters or supporting communities through ongoing crises.
CARE has been responding to emergencies since 1945. When disaster strikes, we’re often the first on the ground and the last to leave. With emergency-response experts in over 60 countries, in a crisis we provide essential support including food, relief supplies, clean water, sanitation, shelter, healthcare, and livelihoods assistance. And after the immediate needs are met, we stay to help communities rebuild their lives.
Regular Giving
Monthly giving is a long-term commitment. But it’s also a membership to something bigger. It’s for the people who get fired up by the thought of making a difference, the people who want to show up not only for the world’s emergencies but for the complex challenges that prevent people from living healthy and productive lives.
Monthly givers are the people who care enough to be there for others on a regular basis. They are people who know that, with the right help, everyone can live in a world with healthcare, education, and opportunity.
When you make monthly charitable donations, you’ll be a member of the people who care and give. You’ll have the opportunity to provide predictable support to families and communities around the world.
You’ll know that, every month, your support is helping CARE to address the world’s health challenges, bring essential services, and empower people to help themselves. By committing to this ongoing support, you turn your compassion into action, and your Christmas generosity becomes a gift that truly keeps on giving.
Gifts in Wills
This Christmas, you could start by thinking about a gift to help others long after the presents have been unwrapped under the tree. A gift in your will is a great way to ensure your legacy of generosity continues to make a difference for many years after you’ve hung up your Christmas tree for the last time. When you leave a donation in your will, you’re joining the many people who have decided to support communities, families and individuals for years to come.
Your gift could support CARE in helping women and girls to build education and work opportunities, giving them the power to lead the recovery and rebuilding of their communities. In this way, your Christmas kindness can have an impact that lasts long after the decorations have been taken down, helping people to create stronger, more resilient futures.
Corporate Giving
Corporate Christmas giving is a chance for your business to come together and spread holiday cheer through meaningful impact. And it can be more than just a corporate donation, it’s a chance to foster a culture of care in your office. One where your employees feel proud that their giving is making a real difference in the lives of others.
Workplace giving, matched donations and corporate partnerships can help your business to strengthen women and girls around the world, as they work to rebuild education and work opportunities in their own communities. Every dollar donated, big or small, can be part of the global movement for change.
Corporate giving is also a fantastic way for businesses to step up their corporate social responsibility game. CSR is all about giving your clients, partners and employees the confidence that your business cares about the world around it.
So when your business is giving through its CSR strategy, it can help to strengthen teams, increase employee engagement, align your business with meaningful causes and spread generosity this Christmas.
CAREgifts
If you want a Christmas gift that’s both tangible and meaningful, CAREgifts are the perfect choice. When you buy symbolic items (like chickens, school supplies, or other essentials) you’re directly supporting real projects that change lives. From providing food and water to helping communities access education and healthcare, every gift makes a practical difference for people who need it most.
CAREgifts are fun to give on behalf of loved ones, too. Instead of another standard present, you can show someone you care while spreading generosity where it counts. Each gift comes with a card, letting your friends and family know the impact you’ve made together.
Where the Money Goes
Knowing where your money is going is important, and at CARE Australia we understand how important that trust is. Every donation funds programmes that have been thoughtfully created to help empower women and girls, build strong communities and tackle the issues they face today (and tomorrow). Your giving creates trust, accountability, and measurable change in the world.
Changing the world also means facing the climate emergency head-on. Your support helps us bring in drought-resistant seeds, climate-smart livestock, and water conservation techniques. We’re also able to help fund community-led early warning systems, as well as boost governments’ ability to predict disasters and strengthen their climate policies. By supporting these programmes, your generosity helps communities build their ability to handle climate shocks and to make a sustainable living for themselves in the future.
In addition to what we do, where we do it is just as important. CARE International seeks to work with women and girls where the impacts of poverty and injustice are greatest, and where they can be changed for the better. As CARE Australia, we have a unique proximity to the South-East Asia and Pacific region where we’ve built deep and long-term relationships with our partners.
We operate based on a principle of being “as local as possible, and as international as necessary”. That means supporting local leadership and decision-making, while also providing support, resources, and expertise when it has value to add. Through this approach, your donations help fund a global network of local partners to keep communities safe, thriving, and resilient.
Other Ways to Support
Supporting doesn’t always mean financial. Your time, your voice, and your creativity are just as powerful a force for change. Volunteering your skills strengthens our programs and helps build resilience where it’s needed most. Advocacy ensures women’s and girls’ voices are heard by those who can create lasting change. And fundraising (whether it’s a community event, a workplace initiative, or even a personal challenge like a 5K run) can help to multiply the impact of your donation.
Every action, big or small, is a critical part of a larger solution. When we stand together, we create a ripple effect that empowers women, strengthens communities, and builds a fairer, more sustainable future for all.
Transform Lives with Your Christmas Giving
Christmas is often about giving things. But the generosity of strangers can give something far greater – dignity, security, and the chance for women and families to shape their own futures.
This Christmas, let your generosity be more than a gesture. Let it be a turning point.
Give a gift that changes lives with CARE Australia. To find out how you can make an impact, contact us today.
FAQs
What is a charitable Christmas gift?
A charitable Christmas gift is a thoughtful alternative to a traditional gift. Rather than buying something material, you purchase a donation in the name of a friend or family member. Your gift will provide life-changing assistance to women, families and communities in need through CARE Australia’s vital programs, providing food, water, education and livelihoods.
How do CAREgifts work?
With CAREgifts you can choose a symbolic gift (such as school supplies, chickens or clean water) in the name of a friend, family member, colleague or client. Each gift makes a tangible difference, giving hope and opportunity to communities in need. You’ll receive a card (paper or e-card) to present to your loved one, to tell them how their gift is changing lives.
Can I give a charitable gift on behalf of someone else?
Yes! CAREgifts are a wonderful way to give a gift to someone else in honour of a friend, family member, colleague or client. They provide an easy way to spread the love this Christmas, without leaving your loved ones cluttered with more things!
Are charitable gifts tax-deductible?
Yes. All CAREgifts are 100% tax-deductible in Australia. After your purchase you will receive a tax receipt for your records.
How does CARE Australia ensure my donations make an impact?
Transparency and accountability are at the heart of everything we do at CARE Australia. We work closely with local communities to implement programs, with a particular focus on women, to create lasting and sustainable change.
We carefully monitor and evaluate our work to ensure your donations are maximising impact, and have a long-lasting and meaningful difference to the people and communities who need it most, from climate action to food security to access to safe water.
