Plan to double Australian giving starts with a blueprint

Philanthropy Australia’s new roadmap to double Australian structured giving to $5 billion by 2030 has been unveiled, with a focus on 10 initiatives that aim to reduce regulation, develop research and boost place-based giving.

The document, entitled A Blueprint to Grow Structured Giving, was launched on the first day of Philanthropy Australia’s conference by PA CEO Jack Heath.

The Blueprint is the result of extensive consultation and discussions with stakeholders about how best to increase Australia’s current level of giving.

In pointing out the multi-faceted approach to growing structured giving, Jack said some of the Blueprint’s initiatives were well developed and ready for action while others needed further development.

“The Blueprint seeks to build on and consolidate the work of the numerous advocates, practitioners, researchers and other contributors who have been working to grow Australia’s culture of giving over many years,’’

The Blueprint identifies 10 initiatives that deliver on the strategic priorities to protect the working foundations of philanthropy, enhance the building blocks of giving in Australia and target specific opportunities with high potential to grow giving.

The initiatives are:

1. Remove barriers to donating excess superannuation
2. Reform the DGR framework
3. Introduce a Living Legacy Trust structure
4. Champion stories of diverse philanthropic giving
5. Develop a research agenda to extend the evidence base
6. Support professional advisors to engage with clients about philanthropy
7. Introduce a bi-annual report on High Net Worth giving
8. Support Ultra High Net Worth philanthropists to engage peers in giving
9. Cut red tape to enable more place-based philanthropy
10. Facilitate community and place-based philanthropy

“This Blueprint represents the first stage in our aspiration to double structured giving by 2030,’’ Jack said. “The next stage is to build a broad coalition of support behind this goal and to flesh out the details of those initiatives that we collectively believe can make a real difference, based on evidence, collaboration and co-design.’’

Key to enabling the goal to be met, is the establishment of A Coalition of The Giving, a cross-sector group to drive, champion and lead the initiatives. PA will work with other organisations to provide that enabling support while commitments of support and funding will also be required, including from government.

“As we build back from the 2019-2020 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that there has never been a more important time for philanthropy to act, to strengthen, and to grow,” Jack said. “Philanthropy has a critical and unique role to play in addressing the many pressing social challenges facing society – it can kick-start new ways of addressing disadvantage, take risks where government does not, and provide both immediate and long-term response in times of great need.’’

The Blueprint also identifies potential additional initiatives that can be developed for the second stage of the roadmap. They include implementing a National Giving Campaign, establishing a fundraising challenge targeted at companies, supporting programs that teach children about philanthropy at school, strengthening the fundraising capacity of charities and engaging more with migrant High Net Worth individuals, including the Asian-Australian diaspora.

“We acknowledge that this blueprint addresses the “more’ component of Philanthropy Australia’s wider mission to generate “more and better philanthropy’’,’

“We very much see this Blueprint and the roadmap it sets out sitting alongside and complementing the other activities we undertake which focus on “better philanthropy’’.

He said the pressing challenges Australia confronted, including the climate change crisis, the systemic disadvantage facing our First Nations people, the power structures that bred gendered and other forms of violence, and the increasing rates of mental ill- health, underlined that there was never a more important time for philanthropy in Australia.

“Philanthropy is uniquely placed to address these challenges by providing critical support to leaders, individuals, organisations and communities who are working so hard to make the world a better place,’’ Jack said.

Next week, we will look at several of the key Blueprint initiatives in more depth.

To access A Blueprint to Grow Structured Giving, go here.

On 5-6 May, after time to reflect and refresh, we will come back together online for two days of interactive, inspiring workshops. Participants will actively discuss, collaborate and think strategically as we collectively explore what the future needs from us, now