At Davidsons, we are committed to making a difference to the Geelong and wider community by providing honorary work, participation, partnerships, and sponsorships. We value building long term relationships with local organisations, and one of our long-standing community partners are the Geelong Community Foundation.
Who are the Geelong Community Foundation?
The Geelong Community Foundation is an example of a local organisation making a difference in our community. The Foundation was established in 2000 with the aim of making a positive and lasting difference to the people of the Geelong region. The Geelong community has needs that are not being met by other funding sources, and the Foundation encourages individuals, families, businesses, and other organisations to make donations to help meet these needs, now and in the future.
The Foundation operates in four regions: the City of Greater Geelong, Surf Coast Shire, Borough of Queenscliffe, and Golden Plain Shire. It provides grants to community organisations across a range of impact areas including aged care, community wellbeing, training and education, family, the environment, health, heritage and the arts, research and innovation, and youth.
Geelong Community Foundation’s 2023 Grant Announcements
On May 23rd 2023, the Foundation celebrated the distribution of $1.34 million into our community in the 2023/24 financial year.
“Our record total has been distributed to 51 organisations, who are meeting some of our most challenging community needs. The grant allocation brings the total distributed since our formation in 2000, to over $13 million,” shares CEO Gail Rodgers.
To learn more about the Foundation’s 2023/24 grant allocations, please click here.
This year’s grant applications totalled $3.34 million, therefore it is critical that the Foundation continues to grow its corpus to best support those in need within the Geelong region.
“Our focus this year has been to address key areas of need including mental health, domestic violence, education support, addiction, and preventative programs. These are all key issues in our community… Clearly that need is great in our region.” explains Gail.
To meet this need from the Foundation’s income, its corpus needs to grow. This is a great challenge and ongoing support from the community is required to make this happen.
How can I support the Geelong Community Foundation?
There are a number of ways you can assist the Geelong Community Foundation:
1. Create a Sub Fund
The Foundation are asking their donors to add to their Sub Fund and seeking new donors to create a Sub Fund with the Foundation before the end of the financial year;
“We are aware that Australia is going through an unprecedented transfer of wealth from baby boomers to the next generation. At this time of life, families often reflect on lifetimes of achievement and see if they have capacity to include a gift to the community as part of that transition,” shares Chairperson Michael Betts.
“As we continue to build our total funds under management, the Foundation model provides a sustainable answer to philanthropy in the Geelong region.”
2. Join the P500 Program
An alternative to creating a Sub Fund is to become part of the P500 program, which harnesses the power of collective giving to fund transformative grants through the combined $500 contributions of individuals, families and businesses. P500 provides an accessible entry point for like-minded donors across all generations to pool their donations, support their community and experience the grant-making process first-hand.
3. Donations
Additionally, a tax-deductible gift to the Foundation can be included in different types of Sub Funds, Business, Personal, Gifts in Wills (Bequest), and in Memoriam.
Contact the Geelong Community Foundation
The Geelong Community Foundation is a true foundation, building a sustainable, long-term community asset. With your help, the more it grows the more we can give. If you would like to learn more about the Geelong Community Foundation, please visit geelongfoundation.org or contact the CEO Gail on 0431 059 905 or Development Manager Tony on 0417 334 434.
If you would like to learn about other organisations we support, please visit our Community Engagement web page.
This article was written by Geelong Community Foundation CEO Gail Rogers and edited by Davidsons Marketing Coordinator Meghan Carr.
All featured photos were provided by the Geelong Community Foundation.