Saatchi’s charity idea is now legal currency in Australia

The Royal Australian Mint has created 25 million special edition coins — one for every person in the country — each branded with the words “Donation Dollar.” They are all regular legal currency, and the idea is to create a reminder to give, encouraging anyone who receives one of these coins to donate it to a charity.

Charities rely on coin donations for a substantial part of their income, so their funding has been badly hit by the move to online and digital payments during the pandemic. Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne has calculated that if every Australian gave just one Donation Dollar a month, an extra $3 billion could be raised over 10 years.

Mark Cartwright, Royal Australian Mint executive general manager for marketing, sales & innovation, said: “For over two years we have worked closely with our friends at Saatchi & Saatchi Melbourne to construct an approach that can make an extraordinary difference to Australians. We do hope that the Donation Dollars act as a gentle reminder that as individuals we have the power to help. The act of giving these dollars, multiplied over and over for many years, has the potential to make a significant contribution to the lives of many.”