It’s been 5 years since the creation of the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund – an opportunity to reflect and celebrate achievements to date as we look forward. The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund (CMCF) Ltd was established in 2018 with an initial contribution of $5 million from the ACT Government and is administered by Hands Across Canberra. Access to funds through the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund allows support to be directed to priority needs in a timely way. Reforms to the gaming sector in 2015 have enabled the ACT Government to continue to make this contribution.
Five years of strengthening community
In the 5 years since its inception, the CMCF has supported more than 203 projects with over $2.36 million. Grants have included programs that support individuals and families experiencing housing stress; projects that emphasise belonging and build community harmony and inclusiveness; promoting access to justice; pandemic relief support for the community sector and rebuilding from the impacts of the COVID-19; bridging the digital divide; community connectedness; raising awareness of need in Canberra; mental health support and capacity building.
We celebrate the following meaningful achievements over this five-year period:
Since 2018, the CMCF has leveraged more than $5.3 million in additional funds for priority grants. This leveraging of funds was made possible through Hands Across Canberra (HAC), which actively engages its network in co-funding and supporting projects — including the Snow Foundation; the John James Foundation; the Aspen Foundation; the Chappell Foundation; and generous local individuals and businesses like Aspen Medical and Canberra Data Centres. This has also meant that HAC and the CMCF have been able to support larger grants and multi-year projects in direct response to charities requesting more sustainable funding resources. As a result, a third of the approved applications in our most recent grant round are multi-year agreements.
Some examples of these larger projects:
- The One Box
The One Box received $50,000 for the first year and $25,000 for Years 2 and 3. This program, in partnership with Together 4 Youth and seven Queanbeyan schools, aims to address food insecurity and to promote school engagement for vulnerable families in the Queanbeyan area. The One Box provides free weekly boxes of fresh produce sourced from Australian farmers, which creates community touchpoints and builds rapport between families and school representatives.
- Mental Health Mob
The Mental Health Mob was granted $50,000 in a funding collaboration with peer foundations to enable the organisation to provide culturally safe and informed mental health services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Canberra and surrounding regions. The services include group interventions, individual and family therapy, and cultural activities and camps for youth.
The Canberra Foundations Collaborative, to which the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund is an active contributor, is testament to the work Hands Across Canberra does to foster collaboration and to bring people together to achieve a deeper impact.
The largest funding collaborative ever seen in Canberra, the Collaborative is made up of the John James Foundation, the Snow Foundation and Hands Across Canberra/Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund. It was set up in 2022 to boost health and social outcomes for disadvantaged and marginalised communities across the Territory. Since then, the Collaborative has distributed over $1,000,000 each year to local non-profit organisations, and each year it attracts more supporters and funding from other foundations, businesses and individuals.
The Collaborative has streamlined the grant application process, making it less burdensome for organisations to apply to multiple funding sources.
My day-to-day is stewarding trust and foundations, applying for grants and reporting… this is one of the best I have come across in my 3 years!
Grant applicant, the Smith Family
It has also seen cross-sector collaboration, which is a direct result of the community insight Hands Across Canberra and peer foundations have gained from a collaborative grant round. (An example of this is the collaboration between Pegasus and Galilee School on the Farm Skills for At-risk Youth project.)
In addition, the Collaborative hosts capacity building workshops for grantees throughout the year and is currently working on improving collective social-impact measurement, which will provide tools and resources to our network.
Organisations, however big or small, are able to apply for HAC/CMCF grants or to join appeals and are supported in the process. To help strengthen community organisations across the city, over the last 5 years Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund have hosted over 20 webinars and workshops on topics ranging from regulatory grant writing, fundraising, and communications to public relations and evaluation.
Hands Across Canberra has an open-door policy, meaning that organisations are able to contact our team during and beyond the application process so we can ensure applicants and grantees are supported with the HAC’s wealth of experience, networks and expertise.
Applications to HAC/CMCF have been getting stronger and more effective every year. We also see the benefit of keeping an open-door policy in the collaborations we have been able to broker — like the Southside Mower Shed (a collaboration between Canberra PCYC and UnitingCare Kippax).
To date we have been able to put 8 young people through this program, and we were excited that 4 of our young people have been picked up by other contactors in [the] construction industry, working for Programmed, after receiving the training through this project. We have expanded and [are] operating 2 vehicles, which means we are able to onboard more young people. The young people are excited once they receive their first pay packet, even though it is labour-intensive work. We have had a lot of compliments from customers and, besides doing the ACT Housing vacant properties, we have a growing private client list.
Cheryl O’Donell, CEO of Canberra PCYC
Hands Across Canberra is closely in touch with the needs of our local community and has developed deep and trusted partnerships with stakeholders. This has allowed the foundation to act quickly during crises — such as the pandemic and support recovery — with its community partners.
For Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund, collaboration, transparency and coordinating stakeholders resulted in a fast and targeted response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, local stakeholders quickly came together to learn, plan and act.
Throughout the pandemic we convened our community sector multiple times to ensure our response was appropriate to changing needs and developments. We quickly brought peer foundations on board to support the growing need to adapt service-provision in a pandemic world. Hands Across Canberra worked with crisis-relief organisations, community groups, peer foundations and the private sector to carry out rapid-response relief grant rounds. This process injected urgently needed funds from the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund into the community sector within a 1 to 2-week turnaround period, and quickly activated and brokered support from the private sector. Flexibility and relevance were key to Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund’s ability to respond during and after recovery. During this time, Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund also recognised its ability to support local, smaller organisations with their digital capacity, hosted the Canberra Recovery Appeal to support organisations with operational funding and then with recovery funding. The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund provided matched funding for these appeals.
The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has been open to funding pilots of new approaches, enabling and empowering community organisations to try out new concepts, to change course when business-as-usual doesn’t work, or to work in collaboration when the solution to complex social problems is unknown.
Because it’s hard to know the path forward from the start, supporting this type of experimentation requires a degree of flexibility which governments are sometimes unable to offer. With its greater flexibility, openness to new solutions, recognition of transformational potential, and appetite for risk, the philanthropic sector is able support finding new approaches and solutions. (For example, Hands Across Canberra partnered with the Canberra Innovation Network to apply a ‘hackathon’ method to granting.)
The following are examples of innovation and pilots the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has supported since inception:
- Canberra Community Law
Canberra Community Law’s Parachute Pilot was initiated to develop training, resources, and referral frameworks for women escaping family violence, to help them to access early legal assistance for housing and for Centrelink issues.
- Yerrabi Yurrawang
Yerrabi Yurrawang is an Aboriginal Community-Controlled Child and Family Organisation in the northern part of the ACT. A grant in 2021 supported the delivery of quality child and family services to Aboriginal Children and their families residing in Canberra’s north-west. This included culturally appropriate Mother’s Gatherings that brought together mothers, grandmothers, Aboriginal role models and an experienced social worker to develop supportive relationships, parenting skills and culture, and to connect with allied health and other social services.
- Fearless Women
Fearless Women was set up for girls and young women in the ACT, who experience greater psychological distress than in any other region of the country. The CMCF and a number of collaborators provided funding for community organisation that would seek to enhance self-belief, inner strength and resilience in young women in the Canberra region, so that they can live their lives fearlessly.
- WheelEasy
WheelEasy seeks to reduce social isolation. It’s a ‘TripAdvisor’ for access: a one-stop-shop web app that consolidates information on where to go and what to do on a day out or trip away. WheelEasy has become invaluable to Sydney’s mobility-impaired people. Funding has been provided to pilot Wheeleasy in Canberra.
- Justice Reform initiative
Funding was provided to initiate an ACT Lived Experience Speakers Bureau. This project will see people from the ACT with lived experience of incarceration appointed, trained and supported to be members of the Justice Reform Initiative’s inaugural ACT Lived Experience Speakers Bureau. Through this innovative model of public education and community connection, the ACT Lived Experience Speakers Bureau Pilot will be able to directly reach the Canberra public and raise awareness through storytelling.
- Ruby’s
Ruby’s is a collaborative undertaking that provides temporary accommodation to young people aged 12–17, while supporting them to rebuild their relationships with their family through mediation and other supports.
Each year, we request acquittals from our grantees, asking for information that demonstrates impact. This complements the outreach activities we do to follow up on outcomes and to bring together grantees regularly to share what worked and what didn’t work. This allows us to harvest outcomes which inform future granting directions. Currently, Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund are collaborating with other organisations to create an impact measurement toolset for our grantees. This toolkit will combine evaluation best practices that is useful to all sectors and will ultimately streamline the process of impact measurement. In future, we will gain a condensed impact snapshot showing key information and metrics, which will complement the processes already in place.
Since its inception, the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has been an integral part of Hands Across Canberra’s drive to increase philanthropy in Canberra – and more Canberrans are giving back each year! The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has played an integral role in our Canberra Day Appeal, which has turned Canberra Day into a day when individuals and businesses ‘give back’.
Since its inception, the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has provided $952,952 in matched funding to appeals, which has attracted more than $2.6 million in additional donations for community organisations. This attractive offer of matched funds by the CMCF and corporate partners has inspired donors to give generously. Being able to match donations dollar-for-dollar has been a strong incentive to give and has been a proven way to kick start the community’s involvement in donations in the Canberra Day Appeal. Moreover, Hands Across Canberra communicates about the local impact of donations, which makes repeat donations more likely and helps to increase the value of the initial investment even more.
What we have learned
The local relationships and knowledge Hands Across Canberra has made since it’s inception and the creation of the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund make it easier for us to identify where and how to invest in our community. We continue to look ahead to address the source of issues affecting our community and to attempt to create positive change. This is a two-pronged approach that seeks structural change for the future while providing assistance to projects supporting those in immediate need.
We consult widely with the service-delivery sector on its capabilities in tackling these issues and continue to learn from their experiences. The following are some of the key insights we have gained over the last five years:
- Hands Across Canberra and the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund can help increase our impact when we work together with partners to address community needs. The most impactful partnerships are built through co-discovery of ways forward. Throughout the pandemic and beyond we were reminded how critical it is to lead by listening and collaborating.
- Meeting community organisations where they are is key to building the capacity of the sector. It is important that we complement funding for projects with attention to building capability, connections and credentials.
- Combining cross-sector knowledge, unlikely partnerships, and ongoing measurement can be powerful. We learned this by partnering with the Canberra Innovation Network and bringing solution-oriented groups together around youth homelessness in a hackathon.
- Local and ‘hyperlocal’ organisations (like our food pantries) are a vital part of our social fabric. They have the trust, reach, and agility to support some of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in Canberra. However, they often miss out on funding from government and other funders, which require paperwork and input that are beyond their resources and capabilities.
- As the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund has proven (particularly during and in the aftermath of the pandemic) growing community foundation endowments helps build local financial resilience and capacity. It enables community organisations to access a permanent revenue stream that is flexible and responsive to needs. Also, a government’s current and/or time-limited focus may not allow it to respond to the breadth and variety of themes and causes which need to be funded.
- The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund benefits from Hands Across Canberra’s ability to foster relationships with local organisations and to ensure grants are being directed to active community needs. This was important during the pandemic and will be vital going forward as the charitable sector supports vulnerable communities through the cost-of-living crisis.
- Matched funding has been proven to be a strong incentive for community members to give and get involved. However, it must be combined with effective donor engagement and stewardship. Our ongoing communication with our supporters means they are confident that their contributions are having a positive impact on the people and places around them.
- Engaging intensely (beyond grant) making establishes deep, trusting relationships with people and organisations that are taking change forward. It takes time and resources, but it increases our understanding of their strengths and assets and enhances our ability to target our grants.
A snapshot of the 2022-23 fianancial year:
Funds distributed to date from the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund:
| Year 1 (2018–19) | Year 2 (2019–20) | Year 3 (2020–21) | Year 4 (2021-22) | Year 5 (2022-23) |
| $398,756 | $385,482 | $1,070,118* | $1,515,045 | $677,042 |
* Note: $438,566 in grants from the Autumn Grant Round were approved in June 2021 but paid in July/August
In 2022–23 the CMCF received $422,500 from the ACT Government towards operating costs and granting projects. Responding to emerging needs throughout the Canberra region, in 2022–23 the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund:
- joined with other supporters and 114 charities to run a successful Canberra Day Appeal, generating more than $850,000 in much needed funding for the community sector
- administered 1 collective grant round with Canberra’s community foundations, which supported 58 projects (valued at over $1.4 million) covering a wide range of sectors and addressing critical social issues. Of these, 21 were funded by the CMCF.
- granted $356,000 to the community sector to address challenges many Canberrans are experiencing in connection to mental health, education and employment, housing and belonging.
CMCF funding in 2022–23 focussed on addressing the challenges many Canberrans are experiencing in connection to mental health; disability; housing; and belonging.
The ACT Government also made a generous contribution of $750,000 to the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund to support the purchase of land for the next Charity House project.
The Charity House Concept: a thoughtful collaboration between government, business and the community. In some instances, the land is donated by government or funds are provided by government to buy a plot of land, then a committed builder, architects and passionate team of subcontractors design and build the house at cost with proceeds from the sale going to local charities. Read more about our most recent charity house here: Straithnairn Charity House which injected $500,000 into the community sector.
| Organisation | Project |
Amount |
| ACT Pet Crisis Support |
ACT Pet Crisis Support Tiny Vet Clinic |
$30,000 |
| Bruton Basketball Foundation Ltd (BBF) | BBF Lessons 4Life |
$ 10,000 |
| Canberra Kangaroos Football Club | Canberra Kangaroos Football Club – Pathways to Inclusion for New Australians |
$ 4,000 |
| Canberra Refugee Support Inc | Inclusion for children from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds through sports and recreation |
$ 10,000 |
| Capital Region Muscular Dystrophy | Power Chair Football League |
$ 5,000 |
| Carers ACT | Laugh with Us |
$12,500 |
| CHC Australia | Digital Literacy Program |
$4,800 |
| Doris Women”s Refuge Inc. | You are my Mother House – I love coming to Doris |
$20,000 |
| Justice Reform Initiative | ACT Lived Experience Speakers Bureau Pilot |
$30,000 |
| Little Luxton | Little Luxton – Employment Training Program |
$10,000 |
| Mental Health For Mob Aboriginal Corporation | Mental Health for Mob Aboriginal Corporation |
$17,000 |
| One Box | The One Box ~ A collaboration in Queanbeyan |
$25,000 |
| Orange Sky Australia | Orange Sky Canberra Laundry Service |
$ 20,000 |
| Prisoners Aid (ACT) | Participate |
$2,000 |
| Raw Potential Canberra | Additional mobile outreach support for at-risk and vulnerable youth |
$15,000 |
| Rebus Theatre Inc. | Rebus Theatre Staff Wellbeing Program |
$17,736 |
| The Men’s Table | The Men’s Table Across Canberra |
$16,666 |
| UnitingCare Kippax | The Lending Program |
$ 19,076 |
| Wheeleasy | Scaling the WheelEasy Access Information Web App, beginning in Canberra |
$ 25,000 |
| Woden Community Service | Driving Lessons for vulnerable young people |
$ 12,418 |
| YWCA Canberra | Youth Diversity and Inclusion Project |
$25,000 |
In addition, $255,000 in Canberra Day Appeal matched funding contributed to programme delivery and service provision of the following 101 organisations:
A Gender Agenda; ACT Council of Social Service; ACT Down Syndrome Association; ACT Volunteer Brigades Association; ADACAS; Adamas Nexus; Advocacy for Inclusion; AEIOU Foundation; Australian Red Cross; Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect); Barnardos; Beryl Women; Bosom Buddies; Bruton Basketball Foundation; Buoyed Up; Canberra City Care; Canberra Community Law; Canberra PCYC; Canberra Refugee Support; Cancer Council; Cancer Patients Foundation; Capital Region Community Serivces; Carers ACT; CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn; Cerebral Palsy Alliance; Communities at Work; Community Services #1; Council on the Ageing ACT; Cystic Fibrosis ACT; Diabetes Australia; Directions Health Services; Diversity ACT Community Services; Domestic Violence Crisis Service; Doris Womens Refuge; Epilepsy ACT; Fearless Women; Fortem Australia; Galilee School; GIVIT; Good Omen Goodeze Ltd; Hartley Lifecare; Heart Support Australia; Helping ACT; Home in Queanbeyan; Integra Service Dogs Australia; Karinya House for Mothers and Babies; Kulture Break; Lids4Kids; Lifeline Canberra; Lions Youth Haven; Little Luxton; MARSS Australia Inc.; Marymead; Menslink; Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT); Meridian; Miracle Babies Foundation; MS Limited; Music for Canberra; Newborn Intensive Care Foundation; OzHarvest Canberra; Palliative Care ACT; Parentline ACT; Pegasus; Perinatal Wellbeing Centre; Project Independence; Radio1RPH; Raw Potential; Rebus Theatre; Red Frogs; Respite Care for QBN; Right to Work; Ronald McDonald House Canberra; Roundabout Canberra; Sailability Canberra Yacht Club; Scouts ACT; Soldier On; St John’s Care; St Vincent de Paul Society; Stepping Stone Social Enterprise; Technology for Ageing and Disability ACT Inc; Tender Funerals; The Early Morning Centre; The Farm in Galong; The Rainbow Paws Program; The Right Direction Australia Pty Ltd.; This Is My Brave Australia Inc.; Toora Women Inc; UnitingCare Kippax; Volunteering ACT; Warehouse Circus Inc.; Water Wombats; WildTalking Ltd; Women With Disabilities ACT; Women’s Legal Centre ACT; Womens Shed Canberra Inc; Yeddung Mura Aboriginal Organisation; YWCA Canberra; Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast
Impact in Action: Featured Grants
Making a difference to the Canberra community through grants
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