Famine FAQs

Donations

How do I donate if I don't have a credit card and wish to support an individual participant?
I made a donation over the internet and I didn't receive the email with my receipt. Does this mean my donation didn't work?

40 Hour Famine Participants

What is involved in becoming a 40 Hour Famine Group Leader, Group Member or Individual Participant?
Do I definitely have to do it on 21-23 August?
Does the group have to give up the same thing?
How do we send in the money raised?
Why is the 40 Hour Famine internet-based for individual participants?
Why can't I have a receipt book if I'm an individual participant?
I or a member of my group have lost my receipt book. What should I do?
I registered as an individual participant but now I want to be a group leader. What do I do?
I registered to be a group leader and received my pack, but I can't find anyone else who wants to do it. What do I do?
I want to take over as my Group's new group leader. Can I do that?
What about the dangers of anorexia?

Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival

What was the Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival?
Which cinemas are participating and where are they?
How do I buy tickets?
When is it on?

Donations

How do I donate if I don't have a credit card and wish to support an individual participant?

If you don't have a credit card you can simply use a friend or family member's credit card and give them the cash in return. Ask the owner of the credit card to enter your contact details in the fields provided on the donation form.

Make sure you include your email address so that the receipt will be made out to you, not the owner of the credit card. You will receive a tax-deductible receipt via the email address you provided in the online donation form.

I made a donation over the internet and I didn't receive the email with my receipt. Does this mean my donation didn't work?

Make sure you entered the correct email address when you were filling in your details. Please contact us or call us on 13 32 40 and we can check whether your donation was processed. We can also organise a duplicate receipt for your records.

40 Hour Famine participants

What is involved in becoming a 40 Hour Famine Group Leader, Group Member or Individual Participant?

For more information on how to be 40 Hour Famine Group Leader, Group Member or Individual Participant, go to the resources section and download the relevant guide or watch the "How-to" video for group member.

Do I definitely have to do it on 21-23 August?

The 40 Hour Famine weekend starts at 8pm on Friday 21 August and finishes at noon on Sunday 23 August 2009. But if you can't do it that weekend it's fine to choose another date before 30 September 2009.

Does the group have to give up the same thing?

No, it's up to the individual group member what they give up. Food, Technology, Furniture - or choose something else - it's your choice.

How do we send in the money raised?

Depends if you're a group leader, group member or individual participant.

Group Leader - pay in your cash and cheque donations at an ANZ Bank using a deposit slip from your pay-in book as often as possible. Or you can keep the cash and use your own credit card to pay in donations online.

Group Members - give your collected donations to your group leader, along with your receipt book and award application form, and they'll do the rest.

Individual Participants - can only collect donations online - follow the prompts online to download your personalised email to send out to friends, family and colleagues.

Why is the 40 Hour Famine internet-based for individual participants?

The 40 Hour Famine changed to an online format for individual participants to make it easier. You no longer have to carry a book and return it to us. Everything is online – from collecting donations, issuing receipts, and downloading award application forms.

As an individual participant you can log in to your own online My Famine account (using the Famine Number and password we supply you). Here you can monitor how your donations are going. You will also receive an automatic email every time you receive a donation and you can see who it's from.

Also, the online format for individual participants simply allows World Vision to ensure that as much money as possible goes to where it’s needed most.

Why can't I have a receipt book if I'm an individual participant?

40 Hour Famine receipt books contain tax-deductible receipts and as such, the Australian Tax Office requires that all receipt books be sent back to World Vision, whether used or unused by 40 Hour Famine participants. In the past, World Vision used resources to chase up books from individual participants that had not been returned and money that had not been banked – and we’d rather use these resources more efficiently.

Receipt books are still available for Group participants, so if you'd prefer to have a receipt book we encourage you to join or start your own Group with five or more friends. That way you will receive a group leader Kit with receipt books for each group member to collect donations via cash and cheque.

I or a member of my group have lost my receipt book. What should I do?

If you or someone in your group has lost their receipt book, please fax us the Lost Receipt Book Declaration form (PDF: 54 KB).

I registered as an individual participant but now I want to be a group leader. What do I do?

Sign up as a group leader and we'll deactivate your individual participant account.

I registered to be a group leader and received my pack, but I can't find anyone else who wants to do it. What do I do?

Send the receipt books and pay-in books back to World Vision using the reply paid sticker provided in your kit.

I want to take over as my Group's new group leader. Can I do that?

Yes, but due to privacy we need to speak to the previous group leader so that we can change your Group details. If your Group belongs to a school or church, you should contact your World Vision State Office for assistance. Otherwise, please ask them to contact us or call us on 13 32 40 and we will make the change.

What about the dangers of anorexia?

The World Vision 40 Hour Famine is about raising money to help children who are denied their basic child rights and for participants to get a taste of what life's like for families in poverty. It’s not about losing weight.

We are very concerned that participants do the 40 Hour Famine for the right reasons, so we have strict guidelines to protect participants' health. Primary school children must not go without food for more than 8 hours. For more information please see the 40 Hour Famine Health and Safety Guidelines.

If going without food isn't an option, participants can choose to go without something else that really matters to them, like technology or furniture … or their hands.

Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival

What was the Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival?

The Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival gave Famine participants and their donors the opportunity to purchase 4 movie tickets for $40 during the Famine weekend. They were required to present proof of their participation to purchase tickets. Hoyts are a proud partner of the 40 Hour Famine 2009.

Which cinemas are participating and where are they?

All Hoyts Cinemas were participating. Hoyts has screens throughout the ACT, NSW, SA, NSW and WA.

How do I buy tickets?

The Hoyts-40 Hour Famine Film Festival has now passed. Tickets are no longer available.

When is it on?

This 4 for $40 ticket offer was available for film screenings starting at 6:30pm on Friday August 21 through to 12noon on Sunday August 23, 2009. This was the official 40 Hour Famine weekend.