philanthropyOz Blog

Gates/Buffett Giving Pledge signs its first Australians

Andrew and Nicola Forrest have become the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge, committing to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy.

The Giving Pledge was instituted by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010 as a way to encourage a greater level of giving among the world’s billionaires or those who would be billionaires if not for their giving. Signatories make a commitment to devote more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes.

Andrew and Nicola Forrest were announced as signatories overnight, part of the first cohort of overseas billionaires who have signed up including Richard and Joan Branson from the UK as well as signatories from Germany, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, and Ukraine.

All eyes are now on the rest of Australia’s 18 billionaires - will more join the Forrests and sign the Giving Pledge?

Vale Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

Vale Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

Philanthropy Australia is greatly saddened by the passing of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch on the evening of Wednesday 5 December, 2012, at the age of 103.

Over many years, Dame Elisabeth has generously supported a wide range of projects and organisations in the arts, education, medical research, conservation and social welfare. Her support has enhanced the capacities of libraries, galleries, hospitals and artistic companies, as well as having allowed exciting new ideas in community development, rehabilitation and creative expression to take root and grow.

Dame Elisabeth’s giving nature was ignited in her boarding school years, when she visited the Children’s Hospital, creating a lifelong dedication to the hospital and children’s causes. After her marriage to Keith Murdoch, her association with the hospital was strengthened when she was invited to join the management committee in 1933. She initiated the Good Friday Appeal and has participated in the hospital’s major fundraising efforts, taking over responsibility for the planning and construction of the new improved Children’s Hospital. After nine years’ work, the new hospital was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1963.

After resigning as president of the Children’s Hospital in 1965, Dame Elizabeth became the first female trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria. In ensuing years she became a strong driver for several arts-based organisations, including the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, and the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. She has supported over 100 charitable organisations. Just a few of the organisations which have benefited from her support are the Australian Ballet, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Hanover, Opera Australia, Cottage by the Sea, Australian Bush Heritage Fund, Somebody’s Daughter Theatre, the Bionic Ear Institute and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

Dame Elisabeth’s great joy was her garden at her home, Cruden Farm, which has frequently been opened to charitable organisations for fundraising purposes.

Dame Elisabeth was a Life Member of Philanthropy Australia, which held a celebration of her life at the Melbourne Town Hall in 2003. Dame Elisabeth’s comment on the celebration was, “Philanthropy is such a joy - I feel I have been the fortunate one. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I have had to become involved with the most splendid people.”

Dame Elisabeth led with her giving. She was never afraid to talk publicly about her support in an effort to encourage more Australians to follow her lead.

The depth and breadth of Dame Elisabeth’s generosity and engagement with those she supported, have become a benchmark for Australian giving. She has become an early embodiment of the rising trend towards lifelong, engaged philanthropy.

The full extent of her largesse will probably never be fully known as she supported so many different charities as well as individuals- both large and small- with gifts large and small.

Dame Elisabeth will be remembered as one of Australia’s greatest ever philanthropists.

Guest Post: Kids In Philanthropy launching in Melbourne

This post written by Amanda Miller, Kids in Philanthropy.

“No more pollution, peace in the world, no more homeless people, and of course, lots of lollies…” Those are some of the answers given by young children to describe the kind of world they would like to live in at the recent Kids in Philanthropy Melbourne family afternoon. Whilst lollies featured high on the priorities list, so did orphanages, indigenous children, the environment (’no more factories’) and children who do not have enough food to eat.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy Melbourne family afternoon, November 2012

Kids in Philanthropy is a not-for-profit sub-fund of the Sydney Community Foundation. It focuses on building social awareness, social conscience and a practice of giving, in kids for kids. KIP aims to engage children between the ages of 5 and 18 years, and their families, in an annual program of active philanthropy where activity is focused on raising awareness of local areas of need, and providing opportunities for these young people to take a leadership role in addressing these areas of need.

With KIP Sydney having been successfully established earlier this year, and planning well underway for the first program it is funding, the natural next step was to set up KIP Melbourne. KIP Melbourne will have up to ten Advisory Board members (there are already six), who will each contribute seed funding to be invested in projects / programs involving disadvantaged youth in Melbourne. The children of the KIP families will also engage in fundraising activities, will learn about giving and the disadvantage that exists in our local communities, and will interact with children in those communities. KIP workshops will also be run for families with the aim of engaging kids in the benefits of giving.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy Melbourne family afternoon, November 2012

KIP parents are motivated by a desire to pass onto their young children an awareness that whilst they lead a privileged life, not all other children are as fortunate as they are. KIP teaches children that just as sport and learning are part of their lives, so too is giving. The belief is that if we embed a culture of giving from a young age, children will grow up naturally taking on the responsibility of helping those in need. KIP kids will learn that there are children just like them, who live only half an hour away, but don’t have books to read, enough food to eat or a warm bed at night. They will interact with these children and contribute to raising funds to help them.

Last Sunday, KIP Melbourne held its first information session for those interested in being involved. 30 adults and more than 30 children, aged 2 - 11, enjoyed a wonderful discussion about what philanthropy means, through the eyes of children. Whilst some of the children were not sure what ‘that big word’ meant, many understood that it had something to do with ‘helping other people’ and ‘raising money and giving it to people who need help’.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy Melbourne family afternoon, November 2012

It was fascinating to hear of some of the ideas the children had for helping other kids, such as inviting a homeless child to live in their house. Many of the children had already given away their birthday presents to other causes, such as the RSPCA and Victorian communities affected by the bushfires, but there were lots of other ideas for fundraising, including bake sales, lemonade stands, making things and selling them and sports days.

The enthusiasm and excitement generated by the day has led to a group of the KIP Melbourne kids planning a cake bake / lemonade stand / toy sale to take place in Malvern in early December. The KIP Melbourne parents are also going full steam ahead and have already started considering projects for their first allocation of funding.

For more information or if you are interested in being involved, please visit www.kip.org.au or contact KIP Advisory Board member Amanda Miller: amanda.miller@me.com.

New issue of Australian Philanthropy journal - Brave Philanthropy: taking risks and testing solutions

Brave Philanthropy: taking risks and testing solutions is the theme of our latest issue of Australian Philanthropy, Issue 82, Spring 2012.

Lisa Jordan, executive director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation wrote in Alliance magazine, (March 2012) “…taking risks is an inherent responsibility of organised philanthropy … to use private money to try to solve intractable problems … The question is, do we?” While foundations often explore and plan for financial risk in their investment management, there is little understanding of risk on the program side. “We have no forums where risk can be discussed … and we rarely use the tools we have such as evaluation to help us understand the degree to which we have succeeded or failed.”

The question of failure is a tricky one – it assumes we have identified a measure of achievement to be aimed for, and fallen short of that bar. But how many foundations have actually identified the impact they want to make in a given place or field, let alone measured success against those aims? If, on the other hand, the only true failure is a grant that nothing is learned from, why do many foundations inhibit the extent of their successes by not sharing the learnings? Issue 82 investigates whether Australian philanthropy does indeed take risks in its grant-making and learn from both its successes and failures.

SELECTED ARTICLES

Innovation doesn’t grow on trees - the art of finding and funding new solutions (PDF)

By Brenton Caffin, CEO, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI)

The Australian Centre for Social Innovation works with people to create and spread new ways to lead better lives. We heard the call from the child protection system and in response we undertook a project to explore ways of preventing families fromb spiralling into crisis and to enable more families to thrive. The result was Family by Family.

Interview: Eda Ritchie (PDF)

The R. E. Ross Trust, funding across Victoria, is one of the most innovative and respected foundations in the country, showing leadership across grant-making, communications and transparency. Eda Ritchie joined the Trust as trustee in 1997 and Louise Arkles asked her about the importance of risk-taking in philanthropy.

Interview: Dr Sam Prince (PDF)

Picture this: a Scottish-born Australian doctor with Sri Lankan heritage running a chain of Mexican restaurants alongside his work in emergency medicine and doing aid work in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and now in remote communities in the Northern Territory. Phew!
Dr Sam Prince lives this life – he’s a medical doctor, a business entrepreneur, and the founder of the charities Emagine Foundation and One Disease at a Time, and to top it off he’s not yet 30. Louise Arkles, editor of Australian Philanthropy, asked Sam Prince about his philanthropy and his approach to taking risks and testing solutions.

Browse the full contents list on the PhilanthropyWiki

» Click here for more information on the Australian Philanthropy Journal

Members of Philanthropy Australia can download the full PDF version of issue 82 here (requires Member login)

Grantmaker Spotlight: Kids in Philanthropy

This post written by Amanda Miller, Kids in Philanthropy.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy launch, 27 May 2012

Kids in Philanthropy (KIP) is a sub-fund of the Sydney Community Foundation. It is an innovative new philanthropic fund created to teach children the art and skill of giving. KIP, which was launched on Sunday 27 May 2012, will focus on building social awareness, a social conscience and a practice of giving in kids for kids. The ultimate aim of KIP is to build social awareness among kids and by doing so create opportunities for knowledge sharing, friendship, encouraging a spirit of sharing and cultural exchange.

KIP will involve children in workshops to teach them about all aspects of philanthropy guiding them through fundraising and the development of programs to help make a genuine difference to the lives of their peers living in Sydney and Melbourne’s disadvantaged suburbs. There will also be events enabling the kids from KIP and the programs they fund to work together and celebrate their achievements.

KIP, which was the idea of Dr Catriona Wallace and two of her five children, is supported by an Advisory Board, who provided the seed funding, and includes experts in community-based philanthropy such as the Sydney Community Foundation’s Kristi Mansfield, psychologist Dr Tracey Pillinger and child philanthropy consultant Melanie Greblo.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy launch, 27 May 2012

Children aged from five to 18 will be able to participate in KIP along with their families, forging stronger connections between parents and children around their values and giving. While the initial program is set in Sydney, KIP will become a national initiative.

The first project to be funded by KIP is a Technology and Learning Program designed specifically for children in the middle years aged eight to 12 years olds, who attend various schools in Fairfield, in Sydney’s south west - one of Sydney’s most disadvantaged local government areas. Developed as a result of extensive community consultation working with Fairfield City Council and schools, the Technology and Learning program will be piloted by KIP and will provide the most disadvantaged children with the opportunity to participate in technology, music, art and sporting programs - activities and care they might otherwise miss out on.

At KIP’s launch on Sunday, attended by over 200 people, some of the children involved with KIP spoke about what philanthropy means to them and why they are excited to be involved with KIP.  Dr Catriona Wallace spoke about her personal story and why she founded KIP, and Amanda Bray of Fairfield City Council, together with Fairfield Youth Advisory Council speakers, spoke about the needs of the Fairfield community and the impact the program will have.

To get involved with KIP visit www.kip.org.au or call the Sydney Community Foundation on (02) 9251 1228.

New edition of Australian Philanthropy Journal: Philanthropy in the West: mining the richness of spirit

Philanthropy in the West: mining the richness of spirit is the theme of our latest issue of Australian Philanthropy, Issue 81, May 2012.

Philanthropy as a social phenomenon often has cultural or religious roots, and is imbued with historical references: think of the influence of the gold rush on the national economy and the creation of the first foundations from those profits. Australia is now reaping the profits of a resources boom, and some of the great energy and expertise that has driven the accumulation of this wealth is now being redirected to sharing the bounty.

Western Australia is a hotbed of creativity, and philanthropy is thriving - with Governor McCusker donating his salary to charities, Andrew and Nicola Forrest donating $80 million worth of shares and options, and new offices for philanthropy advisors being established in Perth. What mindsets and movements are behind these extraordinary stories? How widespread is the ‘generosity gene’ in WA, and how can the West foster greater philanthropy, both in terms of dollars and impact?

SELECTED ARTICLES

 Feature Interview: Malcolm and Tonya McCusker (PDF)

Tonya McCusker, wife of the Governor of Western Australia, and Administrator of The McCusker Charitable Foundation, spoke to Louise Arkles about her family’s experience in giving.

 Feature Interview: Andrew and Nicola Forrest (PDF)

Back in 2001 Andrew and Nicola Forrest established the Australian Children’s Trust, to assist underprivileged children and young people. The Trust has a mandate of ‘helping people to help themselves’ and focuses on early intervention, empowering women with children, and supporting education, personal development and training for employment. Australian Philanthropy’s editor Louise Arkles spoke with Andrew and Nicola in February 2012 about how their philanthropy has developed over the past decade, and their ideas for growing the philanthropic pie.

 Collective giving: launching Impact100 (PDF)

By James Boyd

How collective giving, a growing phenomenon in the US, can help inform philanthropy, potentially enriching the lives of all Australians – and how WA is set to make a big impact.

Browse the full contents list on the PhilanthropyWiki

» Click here for more information on the Australian Philanthropy Journal

Our previous issue, Indigenous philanthropy (Issue 80, December 2011) is now available for Members to download from the PhilanthropyWiki here.

International Women’s Day: Celebrating Women Philanthropists

Ask anyone not in the philanthropic sector to name Australia’s greatest philanthropists and the names they come up with will probably be along the lines of Andrew Forrest, Dick Smith or Richard Pratt. Most of these donors will have several things in common: they will tend to be very wealthy; they will be people who have attracted media attention for matters other than their philanthropy; and they will be men.

To commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day, we thought we would profile just two stories of Australian women’s philanthropy, one from the 19th century and one living philanthropist.

Louisa DaCosta

Very little is known about Louisa DaCosta, who arrived in Australia in 1840 from England with her brother Benjamin, who was also philanthropic. She only spent seven of her 91 years in Australia, but was clearly influenced by her experience here; while she returned to England in 1848, she continued to give to Australia - and particularly to South Australia - for the remaining fifty years of her life. On her death, the property she owned in South Australia was left for the establishment of a “Samaritan fund for convalescents”.

Today the Louisa DaCosta Trust provides financial assistance for people in need who are referred to the Trust by South Australian health care professionals, for unplanned illnesses and also for life long illnesses where Government support is not available. In the past five years, Louisa DaCosta’s legacy has provided over $1.4m in assisting public hospital patients in South Australia.

For more information: The Louisa DaCosta Trust

Fleur Spitzer

Fleur Spitzer’s father emigrated from Poland in the 1920s, and her Hungarian husband Vic arrived in Australia with his parents in 1939. Other relatives arrived from a racially divisive and war-torn Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, bringing stories of the injustices they faced there; coupled with the difficulties some of them faced in Australia, this increased Fleur’s awareness of the impact of racial discrimination, which later fed into her philanthropic work on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers.

Fleur was also involved in the women’s movement in the 1970s, and by 1990 she had developed a specific interest in the stereotypes and prejudices around women and ageing, seeing that the myths that older women were a drain on society were belied by the reality. Fleur established the Alma Unit for Women and Ageing at the University of Melbourne, a multidisciplinary research and teaching unit focusing on the health and well-being of women aged 65 years and over. While the Unit eventually folded, its influence has fed into work being carried out by other institutions including the healthy ageing unit at Monash University.

Fleur Spitzer’s other interests have included social justice and access to legal services. In 2003 she seed funded a pilot project, Access to Justice in the Modern Campaspe Region, to set up a community legal centre. Within two years, the State Government had offered ongoing funding for the centre.

What distinguishes Fleur Spitzer’s giving is that while the amounts given are not large in philanthropic terms, they are an example of how modest gifts, strategically directed, can provide a solid foundation which others can build on, and from which ongoing benefit can proceed.

Fleur Spitzer was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to women in the 1996 Queen’s Birthday Honours. She was recognised in particular for services to the ageing through the work of the Alma Unit.

More resources

For more information on Australian women philanthropists, a wonderful resource is In Her Gift: Women Philanthropists in Australian History.

For more information and to get involved in women’s philanthropy, here are some great resources.

• The Australian Women Donor’s Network is an education-focused not-for-profit organisation that advocates for gender-sensitive practice within the social investment and grant-making sector, and for a greater philanthropic investment in women and girls. Their website includes an online showcase of projects.
• The Victorian Women’s Trust is a Victorian foundation which invests in women & girls for positive social change, researches issues which affect their lives, creates opportunities that spark ideas, engagement & debate, advocates for reforms that improve conditions for women & girls, and make sure the public record better reflects their contribution and impact.
• The Sydney Women’s Fund, a sub-fund of the Sydney Community Foundation, brings together women who act as donors and activists. It aims to create and grow a wave of philanthropy to improve the lives of women and girls in Sydney by growing women’s philanthropy, increasing social change philanthropy in the community. identifying and promoting projects for investment, and serving as a voice for women and girls.

Philanthropy Australia’s free downloadable resources for getting involved in philanthropy include:

• A Guide to Giving for Australians, a plain-language guide to creating a giving statement as well as structures and options for giving.
• The Trustee Handbook, a guide to the legal duties and suggested best practice for the trustees of charitable trusts
• An Introductory Guide to Grantmaking, a plain language introduction for new workers in philanthropic grantmaking

You may also be interested in our workshops and seminars.

New foundation-funded film on organ donation

The Anita Luca Belgiorno-Nettis Foundation has funded a new film looking at organ donation, to be screened this Sunday 26 February on ABC1 at 6.30pm (repeated Monday at 1:30pm).

The Last Race is a compelling 30-minute drama about a family suddenly faced with a decision of whether to donate the organs of 25-year-old Mike, and a race against time to save a life. A moving and powerful film, it shows a family struggling to make a difficult decision on behalf of a loved one. The complexities of not knowing the deceased’s intentions, and the speed with which the decision has to be made, are brought to the fore. The Last Race tells a story that could become reality for any of us, a decision that anyone may have to make, and paradoxically offers the chance to change a person’s life for the better. As we see the family reach their decision, the film asks: what would you do?

If you’d like to find more about the film, you can visit the film’s website, go to The Last Race on Facebook, or follow it on Twitter - hashtag #lastrace.

Grantmaker Spotlight: Trust for Nature – applying an Indigenous lens to conservation

This post written by Justin Glass, Development Manager, Trust for Nature

Trust for Nature is an independent, not-for-profit organisation established to protect native habitat on private land. Established under the Victorian Conservation Trust Act (1972), Trust for Nature is the only Victorian organisation to protect bushland with conservation covenants that last in perpetuity.

Trust for Nature has conservation covenants on about 1100 Victorian properties covering 46,000 hectares; owns a further 47 properties covering about 35,000 hectares and has transferred a further 67 properties to the State.

Image: Map of Victorian covenants and location of Neds Corner. Download as PDF.

Trust for Nature’s Strategic Plan stresses the importance of stakeholder engagement in private land conservation particularly with local Indigenous and Traditional Owner groups. At the Trust’s largest property, the 30,000 hectare former grazing property, ‘Neds Corner Station’, located 70 km west of Mildura, Trust for Nature has done a lot of work with Indigenous people to concurrently protect cultural assets and native species. It was purchased in 2002 for large scale conservation research and practice with assistance from the Commonwealth Government, the RE Ross Trust, the Cybec Foundation, The Meles Fund, The Limb Foundation and many other generous individuals.

The Indigenous history of Neds Corner Station is as rich as its natural heritage.  It is thought that the patterns of native plants and wildlife found by the first Europeans were shaped by Indigenous use of the region dating from about 13,000 years ago.  The Murray River provided food for large communities of Indigenous people and areas like Neds Corner Station became important sites for trade and cultural ceremonies.  Archaeological discoveries in the area continue to provide us with valuable insights into how the land was managed and the cultural significance it holds for Indigenous people.

Photo: Indigenous crew erecting fences around sensitive sites

At Neds Corner Station many projects have been undertaken to protect Indigenous cultural heritage by Trust for Nature and local Indigenous people including:

• Completing over 50 kilometres of fencing to protect important Indigenous cultural sites have been built by Indigenous and non-Indigenous fencers in partnership with Mallee Catchment Management Authority Indigenous Advisory Officers;
• Securing Commonwealth funding to establish a large-scale fence, that builds on earlier work to improve cultural heritage protection and research environmental restoration and cultural heritage protection working in together. Trust for Nature is thankful for further investments by philanthropists that build on this Commonwealth grant and enable additional works to be planned.
• Trust for Nature has established a partnership with La Trobe University that provides training in the recognition and management of cultural sites to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people;
• Commenced development of a cultural heritage management plan for Neds Corner;
• Created a “Keeping Place” for Indigenous cultural items requiring removal as part of the Commonwealth Government’s Living Murray works;
• Develop a project plan to obtain funding for Indigenous officers in ecology and land management.

Photo: Blue and MEEP participant erecting rabbit-proof fence

With the recent floods and good seasons the River is again awash with fish, turtles, crustaceans including water mussels. Kangaroos, emus, tree goannas, shingleback lizards and move over earth that is filled with yams, soft root tubers, other edible roots and herbaceous perennials. This currently abundant supply of food, reminds us of how the Neds Corner Station area has provided Indigenous people with food and supplies for millennia. Neds Corner Station and its surrounding areas are believed to contain one of the highest densities of Indigenous cultural objects and burial sites in Victoria.

Trust for Nature recognises the significance of these sites and works closely with the Indigenous people of the Murray region to protect them from potential exposure caused by erosion, rabbit burrowing and other animal or human disturbance. Protection of cultural heritage is often best achieved through the promotion of native plants and the Trust, in partnership with many others has undertaken work to regenerate native vegetation and protection of Indigenous sites synergistically.

The goal of Trust for Nature at Neds Corner is to promote the bond between people and the landscape, a bond demonstrated by Indigenous use of the land for millennia. Achieving closer ties with the Indigenous community will be an important part of our journey.

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For further information on Trust for Nature or Neds Corner Station please contact Justin Glass, Development Manager, Trust for Nature  - (03) 8631 5888,  www.trustfornature.org.au

New edition of Australian Philanthropy Journal: Indigenous philanthropy

Indigenous philanthropy is the theme of our latest issue of Australian Philanthropy, Issue 80, December 2011.

Indigenous philanthropy is both an area in need of funding and support, and a lens through which other areas of philanthropic work can be viewed. Cultural, artistic, educational and health challenges are all being addressed by different groups in the not-for-profit sector. This issue of Australian Philanthropy offers firsthand accounts of the work being done. This issue also provides an opportunity for philanthropists and other professionals in the sector who work with Indigenous people and communities to share their knowledge and experiences.

SELECTED ARTICLES

A driving need - early intervention for Indigenous people in the justice system (PDF)

By Rikki Andrews, Philanthropy Australia

Indigenous people are significantly over-represented in the Australian justice system. ABS surveys in 2008 note that while Indigenous people make up 2.5 per cent of the Australian population they make up over 25 per cent of the prison population. An ABS 2010 report indicated that there has been a 47 per cent rise in incarceration of Indigenous women. Most critically the Federal Government report Doing Time – Time For Doing: Indigenous youth in the criminal justice system highlighted the need for early intervention to reduce this over-representation.

Red Dust Role Models (PDF)

By Darren Smith

In remote regions of Australia some children have limited opportunities in life due to geographical isolation, limited access to education, socioeconomic conditions, severe health and hygiene issues or lack of safe and suitable play environments. Red Dust Role Models seeks to improve the general health and wellbeing of disadvantaged Indigenous youth by addressing obvious health challenges and improving educational opportunities. Red Dust seeks to remove barriers, enable access and create opportunities that provide pathways for positive social change.

Indigenous and environmental philanthropy – the role of land management in economic and health development (PDF)

By Amanda Martin, Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network

Given continuing development and land pressure across Australia, increasing water scarcity and the projected impacts of climate change on species composition and distribution across the ontinent, there are strong global, national, regional and local grounds to prioritise conservation in the Indigenous estate.

Browse the full contents list on the PhilanthropyWiki

» Purchase an annual subscription online for $76 including p&h or individual issues for $20 each including p&h

» Click here for more information on the Australian Philanthropy Journal

Our previous issue, Communicating with each other and the world (Issue 79, Spring 2011) is now available for Members to download from the PhilanthropyWiki here.