The past year has seen some big changes among WA’s top philanthropists and how they go about their task.
Western Australia punches well above its weight in terms of philanthropic contributions.
The latest tax office data shows that philanthropic trusts in WA made tax deductible donations totalling $634 million in the year to June 2021.
That equates to 14.4 per cent of the national total of $4.39 billion, according to analysis by QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Not-for-profit Studies.
The WA numbers get a big boost from a handful of very large donors.
Recent data compiled by Business News shows that WA’s 20 largest philanthropic trusts donated $260 million in the year to June 2023.
The big donors are led by Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, the Channel 7 Telethon Trust and the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, which has dramatically increased its giving over the past five years.
However, the tax office data also shows a steady decline in the percentage of the population claiming tax deductions for charitable donations.
WA has one of the lowest claim rates of all states, at less than 30 per cent of the population.
To raise awareness and improve understanding of philanthropy, several active donors in Perth have opened up to Business News about their giving.
They include Jon Stewart, who with his wife established the Jon and Caro Stewart Family Foundation following the 2014 sale of his company, Aurora Oil & Gas.
The foundation is very much a family affair, with their daughter Phoebe O’Hare serving as managing director.
“We see this as an enduring thing post my involvement and Caro’s involvement,” Mr Stewart said.
The Stewarts’ other children live overseas but continue to be involved, proposing new projects and reviewing proposals.
“At a minimum, we want everyone to know what it is we are doing and why we are recommending doing it, so we would always have a note or a paper on each project,” Mr Stewart said.
He said charitable giving was a rewarding exercise but also taught useful skills.
“We need to manage our money, we need to comply with the regulations, we need to report, we need to evaluate new concepts and review things we are in,” Mr Stewart said.
“They are the same concepts you should have in all businesses.”
The foundation, which donated about $350,000 to 13 charities last year, has a relatively structured assessment process.
“We have criteria and people need to perform and report to us in order to maintain their funding,” Mr Stewart said.
“That’s an effective process but there are no failures in this.
“All these people are trying to do good things; some are more effective than others.”
Other philanthropic trusts, such as the Rowley Foundation, have a more informal approach.
Established by mining executive Graeme Rowley and his wife, Lorraine, it is now run by their daughters and other family members.
“Dad always said I’m giving you the gift of giving,” Lisa Rowley said.
“His desire was to make it a generational thing.
“We’ve always had the kids involved, from their teens.
“For me it’s about inclusivity and everybody being a part of the decision-making process.
“It’s about encouraging their passions and interests.”
Ms Rowley said nothing beat a face-to-face meeting to evaluate giving opportunities.
“We are not run by rules or mandates,” she said.
“You can meet somebody and decide this has a right feel.
“I get a lot more out of that than reading a piece of paper.”
Ms Rowley encourages other families to establish a private ancillary fund (PAF) to manage their giving.
“A lot of people, I think, are frightened of creating a PAF because they think it will take up so much time, it will be exhausting,” she said.
“Of course, you can make it exhausting, but it’s just not.
“We make sure we’re doing the right thing and doing it for the right reasons and giving it to what feels like the right people. That’s the best you can do.”
Mr Stewart agrees that a critical factor in giving – or, as he prefers to say, investing – is backing the right people.
“What has been 100 per cent reinforced to me is that the most important thing when you are investing is the people,” he said.
“Their commitment, their aspirations, how they plan to achieve that, what hurdles they foresee. “It’s unfair to ask if they are funded; that’s why we are talking to them.
“But each thing that has done super well, there has been a common thread of really terrific people driving them.”
Navitas founder Rod Jones has been involved in the establishment of two philanthropic trusts.
Like others, he doesn’t particularly enjoy talking about his giving, but hopes it proves beneficial.
“If it encourages someone else to do it, that’s probably a good thing,” Mr Jones said.
He established the Navitas Education Trust about 20 years ago to donate a share of profits from the business.
In keeping with Navitas’s focus on education, the trust supports educational programs for disadvantaged youth in countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh.
“They fund and build schools, especially for young girls, and focus on countries where the money adds enormous value,” Mr Jones said.
The trust aims for a minimum commitment of three years to ensure projects can be effectively implemented.
Rod Jones focuses his giving on a small number of programs where he can make a big difference.
Mr Jones also established the Jones Family Trust, which he runs with his wife and other family members.
“It gets the kids involved in something that is important,” he said.
“If you’ve managed to create a bit of wealth, I want them to understand it’s not just for them, you need to give something back.”
Like the Navitas trust, the family fund is focused on its giving.
“I’m a great believer that giving everyone a tiny bit of money doesn’t really solve anything,” Mr Jones said.
“You are better off supporting organisations with a reasonable amount rather than spreading it around.”
The family has made substantial donations to Telethon, with the money going toward cancer research.
It is also a supporter of counselling service Youth Focus, which Mr Jones chairs.
“It provides face-to-face counselling to thousands of students and young people every year,” he said.
Youth Focus is also a beneficiary of the Hawaiian Ride for Youth, which has raised nearly $32 million for youth mental health since 2003.
The Ride for Youth is one of several sporting events that feature on Perth’s annual fundraising calendar.
By far the most successful is the MACA Cancer 200 Ride for Research. It raised nearly $9 million last year.
Proceeds go to the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, which was a two-time winner at this year’s Fundraising Institute of Australia national awards.
The New Town Toyota Walk For Women’s Cancer, now in its 10th year, was named best supporter experience at the awards.
In last year’s event, 1,168 walkers raised $1.46 million.
Perkins director Peter Leedman was also a winner, named a fundraising champion of the year.
On point
Ms O’Hare says her family foundation has the capacity to support projects at the pointy end of the risk spectrum.
This means backing proven organisations that are seeking to establish new projects.
For instance, the family was one of the early supporters of Anglicare WA’s Foyer Oxford initiative, which provides accommodation and support.
Having seen Foyer Oxford become well established, the family has agreed to fund a new Anglicare venture.
“It’s called Young Hearts and it provides a counselling service for children and young adults who have been part of domestic violence,” Ms O’Hare said.
“They want to break that cycle and show it does not need to carry on.”
Mr Stewart said the family preferred to put money into specific projects rather than a general funding pool.
“Something specific that we could measure, we like to see how our money is working,” he said.
It also supports research so charities have evidence they can use to demonstrate their impact.
An example was The Fathering Project, which was able to secure government funding after compiling data on its outcomes.
Another group the foundation has supported is Blood Cancer Research Western Australia, which was established by Chan Cheah, who was named Cancer Council WA’s 2023 cancer researcher of the year.
“Chan Cheah is just a champion,” Mr Stewart said.
“He is aiming to establish a centre of excellence here in Perth.
“They had two to three trials when we first got involved and it has grown to more than 100.”
Ms O’Hare said the foundation focused most of its giving on half a dozen charities each year but was flexible in its approach.
“We will often meet with an organisation and ask what they need, what will make a difference,” she said.
Social enterprise
Like other philanthropists, Ms Rowley is keen to support organisations on a path to financial sustainability.
Recent regulatory changes have made that easier.
“One exciting thing is that the government now allows us to use our funds to make loans to not for profits, as an investment in a social enterprise,” Ms Rowley told Business News.
The Rowley Foundation has done just that in its support of Renew, a maintenance and gardening business established by Perth charity Dismantle.
“It was set up to make money so it can give to the charity,” Ms Rowley said.
“It has been winning contracts from government and we can be more constructive in growing that as a business.”
The Rowley Foundation also supports Mettle, which cares for women fleeing domestic violence.
Mettle has established a social enterprise producing corporate gift boxes.
“We provided a grant to help them build the business,” Ms Rowley he said.
“Impact investing is the term they all love.”
She said bringing like-minded people together delivered huge benefits for the philanthropic and charitable sectors.
In this regard, Ms Rowley commended the work done by Philanthropy Australia and Lotterywest to bring people together and share information to facilitate giving.
Solid foundation
Business News has drawn on data published by the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission to update its listing of philanthropic trusts in WA.
Minderoo Foundation continues to be ranked as the state’s largest philanthropic organisation by a big margin.
Its total spending on programs was $224 million in the year to June 2023.
However, grants and donations came to $156 million, according to ACNC, with the balance comprising employee expenses ($49 million) and “other” expenses ($69 million).
Minderoo has traditionally built its own programs from scratch, which helps to explain the large staffing expense.
Chief executive John Hartman is leading a major restructure that is expected to lead to increased partnering with others.
“We are committed to increasing Minderoo Foundation’s emphasis on working with our partners, getting more resources to organisations so they can accelerate the positive difference they make in people’s lives,” Mr Hartman said.
The Channel 7 Telethon Trust is ranked second, but only just.
Grants and donations last year came to $27.4 million, according to the ACNC.
That is a lot less than the figure promoted by Telethon. Its most recent annual report said it approved grants and fellowships of $56.3 million.
John Hartman is leading big changes at Minderoo Foundation, the state’s largest philanthropic trust.
The main difference is that this figure includes ‘contract liabilities’, which cover scenarios where donors, like the WA government and big corporates, channel money through Telethon but specify how it is to be spent.
The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation distributed $25.9 million to approximately 220 recipients in the year to June 30 2023.
In addition, $25.4 million was committed to be paid out over the next one to four years.
The Push for Better Foundation has had a remarkable rise. It distributed $8.1 million to beneficiaries last financial year.
Two new entries to the list of WA’s largest philanthropic trusts are the Van Der Walt Ancillary Fund and the King Family Private Ancillary Fund.
They are associated, respectively, with David Van Der Walt and Greg King, who jointly established successful property developer Ascot Capital.
The top 20 list includes several philanthropic trusts attached to hospitals and medical research institutions.
Outside the top 20 sit philanthropic trusts established by successful business owners including Simon Lee, Brettney and Annie Fogarty, the Rae family, James McClements, Nick Giorgetta and Rhonda Wyllie, to name a few.
To see details on these and nearly 100 other philanthropic trusts in WA go to the Business News website and search for Data & Insights/ Philanthropic Foundations.
