Community Foundations =

Community Empowerment

HELLO!

I am Kate BuxtonExecutive 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 incommunity 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 outthey 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 PhilanthropyDonor engagement

Democratised Giving

Community Foundation

Local DonorsLocal

Solutions

Make a difference where you liveWhen 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 helpAustralian community philanthropy is committed to supporting new and and emerging community

foundations establish themselves

Legal and Governance Overview

Incorporated Association or Company Limited by GuaranteeIncorporated 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.

FRRRThe 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

1,000sof 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

kate.buxton@australiancommunityphilanthropy.org.auwww.australiancommunityphilanthropy.org.au

0419 350 240

National Community Foundations Forum18 - 20 August, Fremantle WAwww.australiancommunityphilanthropy.org.au

Community and Philanthropy Partnerships Week7 - 13 Decemberwww.communitypartnerships.com.au