On this page
- Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement
- Deductible Gift Recipient Tool
- Guide to Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement
Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement
A Deductible Gift Recipient is an organisation with a ‘special tax status’. If your organisation is endorsed (officially recognised) by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) as a DGR:
- people who make gifts or donations to your organisation are able to ‘deduct’ those gifts for their own income tax purposes (that is, the donor can claim the donation as a deduction when filing their personal income tax return), and
- your organisation can receive funds from certain grant makers and philanthropic bodies, which are only able to give money to organisations that have DGR status
So, when you see wording ‘donations over $2.00 are tax deductible’ – the organisation offering this as an incentive to the donor must first be ‘endorsed’ by the ATO as a DGR.
Note
In general, unless your organisation is endorsed as a DGR, people donating to your organisation can't claim their donation against their tax. Find out more in our fundraising resources.
If your organisation as a whole is not eligible to be a DGR, it may be that certain activities of the organisation could attract DGR status. In these circumstances, it may be worth considering establishing a separate fund or entity, which could be eligible for DGR endorsement. You should seek legal advice on this option.
Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) Tool
It can be difficult to understand whether you’re eligible for deductible gift recipient (DGR) status. The legal requirements are complex, the tax laws are complicated, and the language is old-fashioned and daunting.
That’s why we’ve launched our free DGR tool – to help you make sense of the law.
Taking less than 20 minutes, our online tool asks all the questions a lawyer would – in simple, plain English – then generates a tailored, downloadable report that summarises the information given in the tool.
Our DGR tool will help you understand:
- the meaning and benefits of DGR endorsement
- whether your organisation meets the eligibility requirements for DGR endorsement, and
- DGR categories that may be relevant to your organisation
Use our easy-to-understand tool so that your time and energy can be spent on achieving your mission.
We acknowledge funding support for the development of this tool from H&L Hecht Trust.
Guide to Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement
Our guide to Deductible Gift Recipient endorsement sets out information about the categories for endorsement, the application process, and issues that arise in maintaining DGR endorsement. The guide includes information regarding:
- the meaning and benefits of DGR endorsement
- whether your organisation needs DGR status
- common categories of DGR endorsement and types of organistions that may have difficulty getting DGR endorsements
- preparing for and applying for endorsement as a DGR, and
- maintaining eligibility for DGR endorsement
More information
The content on this webpage was last updated in August 2025 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
