How to support children’s books and reading this tax time

In case you missed it, the End Of Financial Year (EOFY) is upon us, which means it’s time to think not just about getting tax records and deductions in order.

Many of us will choose to make a tax-deductible donation to a charity at this time of year as a way to support causes close to our heart and reduce any tax liability at the same time.

But which charity to choose?

Reasons for supporting various charities are wide and varied and you no doubt have your favourites.

But if literature and literacy is something you care about, the Your Kid’s Next Read team have put together a list of our favourite charities that you might like to consider.

All of these suggestions offer ways to support children’s books and reading this tax time.

 

The Pyjama Foundation

Through its Love Of Learning program, children in foster care are matched with a trained volunteer ‘Pyjama Angel’ who meet with them for one hour a week to focus on learning activities, such as reading, educational games and help with homework.

The Pyjama Foundation has a resource library in every region where volunteers can borrow books, games and resources to take to the children each week. This is a free service.

Your Kid’s Next Read podcast co-host Megan Daley is an ambassador for The Pyjama Foundation.  “The work the Pyjama Foundation does is vital,” she says. “Arming young people with the (super) power of reading can be life changing.”

Find out more and donate here.

 

The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation

The Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) is a not-for-profit organisation with representation from across the field of children’s and young adult literature. The ACLF’s vision is to enrich the lives of young Australians through the power of story.

The organisation aims to promote the value and importance of reading, raise the profile of books in the lives of Australian children and young adults, and to undertake select national projects to further it’s work. The highest profile activity of the ACLF is the development and management of the Australian Children’s Laureate program.

Find out more and donate here.

 

Indigenous Literacy Foundation

The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) is a national charity working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander remote Communities across Australia.

ILF is Community-led, responding to requests from remote Communities for culturally relevant books, including early learning board books, resources, and programs to support Communities to create and publish their stories in languages of their choice.

Your Kid’s Next Read donates 10 per cent of sales of our merchandise to the ILF.

Find out more and donate here.

 

Dymocks Children’s Charities

The stated mission of Dymocks Children’s Charities (DCC) is ‘to promote a love of reading and improve literacy outcomes for children in Australia’.

DCC runs three core programs that provide brand new books to children in priority locations in Australia. The charity aims to support children who have little or no access to good books, and the programs focus on restocking priority school libraries, community centres, hospitals, classrooms and providing books for children to take home and cherish.

“Ensuring all children reach an appropriate level of literacy remains one of Australia’s major challenges,” says author Jacqueline Harvey, a longtime ambassador for DCC. “Literacy is not just about reading, it is the foundation for learning.

“Dymocks Children’s Charities has developed unique literacy support programs that encourage children to cultivate a love for books and read every day ‘just because they want to’. Quite simply, it’s about getting great books into kids’ hands!”

Find out more and donate here.

 

The Children’s Book Council of Australia

There are currently two ways that you can help the work of the Children’s Book Council of Australia through donations.

The CBCA Award Foundation funds prizes for the creators of the books that win the CBCA Book of the Year Awards, as well as Honour books.

The CBCA Gift Fund helps fund programs that enrich young lives through Australian stories and create a thriving creative world. The fund supports the CBCA’s mission to connect, communicate, celebrate and advocate stories across Australia.

Find out more and donate here. 

 

Room to Read

Room to Read aims to tackle illiteracy and gender inequality around the world, with a philosophy that ‘World Change Starts With Educated Children’. In practical terms, they build libraries, support literacy, create local language books and endow long-term scholarships for girls in developing countries, collaborating with governments and other partner organisations to deliver positive outcomes for children on a large scale.

“I was attracted to working with Room to Read after reading founder John Wood’s biography, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World back in 2010,” says author Tristan Bancks, a Room To Read ambassador. “He was struck by how many children in the world have little or no access to books. Room to Read is a super-dynamic literacy organisation – they’ve reached 32 million kids!”

Through the Room to Read World Change Challenge, Bancks and his team of Australian author-ambassadors have raised more than $200,000 in the last decade. “This year our goal is to raise $20,000 to buy 20,000 local language books for kids in Asia and Africa,” he says.

Find out more and donate here.

 

The Smith Family

Beyond reading, The Smith Family’s Learning For Life program takes a broader approach to supporting Australian children and young people with their education. The program provides emotional, practical and financial support aimed at keeping disadvantaged kids engaged with school and learning to set them up for life.

You can choose to sponsor a child or make a one-off donation to support the program.

Find out more and donate here. 

 

Literacy and literature for a different cause

These two charities focus on literature and literacy to fundraise for research.

 

MS Readathon

In 2019, I was chuffed to be asked to be an author ambassador for the MS Readathon, having fond memories of participating in the bookfest myself as a child.

The MS Readathon continues to invite children and young people to ‘read for a cause’, seeking sponsorship based on the number of books they read. It’s a different way to motivate kids to pick up a book!

Funds raised help support the thousands of Australian families affected by Multiple Sclerosis.

Registrations are open now for the  2023 MS Readathon,

Find out more and donate here.

 

Write A Book In A Day

Write A Book In A Day is a fun, creative challenge where kids team up to write, illustrate and publish a book in just one school day, raising money through sponsorship for The Kids’ Cancer Project.

In 2021, I was asked to provide my top tips for the young writers involved, and you can see the video here.

The challenge promotes creativity, teamwork and the literacy skills required to produce a finished book in a short timeframe. Funds raised through the Write a Book in a Day competition go toward childhood cancer research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure.

Find out more here.

 

There are a lot of people and organisations out there doing amazing things in the world, making it difficult to choose where to put your hard-earned dollars. So we hope these links help with the process.

And remember, keep track of your receipts – and follow the organisations you choose via newsletters or social media so you can see how they’re spending those tax-time dollars.

 

Are you new here? Welcome to my blog! I’m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I’m the author of middle-grade series, The Mapmaker Chronicles, The Ateban Cipher, and the Maven & Reeve Mysteries. You can find out more about me here, and more about my books here.

If you’re looking for book recommendations for young readers, join the Your Kid’s Next Read Facebook community, and tune in to the Your Kid’s Next Read podcast!