On Investing in people & the simplicity of giving

Coming from a rural community, I think we all grew up giving. Rural communities don't function without volunteers, so I watched my parents volunteer at all the functions and events that happened. As a family, we were always very involved. I think this kind of upbringing embeds an understanding that giving is so important for a strong community. 

What drives me to give – whether time, treasure or talent - is the idea of leaving the world in a better place than the one I've been fortunate enough to inherit. And this relates to all sorts of things: society, the landscape, and people. I'm a great believer in investing in people because they're the ones who drive the change. For me, it’s an overarching sense of responsibility because I'm in a position to give back, and therefore it’s just part of what I do. 

I think that giving will look different at different stages of your life. There are times when all you can afford to do is volunteer. If you're a teenager at boarding school, you volunteer by doing the ‘door knock’ or in my day, it was something like the 40-hour famine. 

As a young adult and with a young family, especially in a rural area, it's about finding what you can bring to the table. We've got a small school in our community, a picnic race and the fire brigade. I chose to support these causes because I wanted the community to be strong and without the structures of volunteering these communal organisations can’t function. 

I have a background in writing and journalism and when I was in my mid-twenties, I was a volunteer media officer for a statewide rural women's network which gave me insight into how serious collaboration and networking among women could influence decision-making. It really opened my eyes to how you can give purposefully, because when you bring your talent to an organisation like this, it’s an investment for a whole sector of the community. 

Nowadays I give my talent by sitting on various boards, and I can also give more fiscally as well. However, even when our children were small, we would sit down towards the end of June, with a list of organisations that were seeking donations and as a family we’d choose where we wanted to give to that year. We tried to instil in our children that even with pocket money, they had a responsibility to give back. We wanted them to know that they had an opportunity to do be active in their own philanthropy. 

My friend and co-founder Karen Seiler heard the CEO of FRRR speaking about community foundations at a conference we were both at. At the time, our community was going through local government amalgamations, where four local governments were being merged into one, and we thought that a community foundation could be a great way to bring everyone together as one region with a shared vision. 

Karen always talked inter-generationally and about how we could create impact longer term. And when you lift your eyes to that that space of intergenerational influence, it gives you the time to think about how to truly make a long term impact rather than worrying about the next month. 

Interestingly, we are on our fourth mayor in 13 years across the local government, but I'm still the chair of the community foundation. I see philanthropy providing this stability and long-term vision. We've run a community leadership program for 12 years now, which has invested in people across the region, and we have about 220 alumni. 

When you set up a community foundation, you think it's going to be all about the money. But it ends up being about people. Investing in people has become a real passion of mine because there's no limit to the rewards or what they might go onto do in the future. It has a ripple effect that goes beyond any sort of financial donation.

I think that philanthropy is really simple: think about what you have to offer and give that. Whether it’s a cake for the cake stall or chairing an organisation, there's something at every end of the spectrum. 

I’ve learned that rural communities don't function without philanthropy. It’s something I think about a lot as chair of the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Queensland. It's a critical service that people rely on and 25% of our funding relies on philanthropy and fundraising. 

I've also learned that philanthropy can be bold. It can invest in things that we believe can change. The dental van was funded by philanthropy in Queensland. And when it proved that it could make an economic and social difference, it was picked up and is now government funded. 

Philanthropy can take risks. And I think this is where women come in because they often see what needs to be done. If more women have the courage to back their vision through philanthropy, and harness other people around that, that will create powerful change. We have philanthropists at the Royal Flying Doctors Service who fund nursing scholarships and all sorts of different things. 

One of my biggest learnings is around bringing people together. When events are community and volunteer led, there’s more opportunity for connection and conversation, especially in rural areas. People don't see themselves as philanthropists, but they are doing it all the time, through their service to community. And it makes an enormous difference to social and mental wellbeing. 

For Australia, I'm hoping that we continue to develop a conversation around philanthropy, especially with the extraordinary wealth transfer that we’re going through at the moment. It's not a mature conversation across the community yet, and people tend to shy away from the term ‘philanthropy.’  

Personally, I'm really interested in developing things around the community foundation structure to provide rural communities with different ways of giving. I want to make giving accessible for those who can donate only a small amount but want to give back to the regions they come from. 

It's an interesting conversation. Women are not as overt in their giving, and traditional methods of fundraising don't always appeal to women. 

There are women who are independently wealthy and comfortable, and yet we don't seem to be as comfortable putting our hand up and being proud of our giving. I watch different audiences, and there's a difference between how men give and how women give. 

We need to fine-tune the conversation around women’s philanthropy by normalising it and designing models that organisations can use to appeal to women. I think women are very purpose-led; they need to understand what they're giving to. They want to know that their giving is going to make a difference.