Financial Impact

The financial results of Hands Across Canberra are a consolidation of the operations of 3 entities:

1. Hands Across Canberra Ltd
2. The Public Ancillary Trust Fund
3. The Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund

Summary results for 2021–22

*Excludes inter entity charges
** comprised in part of Named Funds receipts to build the long-term Community Fund

During 2021/22 the COVID-19 pandemic continued to adversely affect local charities impacting on their ability to provide services to vulnerable people in Canberra, attract and maintain volunteers as well as raise operational funding. Despite these difficulties, the generosity of our community was on display through their support of all the appeals conducted.

The results for 2021/22 provide increased support to charities through a range of accelerated grant rounds, normal grant rounds and consolidating the Canberra Day Appeal.

In conjunction with local foundation partners in the Snow Foundation, John James Foundation, Aspen Foundation and Aspen Medical, we were able to increase the Autumn 2022 grant round conducted through the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund from $333,000 to $1,518,000.

Overall during the 2021/22 Financial Year the Hands Across Canberra Group provided direct funding to charities of $2.04m and mobilized a further $1.18m from partner foundation to provide a total of over $3m.

The Named Funds initiative designed to build our perpetual Fund corpus has continued to grow with receipts in 2021/22 expanding by $664,155. We also welcomed our first Giving Circle through the Canberra Women’s Giving Circle targeting to help vulnerable people access renewables technology.

Total funds distributed to charities were as follows:

The activities of the Hands Across Canberra Group are directed towards greater functions than just raising funds. As described elsewhere in this Impact Report our activities are distributed across 3 Pillars being

1. Raising awareness
2. Developing partnerships
3. Giving and fundraising.

In undertaking our activities we are conscious of the level of operating expenditure to ensure that we maximise the amount that goes to charities. In that regard we seek to maintain our fund raising expenses under control. Our current operating expenses profile across the 3 Pillars as percentage of total expenses is as follows

Our Giving and Fundraising expenses as a percentage of the amount of direct funding provided to charities in 2021/22 was 12.7%