3 December 2014
On Tuesday 2nd Dec, 132 Melburnians gathered for the last Funding Network event for the year to pool funds and resources to support some of the most exciting social change makers in Australia.
The event, hosted by AMP and Eluvia, saw four organisations each pitch their ideas in just six minutes, then answer probing questions from the audience eager to understand more about their growth plans.
E.motion21, who provide dance classes for children and young adults with Down syndrome, pitched for a volunteer coordinator. Good Cycles, who run a bike business employing and engaging refugees, youth offenders and other disadvantaged people, asked for funds to buy and equip twenty bicycles for their community city rides program “Good Rides”. Mayibuye, who use the power of dance, mentoring and community to improve the lives of disadvantaged people in Australia and overseas spoke about the need for a dance space in Collingwood. Team Wild Yachting, who improve the lives of serial youth offenders by giving them a sense of community and purpose by taking them on sailing trips to clean Australia’s waters, pitched for funding to help 10 of their young beneficiaries sail.
Although diverse, these organisations were united in their commitment to become sustainable. They explained that the donations would result in returns for the community that were ten fold the value of the money, and it hit the mark.
Hands flew up in the air and pledges ranging from $100 to $1000 flowed. This was amplified by the AMP Foundation generously providing match-funding for each donation up to the value of $5,000 for each project. In less than 30 minutes over $62,400 was raised to help scale these fledging non-profit organisations.
The Funding Network has held 9 events in Sydney Melbourne and Perth that has raised over $1.3m plus significant in-kind support in its first year. The events have exposed over 1,000 people to the joy of collective giving and raised awareness of a myriad of social issues and solutions to help address them.
Next year TFN will be holding events in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. If you would like to become a part of TFN, you can join our mailing list or become a member. By becoming a part of TFN you can help even more small non-profits make a meaningful difference in our communities.