What I’ve learnt on my giving journey: Ede Horton

“Giving is a part of the way I live my life and help others and the next generation,” says Ede Horton, who has been giving through her Named Fund at Australian Communities Foundation for over 20 years. 

After establishing the E.M. Family Trust in 1998, Ede found out about the giving community through friends and opened the E.M. Horton Family Fund in 2000. 

Today, Ede focuses her giving on education and community wellbeing, with a particular interest in supporting social justice and environmental sustainability through advocacy and community involvement. 

“Change takes time and patience. A lot of the work that’s being done is ground-breaking, and so it’s a journey for everyone. 

“The blood, sweat and tears that go into the work to make change possible and the ingenuity, tenacity and courage is so inspiring. It’s a privilege to be part of this. 

“People assume philanthropy is something that other people do in other countries – that it’s big organisations and it’s not community-based. And I think one of the wonderful things about ACF is that I’m a small individual donor but I can contribute my gifting with other people in ACF, and really make an impact. 

“I feel everyone wants to share and be generous. I’m at my best when I’m giving to others and being engaged in the world, looking towards a fairer and more equitable society.” 

Building a life, not just building wealth: V&F Housing Enterprise Foundation

Over the past 25 years, Australian Communities Foundation (ACF) has helped hundreds of everyday philanthropists increase the impact of their giving by providing strategy, support and structure that takes donor ideas and turns them into a reality. 

V&F Housing Enterprise Foundation, a private ancillary fund (PAF) created by Ondine Spitzer and Hugh Belfrage, is a recent example of ACF’s end-to-end support offering for private foundations. 

Using ACF’s experience and expertise, Ondine and Hugh have embarked upon an important and ambitious giving journey that aims to alleviate the housing affordability and accessibility crisis in Australia. 

“We see housing as a fundamental human need, up there with food and water,” explains Hugh. 

Hugh and Ondine agreed early on that targeting a single, fundamental issue in a structured way with their giving was preferable to making ad hoc donations to a range of causes. After researching different philanthropic structures, the pair opted to establish a private ancillary fund. 

“The PAF gave us control about how we could direct the funds philanthropically and ACF helped us set everything up administratively and legally – it’s been a very positive experience,” Ondine says. 

After the initial set up and preliminary scoping of their own, Hugh and Ondine realised they had reached a point where they “were not sure where to go from here”. 

“We came back to ACF to talk about getting regular and ongoing support to help set us on our way and that’s been instrumental to getting us where we are,” Ondine explains. 

“ACF helps us stay focused on our idea and brings us back regularly to look at the tasks and break things down into bite-sized pieces,” Hugh says. “They’ve helped us broker discussions with housing sector experts, economists, taxation experts, academics and develop a brief to commission research,” Hugh says. 

“We’re just two people but we hope we can do our part to build a broader campaign or movement.”

Making a difference doesn’t take millions of dollars: Linh Do

Linh Do is not the type of person who splashes in the shallows. Her climate activism began in a very public way at age 16 when she initiated the Change a Million Light Bulbs campaign. Since then, her personal and professional focus has not wavered from three colossal pillars: social movements, climate justice and systems change. 

One of her guiding philosophies is to learn while doing. 

“Taking action is the best antidote to any form of paralysis. That’s why my answer to anyone who’s unsure about what they can do about the climate crisis or how to start giving is always, ‘Just start’. 

“I’m not someone who has gazillions of dollars, and I also don’t think that money will solve absolutely everything. But there is something about knowing that I’m able to make a difference. 

“My parents came to Australia as refugees and growing up, they taught me that there was always something we could be doing to help other people.” 

Linh’s structured giving journey with Australian Communities Foundation began with a Gumnut Account, which she has grown over time to become a Named Fund. 

“For me, working with Australian Communities Foundation has been super useful,” Linh says. 

“At the bigger picture level, it has helped me think more strategically about my giving decisions rather than being a bit ad hoc. At the smaller picture you can’t overlook the administrative benefits of having a structure to participate in that guides you along.” 

HONOURING A CHAMPION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN MELBOURNE’S WEST: LYNNE WANNAN FUND 

Established in 2020 to honour the work of one of Melbourne’s most recognised advocates for social justice, the Lynne Wannan Fund awards grants to young people in Melbourne’s west. 

Activist, advocate, community builder and policymaker, Lynne Wannan AM, was committed to making a difference. 

When Lynne passed away in 2019, some of Lynne’s closest friends and family, including her husband and co-founder of Australian Communities Foundation, Hayden Raysmith AM, came together to establish a fund in her memory. 

In partnership with scholarship organisation Western Chances, the Fund honours Lynne’s legacy each year by awarding a scholarship to a young student to further pursue her chosen education or career. 

“Lynne was always a strong advocate for women and their careers,” says Hayden, “and that involved creating career paths and ways in which young women could get qualifications.” 

Importantly, says Hayden, the award also honours Lynne’s legacy by leaving it to the recipient’s discretion as to how to use it. 

“Lynne was a great supporter of that approach: to support young women to get on with their lives and make the most of their opportunities. We don’t need to tell them how to do it.” 

Using business as a force for good: Nation Partners

“Making a difference to the communities and environment in which we operate is not only an opportunity, but our responsibility,” says Nation Partners Managing Director, Matthew Nation. 

The Melbourne-based management consulting firm, which is a certified B Corporation, had historically distributed at least $20,000 each year in donations to support various causes and charitable organisations. 

“We were at a point in our giving journey where we felt we were ready to increase this amount and bring some structure and strategy to how these resources are used in the future,” Matthew explains. 

“With the help of the Australian Communities Foundation, we established the Nation Partners Profit with Purpose Fund to support communities across Australia to design and lead interventions that address the injustices they face, while tackling climate change. 

“Through the Fund, we’re committed to directing four per cent of all profits to social and environmental causes carefully selected by our team at Nation Partners. 

“To us, this is the natural next step in using business as a force for good. We’re thrilled to have created an approach that reflects the way we work and do business and can’t wait to continue giving!” 

Peninsula Kingswood Community Fund

The Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club (PKCGC) on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is home to an engaged group of people who care about their community. 

After reopening in 2019 following a major redevelopment, the Club began looking to give back to the community in a more structured way. 

Glenn Fernandez, Board Director at PKCGC and Chair of the Peninsula Kingswood Community Fund has been involved with the Club’s Board since 2017. When the opportunity to establish a foundation for the Club came along, he says, “I jumped and said, ‘I’ll do it!’” 

As the Club embarked on its giving journey, Glenn was faced with the prospect of setting up a philanthropic vehicle from scratch. 

“It’s that nitty gritty stuff, the operationalising, once we understood that, it made sense for us to be a sub-fund and Australian Communities Foundation was very aligned in terms of what we were looking for, both in its approach and philosophy.” 

Not even one year in and the Peninsula Kingswood Community Fund is off to a flying start, bringing the whole Club along for the ride. 

“We’re supporting the Living Free project, which helps young girls and women caught up in the justice system,” Glenn explains. “There’s also one of the local Frankston primary schools, which we’re supporting through the Our Place initiative.” 

Glenn says the Community Fund has not only provided a renewed sense of purpose for the Club, but also an inspiring opportunity to embrace a new generation of golfers and a healthier community in Frankston and surrounds. 

Community-led forestry and climate justice in Timor-Leste: With One Seed

“WithOneSeed is about growing trees, not just planting trees,” says Andrew Mahar AM, Co-Founder and Project Director at WithOneSeed. 

“It’s about climate justice, sustaining development and achieving climate regulation at local and national levels in Timor-Leste.” 

Established in 2010, WithOneSeed runs the largest community-led forestry program in Timor-Leste. 

“Our approach is to work in partnership with small landholder subsistence farming communities,” explains Andrew. “We pay tree farmers an annual incentive payment to nurture their trees on their own land, giving our trees a much higher survival rate. 

“We started in 2010 with 12 farmers who planted 3,000 trees in the first year. Today, there are over 980 tree farmers engaged in managing around 200,000 trees.” 

Joining Australian Communities Foundation in 2012, WithOneSeed has been using a Future Fund over the past decade to give people the opportunity to make tax-deductible donations towards the program. 

As the program continues to develop, WithOneSeed is working to democratise carbon markets and continue to open up the opportunity for smallholder farmers to generate an income from growing trees.