The Canva mission: ‘We want our giving to grow as fast as the company is growing’
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Tech company Canva’s unique approach to corporate giving is baked into its business model – to provide its visual communication platform free to educators and not-for-profits. That mission has just passed some remarkable milestones. More than 100 million teachers and students, and 870,000 NFPs in 190 countries now benefit, a gift valued at $1.5bn annually. On top of this, the Canva Foundation gave out $50m+ last year. Head of Social Impact, Robyn King, says there is much more to come.
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Impact-driven networks – this is how philanthropy can ‘fund the glue’
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 22 Aug 2025
Julia Gillard’s call to action was possibly the most oft-repeated at the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025. This Q&A with Darius Polok, Managing Director of the International Alumni Center (iac Berlin), who spoke at the event, delves into how philanthropy can invest in supporting the community networks and ecosystems necessary to achieve systems change. However, this will require shifts in perspective and practice.
‘Fund the glue’: Julia Gillard sets a compelling tone at Leadership Summit dinner
Dee Rudebeck, Advisor, News & Storytelling
Fri, 8 Aug 2025
The Pre-Summit Dinner at the National Press Club with the Hon. Julia Gillard AC was the perfect way to kick off the Philanthropy Leadership Summit 2025.She delivered a powerful opening address to frame the coming discussions on leadership for our times. The only woman to have held the Australian prime ministership, she spoke of the two roles that are now “incredibly close to my heart” – Chair of the Wellcome Trust in London and Founder and Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.
Tech founders could redefine philanthropy – and create a new opportunity for charities
Antonia Ruffell, CEO, StartGiving
Fri, 25 Jul 2025
Australia's philanthropic landscape is undergoing a quiet revolution, led by a new generation of tech founders. The recently released Australian Tech Giving Report 2025, a collaboration between StartGiving and the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia, offers the first comprehensive benchmark of personal philanthropy in the tech sector. For charities and not-for-profits, the findings present a window of opportunity, writes Antonia Ruffell, CEO of StartGiving.
What do the taxation statistics of giving reveal?
Emeritus Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes and Dr Alexandra Williamson
Fri, 11 Jul 2025
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has recently released its statistics for the financial year 2022-23, including gift tax deductions by claimed individuals, as well as the latest numbers on private and public Ancillary Funds. Both provide a backdrop for the potential implementation of recommendations from inquiries and the current Treasury consultation on ancillary fund distribution rates.
Beyond the 5% Rule: Why charity trustees should invest for impact
Paul Ronalds, CEO, Save the Children Global Ventures
Fri, 11 Jul 2025
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Or some would argue that if you want to generate social or environmental impact from your investments, you have to compromise financial returns. This debate matters because society desperately needs to unlock large, patient chunks of capital to use to scale innovations that can solve the planet’s biggest social and environmental challenges, writes Paul Ronalds, CEO of Save the Children Global Ventures.
Best practice lives at home too: Insights from North American philanthropy
Andrew Binns, CEO, Australian Communities Foundation
Fri, 11 Jul 2025
North America often looms large in the philanthropic imagination. It’s home to some of the world’s most storied foundations, biggest givers and boldest initiatives. Andrew Binns, CEO of Australian Communities Foundation, has had two weeks of meetings and conversations across Canada and the US. He has returned with a powerful reminder: the most effective and innovative philanthropy isn’t confined to one part of the world. Best practice lives here, too.
