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With June 30 just around the corner, our Relationship Manager, Thomas Lopez, is here to answer our giving community’s frequently asked questions for the end of financial year.
Efficient, charming, and boasting an extensive knowledge of structured giving, Thomas is passionate about helping our community get the most out of their giving.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him yet you’d be forgiven; compared to the lovely Raz – who has been with the ACF team for nearly 20 years, Thomas is a relatively new face.
To help everyone get to know him better, we’ve asked Thomas to introduce himself and answer some of your most-asked end-of-financial year questions – including where to find your donation receipts, how to access past statements, and where to find giving inspiration.
Of course, if you get stuck with any of the instructions below or we’ve missed a question, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and give us a call on 03 9412 0412 or email admin@communityfoundation.org.au.
Hello! I’m ACF’s Relationships Manager, which means I work with fundholders to find the right solutions for their giving goals and ensure they get the most out of being part of our giving community.
Before joining the incredible team at Australian Communities Foundation a little more than two years ago, I worked at Australian Schools Plus as their State Manager for Victoria and Tasmania, and at the Myer Family Company as their Philanthropy Compliance and Operations Officer.
A fact about me… I’m passionate about running! I also enjoy spending time with my three kids.
There are a few ways fundholders can donate. I’ll break them down below.
Donate online: The quickest way to donate is to access your fund by heading to our Fund Portal, logging in using your email and password, and clicking the Donate tab.
From there, you need to select your fund, enter your desired amount, and click Add to cart. Then go to Checkout and your details should be pre-filled. You can pay with either a credit card or direct debit.
If you don’t want to use your pre-filled details, that’s okay, too. Simply head to our public Donations Portal, search for your fund, and complete your donation there.
Donate via cheque: You can make cheques out to Australian Communities Foundation (please remember to clearly identify your fund name). Cheques dated and sent prior to June 30 will be provided with a current financial year date stamp (this option is only available to fundholders).
Donate via bank transfer (for large transactions): If you would like to make a direct deposit, please get in touch with the team for account details – we’re happy to help.
Anyone can search for a fund on our Donations Portal (unless a fundholder has asked for their fund to be anonymous), and fundholders can send anyone a direct link to their fund’s donation page.
To do this, type your fund’s name in the search box and then click the fund. Copy and paste the link from your browser’s address bar and send it to whomever you want – this will take anyone directly to your fund’s donation page.
Visitors to our website can also browse a list of all funds on our website, where you can filter by area of interest. We add ‘Support this fund’ buttons for funds upon request. Want to add a button to yours? Get in touch here.
Fundholders can view a list of their receipts in the Receipts tab on the Fund Portal.
To access this, simply view and download a receipt and click the blue number in the ID column. This will open the receipt in a browser where you can either print or save it to PDF.
If you have any issues accessing your receipts, get in touch with me here.
Fundholders can view a list of their monthly statements in the Statements tab on the Fund Portal.
To view and download a statement, click the blue View button on the right-hand side.
Annual fund statements for 2022/23 will be available for download as soon as our investment managers have finalised distributions, likely by early October – we’ll send all fundholders an email notification as soon as they’re ready!
Via the Fund Portal. When logging in, you should see your Current Balance on the first page.
Tip: Available Cash not what you were expecting? Available Cash takes into account any pending grants (i.e. not yet approved) and any committed payments for multi-year grants, as well as your fund’s required minimum balance ($20,000).
If you have any questions about your balance, get in touch here.
Fundholders can request a grant via the Grant Requests tab on the Fund Portal.
Alternatively, our Grants Manager, Charlene Yum, or Philanthropy Lead, Gabby Lam, can be reached on: grants@communityfoundation.org.au.
So that the team has the best chance of paying grants by the end of financial year, we ask that requests are in by 5pm Wednesday 14 June.
Our Granting Opportunities platform is the best first port of call. It contains hundreds of proposals from not-for-profits across Australia seeking funding. The platform can be filtered by location, focus areas, and target population, and know that we’ve done our due diligence on each organisation.
If you’re looking for more specific advice on where to direct your EOFY giving, contact Gabby or Charlene on 03 9412 0412 or email grants@communityfoundation.org.au
For anyone looking to open a fund, whether it’s their first or not, I always think it’s best to give us a call and chat through your giving goals to make sure you get the right fund for your needs. Call us on 03 9412 0412 or email admin@communityfoundation.org.au. Remember, new funds can be established within 24-48 hours!
If you’re already 100% sure about the details of your new fund, head to our Fund Establishment Form and follow the prompts.
Tip: Your fund’s name can be changed at any time, so no need to decide on one before June 30 – just enter a dummy name when filling out the form and we can change it for you when you’re ready.
We have a page on our website dedicated to introducing people to funds and foundations at ACF. Anyone with the link can jump on and see how easy it is to get started: communityfoundation.org.au/get-started-with-giving. There are stories from the community, tips for getting started, and a brochure with all the different ways ACF can support giving journeys.
After someone fills out the form on that page, one of us from the ACF team will be in touch to give advice on the best giving options tailored to that person.
The team can be reached on 03 9412 0412 during business hours. We’re on standby to answer all of your EOFY queries!
