Looking for the latest sector news? Catch up on what’s happening across the world of funding, philanthropy, and research with the latest updates from Team SG’s busy research team.
The research team at Strategic Grants spend hundreds of hours every month reviewing newsletters, funder sites, LinkedIn and many other resources to find funding and grants to enter and update in the Grants Expertise Management System (GEMS) for our for-purpose clients.
We also share relevant articles with the rest of Team SG as our commitment to keeping up-to-date with what’s happening across the sector here at home in Australia and New Zealand, and across the globe.
Here are some of highlights from the past month.
Latest sector news
Australian Charities Report 10th edition
The 10th edition is full of data and statistics that we all love reading about. Some interesting and important ones to note:
- Charities remain a major employer, accounting for 10.5% of the Australian workforce;
- Charities distributed nearly $12 billion in grants and donations in the 2022 reporting period an increase of 21% on the previous reporting period;
- The sectors’ assets are $457 billion during 2022 with total liabilities at $158 billion.
Read more: https://www.acnc.gov.au/tools/reports/australian-charities-report-10th-edition
Insights from First Nations leaders on best-practice giving
A great 1-page guide developed by the Australian Communities Foundation after a Learning Circle about Investing in First Nations Advocacy for self-determined futures. The guide will support their funders and gives eight recommendations to consider.
Read more: https://www.communityfoundation.org.au/about/news-and-media/insights-from-first-nations-leaders-on-best-practice-giving
Developing a successful social investment approach: Supercharging social investment in Aotearoa New Zealand
The white paper released by Ākina goes into detail of how and why Social Impact Investment should be implemented and approached within New Zealand and should be read by political leadership, policymakers, investors, nonprofit organisations, and other stakeholders. The paper goes into insights into its benefits, challenges, and opportunities, including three recommendations.
Read more: https://www.akina.org.nz/impact-stories/social-investment-white-paper
Several articles relating to the resignation of Melinda French Gates from the Gates Foundation and continuing her philanthropy
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates has resigned as a co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However she will continue her giving philosophy through Pivotal Ventures which she started in 2015. Her focus is specifically around investing in women and girls.
Read more: https://www.forbes.com.au/news/investing/melinda-french-gates-pledges-1-5-billion-to-women
How can you challenge the power and practices of philanthropy?
This is presented in both text and podcast form for easy listening or reading based on your preference. The two speakers, Farra Trompeter, co-director at Big Duck, and Lisa Pilar Cowan, vice president of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation in New York, talk about the concepts of trust-based philanthropy and ways some funders are working with nonprofits. They go into how providing multi-year general operating support grants can frees up time for planning and the service delivery rather than the fundraising.
Read more: https://bigduck.com/insights/how-can-you-challenge-the-power-and-practices-of-philanthropy
Let’s go beyond ‘One Foundation’: The promise of changing practices in philanthropy
This is an article written by Claire Poelking, Program Officer at the MacArthur Foundation based in the US and providing funding worldwide. She writes about the call from nonprofits for more general operating support and multiyear grants and the need for more trust-based and unrestricted funding.
Read more: https://cep.org/blog/lets-go-beyond-one-foundation-the-promise-of-changing-practices-in-philanthropy
Philanthropy 4.0: What form of giving enables transformative change?
This is another article delving into the way philanthropy can change from transactional to transformational but acknowledging the complexity of accelerated disruptions, social and environmental breakdowns.
Six harmful ‘gender norms’ identified as key levers for meaningful change: Deloitte report
An article analysing the Deloitte report into gender norms and how much further Australia needs to go into addressing these challenges.
Wise words: Jill Reichstein OAM and Jemima Myer
A discussion between an Australian funder and a “new gen” member in the philanthropic field about their “why” and “how”.
Read more: https://www.philanthropy.org.au/news-and-stories/wise-words-jill-reichstein-oam-and-jemima-myer
Annual or Impact Reports released:
Mannifera 2024 Impact Report
Read more: https://mannifera.org.au/grant-impact-report-2023-24
Macquarie Group Foundation | 2024 Annual Review
As always, the Strategic Grants team are here to help with all your grant-seeking needs, including building a customised grants calendar for your non-profit which includes Trusts, Foundations and Public and Private Ancillary Funds. Find out more about our grants database GEMS, and sign up for your free demo, here. For more sector news, visit our blog.