Australia launches Donation Dollar to boost giving
Melanie May | 2 September 2020 | News
The Royal Australian Mint starts rolling out the Donation Dollar today: a $1 legal tender designed to encourage Australians to give.
Created in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne, an initial 4.5 million Donation Dollars have been produced and will be progressively released from 2 September 2020. The intention is to produce and release 25 million coins over the next few years – one for every Australian.
The Royal Australian Mint hopes to inspire charitable giving through this tangible reminder to encourage Australians to give smaller amounts more often and across more charities. The official release date of 5 September aligns with the United Nations International Day of Charity.
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The coin is designed to be instantly recognisable as being different to traditional $1 coins. It features a call to action – Give to Help Others – and a green centre with a ripple design, which emanates from the centre, with the Queen on the reverse. The more the coin is donated, the more the green wears to reveal a series of golden ripples to symbolise the ongoing impact each Donation Dollar has made.
People are encourages to donate it to a cause or charity of their choice, to a local business that is struggling or to anyone they think needs it more than they do. As legal tender, the coin however can also be spent normally.
The Royal Australian Mint estimates that if every Australian donated just one Donation Dollar a month, this could raise an additional $300 million dollars annually for those in need.
Such a coin has been mooted in the UK, and initiatives such as #FirstFiver have seen new coins and notes donated to charity but as of yet, no dedicated coin has been designed.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.