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Donations make a huge difference
Thinking of making a donation to help power the work we do? Firstly, we’d like to say thank you.
You are helping widowed people to find hope, community and understanding as they rebuild their lives after the loss of their partner.
The generosity and support of our community helps us so much in our mission to help widowed people navigate through the most difficult times imaginable. It’s a mission we’re committed to. And one we can’t do without our wonderful community.
How your donation helps
Your contribution will enable us connect widowed people to:
- A community of other widowed people that offer support, understanding and encouragement
- Events that will help motivate and inspire
- Grief-support resources available online and in local areas
Where funds go
When you send us a donation, you are giving us a gift that we can put towards the program or resource that most needs critical funding, at that time. Your contribution can help us to:
- Distribute Newly Widowed Packs to those who are recently bereaved.
- Host in-person meet-ups for peer connection and support.
- Sponsor a widowed person to attend Camp Widow.
- Cover the costs of hosting our online resources, like our Widow Talk video library.
- Continue to deliver the important work that we do by covering some of the associated costs in running a charity.
- Help us raise awareness about the unique and difficult challenges of being widowed before the natural course of life events, and build understanding around the best way to support young widowed people as they navigate their new reality.
First Light Widowed Association is a registered charity in Australia
First Light Widowed Association Inc. is an officially registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). All donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Bequests: how to leave a legacy donation in your Will
Donating a legacy bequest is a meaningful and truly special way to have a lasting impact on the lives of others.
We deeply appreciate and celebrate those who choose to include First Light Widowed Association as a charitable donation in their Will or ask their loved ones to make a donation on their behalf as an informal legacy bequest (for example, in lieu of flowers at a funeral). If you’d like to leave a legacy donation, you can do so formally by leaving a gift in your Will.
To do so, create or update your Will, with the appropriate preparation process (seeking legal advice is greatly recommended so that it is legal and valid).
It’s often also recommended to ensure that you’re taking care of and talking to your loved ones about your intentions. Your solicitor or legal advice will let you know about the different types of gifts you can leave in your Will, eg. a share of your estate/residuary gift, a fixed sum of money or a specific gift (known technically as a bequest), that can be sold for the charity’s benefit.
The correct wording is important in preparing your Will, or it could be deemed invalid. It’s also a good idea to let your executor, guardians, and any relevant loved ones know.
To informally request a legacy donation in your honour, you could tell family members and loved ones, and consider writing a letter.
Wall of love: donations in loving memory
First Light Widowed Association acknowledges the following contributions, graciously donated in the name of loved ones who have passed away or in support of widowed people who are working to rebuild their lives in the face of the greatest pain and adversity. Thank you for supporting our widowed community and contributing to our life-changing programs.
Donation in memory of Peter Crawley
Donated by Debra Esquilant
Donation in honour of Debbie Esquilant
Donated by Trichelle Hippisley
Donation in memory of my beautiful Angel husband
Donated by Jacci Quinlivan
Donation in memory of James Leslie
Donated by the Carr family
$100 donated in memory of Daniel Collins
Donated by Peter and Janette Hackshaw
Donation in memory of Joshua Groth
Donated by Amy Groth
$2000 in memory of Steve Donaghy
Donated by Kate Donaghy and family and friends
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to some of the questions we get asked the most about donating to First Light.
We highly value and appreciate your generous donations and support, that allows us to continue the work that we do. But we don’t make it hard to exit from your recurring donations. If you’d like to opt out of your recurring donations at any time, just give us a call, or contact us via our contact form. We’ll also review your donations annually and contact you to ask you if you’d like to continue.
We understand completely that circumstances can change. If you’d like to cancel or change your recurring donations at any time, you can do so in any of the following ways:
- Give us a call
- Contact us via our contact form (on our contact page)
- Email us via the email address listed on our contact page
- Click the link on any of your donation receipts (these will be sent to you via email).
We’ll also review your donations annually and contact you to ask you if you’d like to continue.
There are many ways that you can help us in the work that we do. If you’d like to make a donation, you can contribute a one-off donation for the amount of your choice to contribute to our work overall, fund something specific, like a newly widowed information pack to be sent out, or you can set up recurring donations.
At First Light, we will only contact you as much as you’d like to be contacted. You can rest assured, we won’t keep calling you, and you’ll only receive emails if you’re subscribed to our newsletter (aside from tax receipt emails). If you do receive emails from us, and would no longer like to, simply click the ‘unsubscribe’ link on the bottom of an email.
Yes, as a registered charity in Australia that is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR), every donation over $2 is tax deductible in Australia.
We are registered with the ACNC. (The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission is the national regulator of charities) and endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR).
Yes. In addition to tax receipts provided upon donation (when each donation occurs), we’ll also provide you with receipts and statements at the end of every tax year.
Yes. We partner with SupporterHub to ensure you information is secure. SupporterHub is a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant Service Provider and compliant to the relevant Australian Privacy Principles. PCI DSS is a set of security standards formed in 2004 by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Financial Services, JCB International and American Express. SupporterHub does not store credit card information due to a direct integration with our preferred banking partner who utilise fully encrypted solutions to ensure the raw cardholder data is never visible or accessible to anyone if a breach occurred. SupporterHub leverages the latest tokenisation technologies including MDES and VTS to ensure data is always safe for programs such as Regular Giving.
Yes, a receipt will be emailed to you once your payment has been processed. Please be sure to check your junk mail if you do not receive it. You will also be emailed an end of financial year summary that will include details of all your donations for the financial year.
Hope, community, understanding
Join our community for access to information, resources, events, and a network of widowed people for peer support. Joining is free, with options to become a financial supporter to keep us running and helping others.
