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Savings accounts for charities

Currently receiving donations? Charitable organisations in Australia can use savings accounts to both help manage their funds and receive donations.

Accounts for charities and non-profit groups

If you're managing a charity or community group, a bank account designed for charities can help you manage donations, membership fees and other income. These work in the same way as a standard bank account or business account, except they're able to be opened by community groups and charities and give multiple people access to the account.

Some business bank accounts will allow charities and community groups to open an account if they have a registered ABN. However, there's also some accounts available specifically for non-profits and communities.

We've researched some of the options available for charities to open a bank account:

  • St.George Society Cheque Account – This account is designed for schools, charities, community and sporting groups and government agencies to manage their member donations. There are no monthly account keeping fees.
  • NAB Community Fee Saver Account – An everyday transaction account for not-for-profit organisations and community groups. You can link the account to a NAB Business Visa Debit Card to access your money.
  • BoQ Everyday Business Account for Not-For-Profits – You can open a BoQ Everyday Business Account and get some extra benefits as a Not-For-Profit customer. You can earn a small amount of interest on your monthly balance, plus link up to 10 Business Visa Debit Cards for free.
  • Bendigo Bank Not-For-Profit Everyday Account – Designed for Not-For-Profits, community groups and clubs this account has no account keeping fees and unlimited free branch withdrawals and transactions.
  • Beyond Bank Community Account – This is a bank account for non-profits, clubs and charity groups that pays a small amount of interest on the balance and charges no account fees and no transaction fees.
  • Westpac Community Solutions Cash Reserve – Designed for not-for-profit organisations looking for a savings account that earns a variable interest rate, and that want access to the funds at any time.

How does a not-for-profit account work?

A not-for-profit account is customised to meet the banking needs of organisations who collect those donations.

These types of savings accounts provide all of the benefits of a typical savings account, but with special features. For instance, they may allow a number of people who are responsible for keeping track of the finances for the not-for-profit group to access the account.

Can I use a personal account for a charity?

Not all banks or financial institutions offer accounts for charities and not for profit organisations.

However, a charity's Responsible People have duties to ensure that the charity's financial affairs are managed responsibly. This means ensuring all the funds you collect are managed effectively and responsibly.

Legally, you are not required to open a charity account. However doing so will create a much more professional and streamlined process for managing your accounts and tax obligations.

Note that large charities with revenues of over $1 million must have their accounts audited by an ACNC-approved auditor each year, and in this instance, purpose-created charity accounts are advisable. Charities that earn revenue of less than $250,000 per year do not have to have their accounts audited, and medium-sized organisations (revenue of $250,000 to $1 million per year) can choose to either submit financial records which have been reviewed or audited.

Charity account vs community savings account

Some banks offer what's called a community savings account, sometimes called a charity savings account. This can be confusing, but these aren't actually designed for charities to use.

Instead, these accounts are designed for everyday customers looking for an easy way to donate the interest their account earns to a charity of their choice.

These accounts allow you to choose a charity, then the bank will automatically make donations to the charity from your account each month. When you open a charity bank account and donate all interest to the named charity, no tax is payable on any interest earned.

Bank Accounts for charities and non-profit groups

1 - 12 of 13
Name Monthly fee Govt. Guarantee Own network ATM fee Card type
Commonwealth Society Cheque Account
Commonwealth Bank logo
Apple Pay Google Pay Samsung Pay
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Visa
St.George Society Cheque Account
St.George Bank logo
N/A
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
No Debit card
More Info
Westpac Community Solutions One
Westpac logo
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Mastercard
BankSA Society Cheque Account
BankSA logo
N/A
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
No Debit card
More Info
Beyond Bank Community Account
Beyond Bank logo
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Visa
Bank of Melbourne Society Cheque Account
Bank of Melbourne logo
N/A
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
No Debit card
Bendigo Bank Business Basic Account
Bendigo Bank logo
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Mastercard
Bank of Queensland Everyday Business Account
BOQ logo
Apple Pay Google Pay Samsung Pay
Monthly fee
$10
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Visa
Westpac Community Solutions Cash Reserve
Westpac logo
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
Card type
Mastercard
Community First Bank Community Account
Community First Bank logo
Apple Pay Google Pay Samsung Pay
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Visa
P&N Bank Community Account
P&N Bank logo
Apple Pay Google Pay Samsung Pay
Monthly fee
$0
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Visa
Bendigo Bank Business Everyday Account
Bendigo Bank logo
Monthly fee
$15
Government Guarantee
Own network ATM fee
$0
Card type
Mastercard
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Showing 12 of 13 results
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