10 Animal Charities in Australia to Fundraise for
Aussies love their animals and over the years the country has built a strong reputation as a paradise for animal lovers. However, Australia’s wildlife and domestic animals now face increasing challenges, ranging from devastating bushfires to severe habitat loss.
Recently, almost three billion animals were killed or displaced by the country’s devastating 2019-20 bushfires. Environmental crises, coupled with the rising number of homeless pets (3% of Australia’s dogs and cats), have seen a surge in animal rescue and rehabilitation efforts that have pushed charities to their limits.
Here, we share the best animal charities in Australia who rely on public support to continue their life-saving work. We’ll also explain how GoFundMe can help you fundraise for an Australian animal charity close to your heart.
Challenges faced by Australian animal charities
Animal charity organisations need the support of generous Aussies more than ever before. This is because the list of challenges facing wildlife and the respective charities who work hard to support them is growing.
Even the best wildlife charities in Australia are struggling under increasing pressure to meet the needs of the nation’s animals. Let’s take a look at some of the issues they face.
- Funding gaps: Animal charity organisations rely heavily on donations and grants to cover operational costs. Due to the rising costs of veterinary care, food, shelter and rehabilitation services, it’s harder to make the money they receive stretch. This has been exacerbated by the number of animals in need.
- Increased demand for services: Demand for animal rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming services has skyrocketed. Many shelters are at capacity because of an increase in stray animals – made worse by a surge in pet abandonment as the costs of living rise. This includes the increase in animals impacted by environmental disasters.
- Specialised care for domestic and native wildlife: Australia’s unique biodiversity makes it even more challenging for animal charities. Care for native wildlife can often be very costly and resource-intensive, adding to the high workload needed to help domestic animals.
- Wildlife conservation during bushfire seasons: Bushfire seasons are growing longer and more intense, which puts a huge strain on wildlife charities. Organisations must ramp up their efforts to save and rehabilitate native species like koalas, kangaroos and wombats, whose habitats are destroyed by fires.
- Rehabilitation of injured and orphaned animals: Native species often require highly trained staff and dedicated facilities to ensure their recovery and safe release back into the wild. Domestic animals, too, require medical attention for injuries and neglect. In fact, the RSPCA received 87,465 animals for the 2022-2023 financial year.
How to find the right animal charity for you
When researching which Australian animal charity to fundraise for, there are some key points to consider. Here are our top tips to ensure you make the right choice.
- Identify an area of interest: Decide what causes matter most to you. Are you passionate about protecting Australia’s wildlife or do you want to help stray dogs find loving homes? This will help narrow down your options and ensure you’re passionate about the cause you support.
- Transparency and accountability: You should only consider charities that provide clear information on how funds are used, including annual reports and impact statements. It’s important you understand how your donation will be spent.
- Track record: Does the charity have a proven track record of making an impact and have numerous success stories? The best animal charities in Australia will all have measurable achievements and real stories of animals saved, rehabilitated or rehomed.
- Community engagement: Aussies pride themselves on caring for the community, so make sure your charity actively involves volunteers, donors and the wider general public. They should be able to demonstrate the broader impact of public support.
- Diverse causes: Ensure the charities represent a range of animal welfare issues, from domestic pets and farm animals to endangered wildlife.
If you can find a charity that resonates with your values and is transparent about its impact, then you’re more likely to make a significant difference with your fundraiser.
What are the best animal charities in Australia to fundraise for?
Need help to narrow down your search? Here are some of the leading animal charity organisations in Australia to help you make a decision.
1. RSPCA Australia
The RSPCA is an independent, community-based charity providing animal care and protection services across Australia. The national office influences animal welfare policy, practice and legislation, while the state member societies provide services to animals in need through their shelters and inspectorates.
The care they provide includes rehoming unwanted and neglected animals through their shelters, educating the public about responsible pet ownership and supporting injured wildlife. Donations go directly to supporting the work of your local RSPCA in helping rescue, treat and rehabilitate animals.
2. WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service)
WIRES’ mission is to actively rehabilitate and preserve Australian wildlife by rescuing and caring for sick, injured and native orphaned animals. Operating for over 35 years, it assists wildlife and the community across Australia 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing rescue advice and assistance for over 130,000 animals annually.
The funds you raise will support hundreds of projects assisting wildlife rescue and rehabilitation across the country, as well as national efforts with strategic partners to support the long-term recovery of wildlife habitat and the preservation of native species.
3. The Lost Dogs’ Home
Caring for lost dogs, cats and other companion animals, The Lost Dogs’ Home reunites lost pets with their families, finds new homes for others and seeks the best possible outcomes for all animals they care for. From 2022 to 2023, they had 18,032 abandoned and lost animals in their care and managed to reunite and rehome 4,462.
The impact of donations ranges from providing food for animals in their care to assisting with the costs of vital surgeries. Whatever the cause, donations will give lost and abandoned animals a second chance in a loving home.
4. Edgar’s Mission
Edgar’s Mission began in 2003 and has since rescued thousands of farmed animals to give them another chance at life. The sanctuary is home to between 350 and 450 formerly farmed animals at any given time. They hope to encourage people to expand their circle of compassion to include all animals through education, outreach, advocacy, community enrichment and tours.
Funds raised for Edgar’s Mission will provide shelter and direct care for homeless, abused, injured or abandoned animals. In doing so, you’ll support finding permanent homes for mistreated and abandoned animals.
5. PetRescue
For more than 20 years, PetRescue has strived to create true social change by bringing pet adoption into the mainstream. They’ve made a difference to the Australian rescue community and thousands of pets needing rescue and rehabilitation, making it their mission to help save 100,000 healthy pets each year.
So far, 901,255 pets have been adopted and $13.8 million in food and products have been donated by PetRescue. Donations go towards programs such as Crisis Care Support, Food Donations to rescue organisation members and longer-term programs and initiatives.
6. Australian Marine Conservation Society
The Australian Marine Conservation Society is the nation’s leading charity dedicated solely to protecting ocean wildlife. They are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of scientists, educators and passionate advocates who work to protect Australia’s coasts and oceans.
Some of their work includes protecting critical ocean ecosystems with marine reserves around the country, leading the movement to ban whaling, stopping supertrawlers and protecting threatened and endangered species. All funds help ensure Australia’s coasts and oceans remain healthy and free for tomorrow’s generations.
7. Australian Wildlife Conservancy
A global leader in conservation with the mission to effectively conserve all Australian native animal species and the habitats in which they live. They have a network of over 30 large-scale wildlife sanctuaries in regions such as the Kimberley, Cape York and central Australia, protecting some of the nation’s most iconic and endangered wildlife. This includes 76% of native mammal species and 88% of native bird species.
Donations help to fund urgent intervention so that fewer species will be pushed towards extinction by the impacts of a changing climate and interacting threats.
8. Save the Bilby Fund
With a vision to save the bilby from extinction, this organisation wants to help build an insurance population of 10,000 bilbies in Australia by 2030. Launched in 1999 to stop the steady decline of bilby numbers, they breed and release captive bilbies to a sanctuary surrounded by a predator exclusion fence in Currawinya National Park.
All donations are spent directly on helping to monitor the predator exclusion fence at Currawinya National Park, building the population of bilbies behind the fence to around 400, breeding genetically diverse bilbies for release and funding research.
9. Australian Koala Foundation
The Australian Koala Foundation is a non-profit, non-government organisation dedicated to the effective management and conservation of the Koala and its habitat. They aim to update the Koala Habitat Atlas mapping of all wild Koalas and get the Koala Protection Act enacted.
Funds are raised through sponsorship, Save the Koala Month, Save the Koala tree planting tours, promotions, merchandising and private and public donations. Any donations this Australian animal charity receives help to finance their ongoing conservation work.
10. Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife
The Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife relies on support from the Australian public to fund critical conservation projects. They partner with community groups, rangers and scientists, indigenous groups, individuals and government agencies to directly impact growing and protecting natural habitats in the country.
All donations help safeguard Australia’s ecosystems, wilderness, and flora and fauna now and for future generations.
How to start a GoFundMe campaign for animal charities
Now you’re aware of the best animal charities in Australia, it’s time to kick-start your fundraiser and make a difference. Wildlife charities desperately need the support of Aussies to continue their good work and the best way of playing a powerful role in this endeavour is with GoFundMe.
Setting up a fundraiser with GoFundMe is simple and only takes a few minutes. Once you’ve created your fundraising page, you can share it with your networks and manage donations with our easy-to-use platform.
As the #1 online fundraising expert, thousands of Australians use GoFundMe to raise funds for a cause close to their heart. Start receiving donations to support your chosen Australian animal charity today.