Lessons from a family chicken shop & the power of the arts

My parents were great role models. Growing up, there was always some form of giving in our house. We lived in Melbourne and my father, who immigrated to Australia, opened a chicken shop, that my sisters and I worked in. I remember at the end of the night, during close, there would be people waiting patiently outside the shop, and my parents would always give away food to them.

It’s my earliest memory and it showed me how my parents gave whatever they had to give.  For my sisters and I, it was our lesson of ‘you can’t be, what you can’t see’ - we saw that generosity – any form – translates to joy.

Those early memories are definitely a driver, because I’ve always liked the feeling of giving. The other big driver was having children. Andrew and I worked extremely hard during our early careers and in time we became financially secure. I remember we were invited to an event where someone spoke to us about structured giving and the benefits of establishing a private ancillary fund (PAF).

At the same time Andrew and I were reflecting how different our upbringing was compared to the world our kids are being raised in.  They have absolutely everything and feared that they would grow up with an artificial sense of comfort.  We wanted to raise responsible consumers; we wanted them to catch the bug of giving; we wanted them to find their purpose.

I’m an engineer so I liked the structure of a private auxiliary fund. When we put one in place, it changed how we thought about our giving, mainly because when you go down this path, you are making a commitment and as custodians of this giving vehicle, every year you make a donation (being 5% of the value of the portfolio) . Andrew and I always joke that you never meet an ex-philanthropist - once you're in the game, you just want to do more and more.

The way we give has transformed over the years. Both Andrew and I worked as engineers during our early careers and when we had two kids, it was such a busy time. He was establishing his own firm, and we were living in Adelaide away from family support.

I chose to step back from my technical engagement to look after our children, so I started volunteering. I volunteered my time at the school, through the parents and friends committee and then when we established the foundation, I invested my time there. About six years ago I decided to join some foundation boards in South Australia, and five of them all were in the arts which is a sector that I didn’t know anything about. Volunteering my time to these boards has certainly informed my giving.

I know, it's an incredible polarity- we’re two engineers who love data and want everything to be quantified! But what I love about the arts is how they can synthesise information and tell important stories. The arts have an incredible ability to engage communities, which is the main reason why 80% of our funding goes to the art’s sector. It gives people access to this information, whether it’s about climate change, health or our First Nations history.

This year, our foundation supported Archie Moore’s work in the Venice Biennale. His work is outstanding and although it can bring up discomfort and debate, it engages people in a way that is so important as we move through this phase of reconciliation.

We believe that creativity plays a significant role in everything we do, how we feel and who we are.  Churchill’s quote captured this well when he was asked to cut arts funding in favor of the war effort, he simply replied, "then what are we fighting for?"

One of my biggest learnings is around relationships and trust because once you get that mix right, the impact for all involved is significant.

Giving can be challenging but it's so rewarding as well. Giving does bring joy and when you look back, it makes you feel good.

I love that we've got a structure in place because we can reflect on the past seven years of work and see our achievements from inception, what we can do better and the lessons we have learned along the way.

The foundation has given us the opportunity to be innovative, to take risks, collaborate and be comfortable if we make mistakes.

If it wasn't for our move to South Australia, we would not have established our own environmental engineering firm, and it would be a different story. The networks and our connections here were what gave us the ability to establish our foundation.

Most of our giving goes to South Australia, because it’s our way of giving back to a place that was incredibly generous to us[MS1] . Donating close to home means that you are also very close to, not only, the experience but you see and feel the impact.  It’s part of our constitution for the foundation.

We also give to some national campaigns because we want other states to know that South Australia is part of the national and international philanthropic stage. Typically, Sydney and Melbourne have always been the heavy lifters, and we wanted to make the point that there’s capacity in South Australia as well.

The reason we created this foundation, was primarily to make sure our kids learn from us that not everything is about yourself. We want them to know that you have to work with the community around you: support it, witness it and feel the impact[MS2] . We hope that our kids will pass it on to the next generation like both our parents did.

The other thing is that by establishing giving habits early in life, we can shift the 2% that charities receive from inheritance. I'm forever looking at data on giving and Australian giving trends - and only 2% of inheritance goes to charity and as we are on the cusp of a generational wealth transfer, we need to capture some of that through bequests.

In terms of the sector, I think that we need to increase the number of Australian’s who give and make it easier to give. The joy of giving shouldn’t be an experience that only a select few people get to enjoy.