Research by JBWere's Philanthropic Services team shows donations and bequests make up just 8 per cent of a charity's income, while volunteering accounts for 65 per cent of charities' philanthropic support.

Those earning between $50,000 and $100,000 donate 0.25 per cent of their taxable income, with the top causes listed as religion, international aid and medical research, the Support Report 2018 shows.

When it comes to bequests, about three in every 100 people leave a bequest, with JBWere estimating the annual value of these gifts to be $450 million.

Corporate Australia contributes more than $4.5 billion annually, with most organisations preferring to give money, but small and medium businesses opt for more goods and services in their donation mix.

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Donations and bequests are expected to increase by 6.5 per cent per annum over the next 20 years, with a greater focus on higher education, medical research, the environment and arts and culture, while sport, religion, international aid and welfare will lose out.

Report author John McLeod said changing corporate philanthropic habits meant charities had to evolve to stay relevant.

"The thing that needs to happen is charities need to get a bit more sophisticated about the shared value opportunity and better engage with the corporate sector," Mr McLeod said.

"The mass population tends to give for emotive, visible, short-term reasons - big name charities get high donations during natural disasters, like bushfires and floods.

"But corporates look at where they can get a high return, such as high net worth universities, arts and medical research. It helps them attract and improve the integrity of staff and they are seen as a caring corporate citizen," he said.

Donating to a university conducting research in a relevant area, such as an engineering firm supporting research and development for a new chair design, could work in an organisation's favour with something they can use in the future, as can increasing corporate social responsibility commitments.

"It has really gone away from a chair's favourite charity to doing better as a business," Mr McLeod said.

Drilling down into Tasmania's philanthropic habits, JBWere's 2018 report showed each taxpayer donated $495.

Nearly 90,000 Tasmanian taxpayers claimed a tax deduction for donations, which equates to almost one-third.

The Examiner's Winter Relief Appeal is celebrating 61 years.

The Winter Relief Appeal supports four Northern Tasmanian charities - St Vincent de Paul, the Benevolent Society, Salvation Army and City Mission.

Since we launched Winter Relief this year we have received $1837.15 and we've set our sights on a $75,000 target.

If you'd like to donate to The Examiner's Winter Relief Appeal, you can by:

Donate in person, at The Examiner's office in Cimitiere Street or at participating businesses

Electronic funds transfer BSB 035-822, Account 011443537

BPAY biller number 49429, reference 0100 0406190 01443537 0.

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