About Us
We are a community of giving, powered by a courageous ambition for a fairer and more sustainable Australia.
About
Our founders, Marion Webster OAM and Hayden Raysmith AM, meet with members of our giving community.
As with all communities, our story is one of evolution
We’ve been making strategic philanthropy accessible since 1997 when our founders, Marion Webster OAM and Hayden Raysmith AM, pioneered the community foundation model in Australia, establishing Melbourne Community Foundation which became Australian Communities Foundation in 2011.
As a community foundation, we’ve grown and learned a lot along the way. One thing that hasn’t changed is the special role we play in Australia’s philanthropic ecosystem and our commitment to being collaborative, agile, responsive and risk-tolerant.
Today, our giving community includes people from all walks of life, from across the nation, serving communities that span geography, gender, race, identity, culture and more. What unites us is an intention to use whatever resources we have, to make things better for people and our planet.
Together, we’re creating a fairer Australia – one where social, environmental and cultural justice is the norm.
Our Timeline
1997
Melbourne Community Foundation (now Australian Communities Foundation) is the first community foundation to be established in Australia
1998
First grants are distributed to the Melbourne community
1999
Melbourne Community Foundation initiates the establishment of a peak body for community foundations in Australia and New Zealand
2000
The first themed funds are created to bring even more donors into the collective giving model
2001
$1 million in grants given since Melbourne Community Foundation’s establishment
2005
New milestone of 30 new sub-funds and over $1 million in grants distributed in a financial year
2006
Phase 1 of MacroMelbourne launched to bring sectors together to develop strategic responses to disadvantage
2007
Scholarship Fund launched
Another milestone with more than 100 sub-funds and over $30 million funds under management
2011
Melbourne Community Foundation becomes Australian Communities Foundation reflecting its national presence and scope
2013
Founders Marion Webster and Hayden Raysmith honoured in Australia’s Top 50 Philanthropic Gifts of All Time
2015
Australian Communities Foundation transitions to an environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment approach
2016
Impact Fund launched to inspire investments in bold solutions to the biggest issues facing Australia today
Australian Communities Foundation’s Refugee & Asylum Seeker Donor Circle wins 2016 Best Small Grant at the Australian Philanthropy Awards
2017
20th anniversary celebrations
Inaugural Impact Fund grants announced with over $600,000 to be given to seven projects
2019
Australian Communities Foundation announces its intention to transition to 100 percent responsible investing
2020
The National Crisis Response Fund was launched as a collective fund to support vulnerable communities in uncertain times
2021
Australian Communities Foundation has won multiple awards for its grantmaking, including most recently the Best Grant Program Award for the Rapid Advocacy Fund at the Australian Philanthropy Awards
Australian Communities Foundation became a signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment and was recognised as a Responsible Investment Leader by the Responsible Investment Association Australasia