Purpose

Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) encourages primary sub-fund contacts to have succession plans in place so that their philanthropic intentions and activities can continue once they are no longer able to be actively involved. This policy outlines ACF’s requirements for managing sub-fund succession arrangements.

Policy

• All primary sub-fund contacts are requested to identify the names and contact details of sub-fund successor contacts on their establishment form, if these are known.
• ACF will support the primary sub-fund holder to develop a succession plan. Donors are encouraged to have a ‘Statement of Wishes’ on file, which names any successor contacts and states whether the primary sub-fund contact wishes the sub-fund to continue and to distribute annually according to the sub-fund’s preferred areas of interest. This statement is a simple way of informing ACF of the donor’s wishes relating to preferred areas of interest and successor contacts.  These plans can be updated at any time by the contact in writing and provided to ACF.

Maintaining a named sub-fund:

• If the original primary sub-fund holder wishes their named sub-fund to continue, and nominates successor contact/s, they should identify in their succession plan whether they wish successor sub-fund contacts to adhere to any stated preferred areas of interests and priorities or whether these can be changed. To continue as a named sub-fund, a minimum of $20,000 must be maintained in the account at all times.
• If the original sub-fund primary contact wishes their named sub-fund to continue but does not wish to nominate a successor sub-fund contact, they may request that ACF continue to make regular grants in line with any stated preferred areas of interest. Alternatively, the sub-fund contact can request annual grants to be made in line with ACF’s granting initiatives through the Impact Fund.  The sub-fund should be maintained at $100,000
• If a sub-fund does not have a succession plan (e.g. a Statement of Wishes on file) or a named sub-fund successor contact or drops below $100,000 the sub-fund will be closed. Funds will be transferred to ACF’s Impact Fund for distribution in line with ACF’s granting initiatives.

Definitions

• Original primary sub-fund contact is the person/s who establishes the sub-fund and is the primary contact for it. 
• Successor sub-fund contact/s are persons nominated by the primary (or successor) sub-fund contact in their succession plan to continue to be the contact person for all matters relating to the sub-fund and to be able to make recommendations regarding the sub-fund’s preferred areas of interests.  Once appointed they become the primary sub-fund holder.
• Statement of Wishes outlines the primary sub-fund contact’s preferences for the future operation of the sub-fund once they are no longer able to be involved.
• The Impact Fund supports projects which progress major social, ethical and environmental issues that enable positive social change across the nation.