Community Foundations = Community Empowerment

HELLO! I am Kate Buxton Executive Officer, Australian Community Philanthropy

“ Australian Community Philanthropy (ACP) is the peak organisation for community foundations in Australia, assisting them to establish, grow and achieve their objectives. We believe community foundations are an excellent vehicle to harness local energy and assets for local community benefit.

So, what’s a community foundation? I’m glad you asked ….

Money in community foundations are place-based, independent, community embedded philanthropic vehicles. They work with a range of donors to build endowment funds as long-term community assets local people giving time, skills and money for community benefit. Much more than money out they make grants to local organisations and initiatives; and they bring people together to build social capital and strengthen their communities

Anyone can be a philanthropist community foundations are grassroots organisations, which are highly responsive to local conditions and opportunities. Having local people involved as donors, advisors and volunteers generates strong community ownership, accountability, and creates valuable local knowledge.

“ A corpus is a sum of money or property that is set aside (invested) to produce income (interest) for a named beneficiary. For community foundations, the beneficiary is the community.

Building a corpus ⊡ Donations (named funds, bequests) ⊡ Collaborative Giving (giving circles, impact 100) ⊡ Themed or Issue Based Giving ⊡ Workplace Giving Schemes ⊡ Corporate Giving and Shared Value ⊡ Government ⊡ Fundraising ⊡ Sale of Community Owned Assets

Distribution of income from the corpus may be subject to strict regulation depending on the structure of the community foundation. More on this later … Distributions from the Corpus

Local Philanthropy Donor engagement

Democratised Giving Community Foundation Local DonorsLocal Solutions

Make a difference where you live When you donate to your local community foundation you can see the results

Donor engagement

Establishing a community foundation Sounds great but how do we do it?

Establishing a community foundation ⊡ Is there already a cf (or other giving body) in your community? ⊡ Don’t do it alone (gather a posse) ⊡ Talk to your local council ⊡ Get buy-in from your community and all your stakeholders ⊡ Identify your potential donors (be realistic) ⊡ Identify an appropriate legal/governance structure

Building your Board Boards are vital to the sustainability of a community foundation: ⊡ A good balance of skills (legal, financial, marketing) ⊡ ‘Responsible Persons’ for PuAF Trustees ⊡ Recruitment Strategy and Process ⊡ Succession Planning ⊡ Ongoing professional development

Strengthening Communities Strenthening communities is part of a foundtion’s core buisness: ⊡ Strategic priorities ⊡ Impact areas ⊡ Grant strategy ⊡ Measuring Impact ⊡ Constant stakeholder engagement

We can help Australian community philanthropy is committed to supporting new and and emerging community foundations establish themselves

Legal and Governance Overview Incorporated Association or Company Limited by Guarantee Incorporated Association is generally the preferred model. But, it is important to get professional advice. Public Ancillary Funds with DGR Donations to a PuAF are tax deductible but there are rules around reporting & distributing. FRRR The Foundation for Rural and Regional Recovery can ‘lend’ its DGR status to organisations through its Donation Accounts. This is great for emerging foundations

There are a number of government agencies involved in establishing a cf. The ATO is responsible for deciding eligibility for charity tax concessions and other Commonwealth exemptions and benefits. The ACNC regulates and registers charities, sets governance requirements and is the primary reporting body for most charities. Legal and Compliance Overview

Community Foundations in Australia A growing movement

Community Foundations in Australia 38 Community Foundations $300+ million under management $20+ million distributed last year

1,000s of projects and initiatives supported around Australia every year!

Community foundations making an impact ⊡ Poverty ⊡ Education ⊡ Domestic Violence ⊡ Health and Wellbeing ⊡ Environmental Issues ⊡ Arts & Culture ⊡ Homelessness ⊡ Youth ⊡ Social Enterprise ⊡ Food Security ⊡ Celebrating Community ⊡ Disaster Recovery ⊡ Community Development

Philanthropy is empowering Empowerment is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes Community foundations empower local philanthropists and communities

THANKS! Any questions? You can find me at

National Community Foundations Forum August, Fremantle WA Community and Philanthropy Partnerships Week December