In response to this crucial moment, Australian Communities Foundation is adapting the Impact Fund to do things a little differently this year.

As a signatory to Australian Philanthropy’s Pledge in response to Covid-19, we committed to stepping up and acting “with urgency and purpose, to stand alongside our grantees and partners, and the people and communities dealing with the deep and enduring challenges of Covid-19.” 

So, how are we adapting the Impact Fund’s work to reflect this commitment? 

In May, we invited our giving community to co-fund four agile grants in direct response to Covid-19. Together, we raised $200,000. This crucial support is helping our partners respond to the dangers presented by the virus for immigration detainees, tackle misinformation online, secure a permanent increase to JobSeeker, and ensure a recovery from the crisis that delivers on climate action.

Now, we are announcing a new, ‘Supporting our Partners’ grant stream for the Impact Fund.

For this stream, we are calling on our community to join us in contributing to the core costs of some of the partners we have collectively funded in the past. We’re doing this because right now, their funding sources are unreliable and philanthropic giving is set to decrease over the coming years as a result of the economic downturn.

The new stream is also inspired by the generosity many members of our giving community have shown recently by continuing, or increasing, their support in tough times for the organisations they know and love. In 2019/20, our giving community increased its granting by 34 per cent, and 30 per cent of all grants given were for untied operational support.

We’re acting on the specific promises laid out in the Pledge by providing untied funding and adopting more flexible reporting arrangements for this new stream.

To ensure we provide continued support across the Fund’s impact areas, we’re backing up a partner from each area: Alliance for Gambling Reform (tacking inequality); Alannah and Madeline Foundation (strengthening democracy); Country Needs People (safeguarding the environment).

These partners have already done incredible things with past support from the Fund:

• Alliance for Gambling Reform:
  • Announcements from Woolworths and Coles in 2019 that they are both divesting from poker machines
  • Commitments from eight Australian Football League clubs to depart the pokies industry
• Australian Gun Safety Alliance:
  • Establishment of Australia’s first coalition for gun law reform, bringing together 20 high profile organisations to counter Australia’s gun lobby
  • Australian Gun Safety Alliance now the first port of call for media and policymakers for comment and direction on firearms policy
• Country Needs People:
  • 30 million hectares of new Indigenous Protected Areas under development
  • Over $700 million in federal funding to support indigenous rangers until 2028
  • Growth from campaign to independent organisation

As for the Fund’s fourth impact area, supporting Indigenous self-determination, we are treating this a little differently and putting forward a grant to the Indigenous-led fund, Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong. If we’re serious about Indigenous self-determination, it is imperative that we support Indigenous leadership in philanthropy.

Progress on these issues takes time. Each of these partners needs our support throughout the crisis and beyond to ensure we build back better and move towards a fairer and more sustainable Australia for all.

For more information or to co-fund with us, visit the project pages on our Granting Opportunities platform:

• Alliance for Gambling Reform
• Australian Gun Safety Alliance
• Country Needs People
• Blak Loungeroom – Koondee Woonga-gat Toor-rong