Email your pledge to
onepercentaustralia
@gmail.com
or send your details
via the Contacts
page on this website
Dear Friends,
Please forgive me the liberty of
writing to you regarding a matter
of public importance.
Recently, in the course of
research I have undertaken for
the Sydney PEN Voices '3 Writers'
Project, the parlous state of
charitable giving in Australia has
come to my attention. Current
research shows that among
people claiming a tax deduction
for charitable donations, the
average contribution is 0.33 per
cent of annual income. Averaged
across the population generally,
it is far, far lower.
Some of you will be much more
generous than that, but like me,
most of us are patchy givers, our
generosity only sporadically
provoked by natural disasters
and appeals. We need to make
giving a habit, not something
spurred by occasionally bouts of
guilt, but a normal and positive
part of our lives.
By pledging to donate to a charity
or social organisation of choice
just 1 per cent of their annual
income, Australians overnight
could treble the funds flowing to
heroic institutions like Mission
Australia, the Salvos and even
PEN (the organisation that
defends freedom of expression
worldwide).
The One Percent Australia
Solution is not an organisation,
but merely a way to empower the
generosity within us that is too
rarely tapped. If you already give
1 per cent, and want to keep
doing so for the rest of your
working life or, like me, give only
occasionally and want an excuse
to do more, take the pledge by
emailing
onepercentaustralia@gmail.com
as follows:
"I (YOUR NAME) pledge to donate
at least one percent of my
taxable income annually to an
Australian or international charity
or social organisation of my
choice, for the rest of my working
life."
Do not send money or bank
account details. The choice of
charity and form your contribution
takes is between you, those you
help, and the tax man. Overseas
friends who support the idea are
welcome to join in--you could
even launch similar initiatives in
your own countries.
I sent my pledge this morning,
and the names of those who
follow me will be added to the
Register of Donors. Until other
arrangements can be made the
register will appear on my
website
www.christopherkremmer.com
I am acutely aware of the
modesty of this proposal. But if
we, as individuals, are unwilling
to share even one percent of
what we have with those less
fortunate and those doing
voluntary work, Australia's future
will not be as bright as it should
and can be.
Thank you for taking time to read
this appeal. Please pass it on to
everyone in your email contacts
list.
Until next we meet,
CHRISTOPHER KREMMER
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