philanthropyOz Blog

PPF discussion paper released by Treasury

The Assistant Treasurer yesterday released a discussion paper entitled ‘Improving the integrity of Prescribed Private Funds (PPFs)’, following up on the Government’s pledge in the 2008 Budget to legislate guidelines for PPFs and to provide the trustees of PPFs with greater certainty as to their philanthropic obligations.

The Government is inviting comment on the paper by interested parties, which must be provided by 14 January 2009. Members and other interested parties are encouraged to download the discussion paper from http://www.treasury.gov.au/contentitem.asp?NavId=037&ContentID=1444.

Philanthropy Australia is currently considering the paper and our response to it, and welcomes the views of Members on this paper. Please feel free to send us your thoughts and comments.

Legal help for Victorian not-for-profits

PilchConnect is a new online resource for Victorian not-for-profit organisations, providing free and low cost legal information, training, advice and legal referrals. Funded by the Victoria Law Foundation, the website provides resources structured in a way that mirrors the life-cycle of a community organisation, from start-up through running an organisation, applying for tax concessions, the people who should be involved, running events and what to do if things go wrong. It includes fact sheets, checklists, guides and links to further information.

The website can be accessed at http://www.pilch.org.au/legal_info/

New ’shares to charity’ program

Yesterday a new non-profit program called Sharity, ‘shares to charity’, was launched in Sydney. This program is designed to turn parcels of shares into charitable donations to six recipient charities: Sir David Martin Foundation, Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service, Salvation Army, Sir Roden Cutler Charities, Surf Life Saving Australia and Cancer Council NSW.

Through Sharity, Australian shareholders can gift their shares directly to one of the six charities, without having to pay brokerage fees or commissions, with all gifts over $2 being fully tax deductible.

Sharity was formed in 2002 by Australian company Worthington Clark Pty Ltd, and in 2007 was involved in lobbying the Federal Government, resulting in a change in tax laws that allowed individuals to claim a tax deduction for a gifted donation of shares of any value in a publicly listed company.

Find out more at the Sharity website: www.sharity.com.au

Corporate Foundations Network Meeting

Philanthropy Australia Sydney Corporate Foundations Network Meeting (Members Only)
Tuesday 2 December 2008, Sydney

More information on the Events Calendar.

Grantseeker Workshop

Due to high demand, an additional Grantseeker Workshop has been scheduled for Thursday 11 December, to be held in Melbourne CBD. See our Workshops page for more information.

National Rental Affordability Scheme; safety net for charities

The Treasurer announced on November 12, 2008 that the Rudd Government will introduce a transitional safety net to enable the charitable sector to participate in the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which will help build up to 50,000 new rental properties across Australia at a cost of $623 million in the first four years in order to boost rental stocks, lower infrastructure costs for some entry level housing, and help people save for their first home. NRAS rental properties will cost 20 per cent below market rate, and up to 1.5 million households will be eligible to be tenants under the Scheme, including aged pensioners and key workers.

To ensure that the charitable sector can participate fully in the scheme, the Australian Government will introduce a transitional safety net by amending both charity and tax laws. This amendment will mean that the proposed participation of existing charities in the Establishment Phase of NRAS will not affect their charitable status.

To ensure that charitable tax concessions remain appropriately targeted, the Government considers that the safety net should apply to those charities that make applications for 11,000 incentives available in the Establishment Phase of NRAS – for projects that will be built in 2008-09 and 2009/10 of the Scheme. The safety net will expire at the conclusion of the Establishment Phase, at which time the Government will review the Scheme to ensure it continues to meet its objectives.

Senator Ursula Stephens, Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, said, “A key component of this is to work closely with charitable organisations to encourage their participation in the scheme. The Rudd Government is committed to work in partnership with non-profit organisations to build stronger communities and improve the lives of all Australians”.

The media release can be read on the Treasurer’s website.

New Event

Financial management of social enterprises (Sydney)
Wednesday 26th - Friday 28th November
Run by the Centre for Social Impact for managers of all not-for-profit organisations and CEOs of smaller NFPOs.

Go to the Events Calendar for more information

New research reports on bequests

The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies has released two new reports examining issues pertaining to bequests in Australia, both supported by Perpetual.

Keeping Giving Going: Charitable bequests and Australians seeks to examine how Australians think about charitable bequests and to better understand the motivations, barriers and triggers affecting those who make charitable bequests or who might do so.

Keeping Giving Going provides valuable empirical evidence to support and extend the anecdotal knowledge of those working with donors in the sector, and suggests ten key recommendations for charities flowing from the study. The project is the work of Dr Kym Madden and Dr Wendy Scaife.

Every Player Wins a Prize? Family Provision Applications and Bequests to Charity deals with the interaction of family provision law and charitable bequests in wills, including qualitative research relating to practical issues which may arise with legal practitioners and with charities’ bequest officers. It comes in the context of an increase in challenges to charitable bequests by testators’ family members over recent years in Australia.

The report concludes that the increase in family provision applications stems from a number of causes, including: changes in the concept of ‘family’; changes in expectations and values; changes in the legal environment; and changes in levels of wealth. It includes some suggestions for charities that wish to put themselves in the best position with a donor before the donor dies, or in the best position when a family provision claim is notified. The project is the work of Frances Hannah and Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes.

Both reports can be downloaded from the CPNS Wiki at https://wiki.qut.edu.au/display/CPNS/Planned+Giving+-+Bequests; executive summaries and other relevant information are also available.

New Members of Philanthropy Australia

Philanthropy Australia would like to warmly welcome the following new Members who have joined us in the past quarter:

Full Members

• Alcock Brown-Neaves Foundation
• Grenet Foundation
• Gordon K & June S Harris Charitable Gift
• G. Hund
• Incolink Foundation Ltd
• Intensive Care Foundation
• The McLean Foundation
• Medical Research Foundation for Women & Babies
• nib Foundation
• Rainbow Fish Foundation
• Three Flips Ltd
• Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Associates

• Action on Disability within Ethnic Communities
• Beulah Capital
• Bienniale of Sydney
• Bond University
• The Centre for Social Impact
• Conservation Volunteers Australia
• Kids Plus Foundation
• Mater Foundation
• The Myer Family Office
• MS Research Australia
• The Oaktree Foundation
• The Salvation Army (Victoria)
• St Vincent’s & Mater Health Services
• V. Lloyd
• H. Westbury
• Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society
• Youth Off The Streets
• YWCA NSW

You can find a complete list of Members (including hyperlinks where available) here.