TOP 200 Aussie Philanthropists

It’s a regular topic of discussion in Australian philanthropy: how much do wealthy Australians give – and is it enough? The answers can be found in a new list of Australia’s Top 200 philanthropists has been released by research consultancy, Fundraising, Research & Consulting.

Some eight families, foundations and individuals are at the top of the list having donated more than $100 million so far.

And it seems the ‘Fs’ have it: Fairfax, Feeney and Forrest are the top three family surnames of philanthropists who have so far donated more than $100 million to Australian causes – the Fairfax Family, Chuck Feeney and Andrew and Nicola Forrest.

In 2011, Fundraising Research and Consulting (FR&C) put together a list of over 100 Australian donors (and some non-Australian donors to Australian causes) who have given over $1m.

The organisation has now updated the list with more than 200 individuals and families.

“We’ve only included people and families whose philanthropy has been mentioned in the public domain – either with a firm figure or with an estimate of their giving,” Principal, Charlotte Grimshaw and Managing Director Conor McCarthy from FR&C said.

“We’ve provided links to the sources we’ve used for each person’s giving. We’ve drawn on previous published lists and added a lot of information from our Giftsearch database and our own researches.”

The GiftSearch database has more than 150,000 Australian donations listed, worth more than $1.8 billion.

Known giving over $100m

• Fairfax family – over $97m in total giving via Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation since 1962; Tim Fairfax gives over $3m per annum through Tim Fairfax Family Foundation including $1m+ to National Portrait Gallery
• Chuck Feeney – c. $500m in Australian giving via Atlantic Philanthropies. Recent giving includes $4m to University of Tasmania (2012)
• Andrew and Nicola Forrest – joined The Giving Pledge in 2013, pledging to give away half their wealth, making them the first Australians to pledge giving billions of dollars. Giving to date includes c. $80m in company shares to Australian Children’s Trust (2007), $2m to the launch of the Australian Employment Covenant/Generation One initiative on indigenous employment, and a further $50m in shares to various charities in 2011 plus a further $5m in shares to Murdoch University and four WA performing arts organisations, and a $3m cash donation to complete the Art Gallery of WA’s $25m campaign. Donations in 2013 include $1m to the Salvation Army.
• John Kinghorn – Established Kinghorn Foundation in 2005 with $300 million, $25m to Garvan Institute (2009)
• Myer Family – $179m in total giving to 2012, via the Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund, not counting additional giving by Myer family members via their own foundations and PAFs. Recent giving includes a $10m gift from the Myer Foundation, the Ian Potter Foundation, and Martyn and Louise Myer to the University of Melbourne (2013)
• Clive Palmer – $100m for medical research and remote WA communities (2008), $6m to Duke of Edinburgh Awards Program (2010)
• Estate of Sir Ian Potter – Over $170m in total giving since 1964, including $15m to the National Gallery of Victoria (2000), $8m to the Australian Ballet (2010), $15m to the Peter McCallum Cancer Foundation (2012), and $10m to fund the Ian Potter Concert Hall at Monash University (2013)
• Talbot Family – Bequest from Ken Talbot to Talbot Family Foundation of c. $300m (2010)

Known giving over $50m

• Estate of William Buckland – the William Buckland Foundation distributes around $5m per annum, with total giving to 2010 reaching $74m
• Gates Foundation – over $50m in Australian giving, including $12.4m to UNSW (2008), $9.7m to Murdoch University (2004), $8.7m to George Institute (2007), $5m to Australian International Health Institute (2004), $4.4m to QUT (2009), $2.9m to QUT (2008), $2.9m to Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (2007), $2m to University of Queensland (2008), $4m to University of Queensland (2013)
• Lowy Family – $10m to UNSW for the Lowy Cancer Centre (2007), c. $15m to sport and Jewish causes in 2005, $30m to create Lowy Institute for International Policy (2003)
• Graham and Louise Tuckwell – $50m to ANU for a scholarship fund (2013)
• Greg Poche – $40m to melanoma research (2005) and $20m to indigenous health (2008, 2010)

For the full list see here.