Community Foundations Australia

Goodbye 2024! What a year it's been – we crisscrossed the country on a mission to get to know our members and their communities, we held our first-ever Forum Week, saw huge progress made on the DGR reform front, and welcomed to our small but agile home team Dylan Smith, our new Senior Director, Foundation and Field Development. We're looking forward to greeting the challenges and successes 2025 will bring with renewed energy and commitment – but for now, it's time for some hard-earned R&R. The CFAus office will be closed from Friday, December 20 until Monday, January 6. Until then – we hope that you make the most of this summer holiday season, however you choose to spend it!

"As the week wraps up, and the deepened and newly formed connections scatter back to communities across Australia and internationally, we hope the light from these constellations carries fresh hope, abundant curiosity and new opportunities." So writes Nicole Richards of the Northern Rivers Community Foundation, in her Forum Week wrap-up. Hers is the final piece produced in conjunction with Alliance magazine as part of our media partnership. We're very happy to have a local perspective to really 'bring things home'! Thank you again to Nicole and fellow contributors John Huigen (Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation), Harriet McCallum (Maniferra), and Stacey Thomas (The Wyatt Trust), for sharing your insights into the vital work being done by Australian CFs with the global philanthropy sector. #Horizons2024 https://lnkd.in/gEswtuRZ

"Nodding with, and even saying, ‘we have to roll with an abundance mindset’ is great… and good…and not as simple as all of that. The good news is that I also walked away with some new friends and advocates for what we are hoping to do and what we are doing." John Huigen (Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation) brings home his trilogy of reflections on Forum Week for Alliance magazine. Just one more piece to come in our series of Forum Week reflections, written by our friends and colleagues as part of our media partnership with Alliance... #Horizons2024 https://lnkd.in/gP7Ec_N3

"The decisions and culture we establish now will flow through for years to come: how we start is how we’ll continue." John Huigen of the Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation returns to the Alliance blog with the second instalment of his Forum Week journey. Follow along through the link below - and stay tuned for the final couple of Forum Week reports from our friends and colleagues, written as part of our media partnership with Alliance ✨ #Horizons2024

"Communities generating solutions is as old as humankind. There are so many reasons why communities aren’t the sources of ideas and solutions as much as they used to be, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be again." In her blog post for Alliance magazine, Harriet McCallum (Executive Officer of Mannifera) reflects on the special qualities of both community foundations and the Northern Rivers region, our Forum Week host region. This reflection is the third in our series on Forum Week, written by a few friends and colleagues from around Australia and produced as part of our media partnership with Alliance. Further chapters to come! #Horizons2024

"As we all listened deeply to the sharing of perspectives, one important theme emerged: language matters. It matters if one wants to build connection and trust. It matters if one wants to be heard and understood." Stacey Thomas, CEO of The Wyatt Trust, reflects on the #ShiftThePower Summit and the theme of language in her blog post for Alliance magazine. This reflection is the second in our series on Forum Week written by a few friends and colleagues from around Australia, as part of our media partnership with Alliance. Further chapters in to come! #Horizons2024

Congratulations to Diane Bray AM FAICD FFIA, recipient of this year's coveted Sue Charlton Lifetime Achievement Award! Announcing the award at the NCFForum, CFA Chair Ben Rodgers said: "Di has been instrumental in supporting the inception, growth, and relevance of community-based philanthropy in Canberra and beyond, stewarding and raising awareness of the national association through her leadership role on the Community Foundations Australia board, as well as fostering partnerships with other community foundations. She's also a passionate advocate for community philanthropy and service." Sadly, Di was unable to attend the Forum, but CFA board member Peter Kent was able to pay her a visit and present her with a very special prize – a painting by Arakwal man Nigel Stewart and his daughter, as chosen by Amy Colli of the Northern Rivers Community Foundation.

"I’m 30,000 feet above the Simpson Desert, between Mparntwe Alice Springs – in the very heart of the remote Australian desert – and Sydney" – a cinematic opening by John Huigen in his first blog entry for Alliance magazine! As part of our media partnership with Alliance, the magazine is publishing a series of reflections on Forum Week, penned by John (Executive Director, Mparntwe Alice Springs Community Foundation) as well as friends and colleagues from Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Northern Rivers. Further chapters in their Forum Week journeys to come! #Horizons2024

And that's a wrap! As we begin to process all the conversations and ideas exchanged over the last few days, we wanted to take a moment to issue a great big thank you to the Northern Rivers Community Foundation plus ALL of our wonderful hosts and participants. Whether you walked 10 minutes down the road, or, like Barry Knight, flew for 42 hours (!), we are so grateful to you for making the trip to join us for the #ShiftThePower Summit and/or the NCFForum. How energising to be amongst so many new and old friends, community members and allies. We hope that you take this energy home and into the new year, letting it flow through your work, your organisations, and, of course, your communities. Keep us in the loop as these new relationships and initiatives take root! #Horizons2024

The NCFForum closed out with a presentation from Eloise Bentley and "recovering statistician" Barry Knight (pic 1) about capturing data from Forum Week and the importance of building a decentralised field, as opposed to one that is centralised or distributed. This message resonated strongly with Georgia Mathews' (right, pic 2) wonderfully galvanising presentation on "resource transfers", a new model of supporting CFs being developed and put into use by CFA - a model that Georgia promised "is going to become a lot more familiar to you". "They're not grants," she said, because "more often than not, they won't be monetary, but rather take the form of investing directly in the needed resources." The idea is that resource transfers can work to boost the impact of multiple CFs in one fell swoop - a very exciting note on which to finish! In his closing remarks, CFA CEO Ian Bird issued shout-outs to the people who worked tirelessly to make Forum Week come together, including Rosie Funder (left, pic 2), Camille Furtado (centre, pic 3), Jane Hawthorne, Caitlin Hogg and our on-the-ground event planner Sally Gilbert - and we mustn't forget Mia Tinkler (right, pic 4), who got it all on camera, and documented so memorable moments! #Horizons2024