A donation is an unconditional gift of money or property that the donor gives of their free will to an organisation. The organisation is free to determine the purpose for which the donation will be used, within the confines of that organisation’s objectives. The donor may state a preference as to how the gift might be used as long as the organisation has an unconditional discretion as to how it will use the gift.

The donor must not receive any pecuniary or other material benefit in return for the gift including such benefits as membership or newsletters.

All donations to NQCC are deposited into a separate account, the North Queensland Environment Fund, which is overseen by the NQCC Environment Fund Management Committee. This is a group of people deemed by the Minister for the Environment to have a wide degree of responsibility to the community that extends beyond their commitment to NQCC. It is a requirement that a majority of the Environment Fund sub-committee meet such a standard of responsibility.

Currently, the members of NQCC’s Environment Fund sub-committee, all of whom meet the ‘wider responsibility’ standard, are Bernadette Boscacci, Sue Cole, Cam Leitch and Sue O'Brien. The NQCC Environment Fund is subject to the provisions of the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 and the resolutions of the Management Committee of the association.