In 2002 Mulder co-founded The Funding Network, a charity that runs live crowd-funding events to raise money for social entrepreneurs and grassroots organisations. He exported this model to Australia in 2013, and the organisation has since supported 130 local charities with $4.5m raised plus in-kind support.
Mulder has pledged $1m from the sale of the Lump collection to the Australian branch of TFN, which intends to expand its operations. His philosophy — born of his humble upbringing in rural Canada — is simple: “In the little town where I grew up, my mother and I were one of the poor ones, but people always treated us well and I’ve always disliked unfairness. If you think of Guernica [the 1937 mural-sized anti-war painting], Picasso hated the suffering of civilians, he hated war. If I translate that into a modern idiom, I think alleviating poverty and inequality, and protecting the environment for future generations, are all ways of preventing war. I think selling this collection and hopefully creating a legacy by which TFN in Australia can go on for years and years.”
Read the full article in The Australian here.