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River Murray flood disaster banks on new philanthropic fund

Flood-ravaged River Murray regions are being helped on their road to recovery by a new fund established by Foundation SA – as it helps businesses and families to set up their own philanthropic “mini foundations” minus the red tape.

Mar 20, 2023, updated Mar 20, 2023
Flood water blocks the main Bookpurnong Road between Berri and Loxton in the Riverland on December 13. Photo: Belinda Willis/InDaily

Flood water blocks the main Bookpurnong Road between Berri and Loxton in the Riverland on December 13. Photo: Belinda Willis/InDaily

Established in 2020, the organisation is the first of its kind in Adelaide and now oversees 20 separate funds established for businesses and individuals wanting to distribute grants without the burden of overseeing tax and governance requirements.

Foundation SA philanthropy and engagement manager Sophie Doyle said these range from a gumnut account started by a family in honour of a newborn to larger corporate sub-funds where businesses use the foundation’s tax-deductible status and governance capabilities to distribute grants.

The non-profit was established with seed funding from one of the state’s largest philanthropic endeavours, the Wyatt Trust, to support groups or individuals in building their own structured giving that Doyle said would normally need at least $1 million to cover establishing a private foundation.

Doyle said the minimum entry point of $20,000 is invested and those setting it up can “retain control about where donations” are spent.

“We provide a service to take away those elements of running a foundation,” said Doyle, a former Philanthropy Australia SA and WA state manager, adding that it meant a group or individual could indicate where they wanted to contribute or they could use Foundation SA researched organisations or programs to support.

In South Australia, there are a few high-profile private philanthropic groups including the Wyatt Trust established in 1881 and the Fay Fuller Foundation established by Margaret ‘Fay’ Fuller in 2003.

The James and Diana Ramsay Foundation was established in 2008 and has granted over $20m.

Doyle mentioned named the Coopers Brewery Foundation, BankSA Foundation and the CMV Foundation among the corporates saying there are also other high-net private families and individuals that keep their philanthropy low profile.

Foundation SA has three main elements to its offerings.

It creates funds for individuals or organisations, manages its own fund where donations can be added for its own grant systems established last year and a new disaster response fund.

This means it can pool donations from private foundations along with tax-deductible donations from the general public.

Its new public campaign through the disaster recovery fund was started to support the well-being and recovery of Riverland and Murraylands communities hit by life-changing floods earlier this year.

“We have already raised more than $70,000,” Doyle said, adding that the foundation is working with the state flood coordinator, Rotary groups throughout the Riverland and government to establish how this money is best distributed.

“We are trying to demonstrate that in times of natural disaster we can be the portal to make this happen.”

Sophie Doyle is overseeing the disaster response fund with Foundation SA. Photo: supplied

ChemSupply Australia has established a sub-fund with Foundation SA that started with a $20,000 grant to FoodBank SA.

Chief executive officer Adrian Cerchez said the sub-fund structure meant his business’s commitment to community donations was formalised.

“We wanted to legitimise (fundraising and donations) so that it’s one of the things we do at work not just a thing some people do sometimes during the year, we call it almost like our fourth division called CSA Community,” he said.

The company has more than 100 staff and the new fund means Foundation SA has tax and governance rules covered instead of it being a role for the company’s own chief financial officer.

Staff are now in control of how money is distributed, creating the “powerful benefit” of a giving culture that is growing in the workplace, Cerchez said

Doyle said the range of sub-funds being managed by Foundation SA varied.

Some were gumnut accounts like one established by parents to honour a new baby being born, they contribute $2000 a year until the total reaches $20,000 and funds can be distributed to charities or causes of their choice.

Conservationist Dr David Paton and his daughter Dr Fiona Paton, lead the first charity to establish a Future Fund with Foundation SA in September 2022, called Bio.R.

The charity was established in 2007 to reconstruct habitat, particularly in the Mount Lofty Ranges, to prevent species loss in South Australia.

Bio·R’s work is largely funded by philanthropic donations from long-term supporters, including foundations and individual donors.

“Whilst we do receive some funding from grants and government sources, our organisation’s strategic vision and sustainability model is to grow our relationships with donors so that we can have stable funding for scaling up our restoration projects,” Paton said.

“The Mount Lofty Ranges area is one of 15 biodiversity hotspots in Australia, as important ecologically as the Great Barrier Reef. We aim to put back 150,000 hectares of restored, diverse habitat to prevent wildlife extinctions.

“This is Bio·R’s ultimate long-term goal, with shorter strategic goals of 100 hectares per annum by 2030 and 1,000 hectares per annum by 2050.”

Doyle said the foundation also works with four other similar South Australian regional organisations, Stand Like Stone Community Foundation, Eyre Peninsula Community Foundation, Foundation Barossa and Fleurieu Community Foundation.

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