Regeneration. It’s not only sport teams, corporations or maybe political parties that need to consider young blood and succession planning. Many of Australia’s major philanthropic foundations are facing a need to future-proof their decision-making.
It’s a sad reality that some of our greatest philanthropists are now leaving the stage, or soon will be. That wave of phenomenally successful Australian business titans who roared through the second half of the last century, and the first quarter of this one, are starting to, not unreasonably, disappear from the corporate scene, and from the foundations they established.
That means succession planning is underway, and not in a small way. Consider this statistic: according to a report released last year by JB Were, data suggests there will be an Australian wealth transfer through inheritance of $5.4 trillion over the next two decades. You also know it’s real because the Australian Financial Review reported that the Australian Taxation Office has named “succession planning and the associated ‘tax risks’” as its number one focus for 2025.
On Foundation Boards, the transition is already happening. Rebecca Cooper recently became the first of the sixth generation of the Cooper family to join their foundation. Over at the Gandel Foundation, Steven Gandel, grandson of John and Pauline, has stepped onto the board, joining John and Pauline’s daughter, Lisa Thurin, a long-time and very active member. The Myer Foundation is up to the eighth generation of family on the board while the Besen Foundation is deliberately empowering the younger generations to step into philanthropy, such as an initiative where the young members of the family invest a designated annual amount where they see fit. Three Milgrom siblings, Adam, Bec and Jake (Milgrom-Marabel), have created a separate entity, Tripple, dedicated to 100 per cent impact investing. Tripple’s website explains, “The planet is telling us the old ways of doing business aren’t going to work anymore.”
How this evolution affects philanthropy is an interesting question. Already, we can see signs of new ways of operating and of shifting priorities, as younger rich listers take their seats at the table. Bella Conyngham, in her time as director of the New Generation of Giving program at Philanthropy Australia, said she had observed that younger family members tended to ask fresh questions at Board level. “They’re not going to come in and change everything, it’s just that they can ask savvy questions and be connected to issues happening around them and across the world through social media and their own networks,” she said. “The older generation might have different kinds of access to what we now have to news.”
At a Philanthropy Australia event in May last year, Jemima Myer, one of the younger directors of the Myer Foundation, observed: “In many cases, the systems that have enabled people to accumulate enough wealth to be philanthropic are the same systems that create the inequities that grant recipients are working to overcome.” She was touching on a growing debate over the last few years, where some charities have attempted to politely push back on the idea that philanthropic money comes with strict terms and demands. Complex acquittal statements that prove every cent was spent according to the instruction of the philanthropists can be problematic, especially for First Nations NFPs wanting more independence in how donated money is allocated. To put it indelicately, being told what to do by the older, white establishment can be jarring for young Indigenous leaders.
But for other charities, this is also increasingly a point of contention. The need for untied funding, capacity-building funding, and trust-based philanthropy, are all trends within the giving community. Since 2022, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust has completely altered its giving protocols to deliver trust-based funding, listening to charities about what they need and why, then delivering that support.
Likewise, the Melbourne Recital Centre has such a strong relationship with a group of core funders that it can make independent decisions to divert funding in its Learning and Access programs, without having to sweat jumping through approval hoops beforehand.
“I think new gens start to question the ways of giving, beyond the gift or financial donation itself. They ask what a not-for-profit might need in terms of assets and resources beyond financial assistance,” Bella said.
The Grata Fund’s Hannah Foster said that organisation’s work was strongly supported by young philanthropists, such as the third wave of Besen family funders – although also, it needs to be said, by tireless championing by Alan Schwartz, Marc and Eva Besen’s son-in-law. The fund attracts pro bono legal support for “high impact, strategic litigation”, aka court cases that might change the world, such as recently attracting philanthropic funding to back the landmark Climate Case. Two Torres Strait Islander Elders, Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul, brought a legal case against the Australian Government for potential climate change ramifications on their islands, arguing that the government actively chose not to take actions that could have helped reduce emissions, and therefore holds tangible responsibility for potential damage to the Torres Strait islands. A decision is expected soon.
“Our leadership is young and pretty agile,” Hannah said. “The Grata Fund has been around for less than 10 years, so I think we appeal to that next generation of philanthropists because our strategy is very much about picking cases that are going to be game changers or are at that systems change level.
“There’s a different dynamic in terms of the relationship,” she added. “Usually, with the next gen philanthropists, you might text them or have a coffee with them, rather than provide a report for the Board to consider. Both ways have merits and can work quite well. When you’re giving away such large amounts of money, you do need to have some kind of structure, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible or that you’re not listening.
“I think a lot of the next-generation philanthropists, such as the younger members of the Besen family, are ambitious for positive change, like us,” Hannah said. “They want to support more than a ‘band-aid’ approach. That is where there is a great deal of trust, because Grata Fund needs supporters like that, willing to keep funding while you wait for a judgement, and so you can continue to maximise the results of the decision over the long term.”
Obviously, without losing sight of the concurrent need to actively support struggling people or communities needing help now.
Australia’s environmental future seems to be a clear through-line when it comes to the new wave of philanthropists, which makes sense as they, and their young kids, are going to need to live in that future. Bella Conyngham said the next gen community was so diverse that it was hard to even talk in generalities, but she added, “I see a lot of the funding and interest of this next gen group in climate, whether it’s climate tech or other kind of climate areas as distinct to things like saving the river down the road. There are overlaps, absolutely. But there’s a really strong focus on climate.
“I would say they (new gens) have much more of a focus on change over charity.”
Watertrust Australia is one such long-term project, backed by several of Australia’s major foundations, including the Myer Foundation and the Potter Foundation, with a bold, decade-long plan to help water policy be the best it can be for all stakeholders, including a fair and equitable division of our limited freshwater for future generations. It’s a grand exercise in Democracy and rebuilding public trust in policy decisions, and, as per the Grata Fund, it is philanthropic backing that requires deep patience and trust, for the long-term benefits.
Dutch historian and author Rutger Bregman has long advocated for younger rich listers to consider “moral ambition”, where our idea of career success is directly related to the meaning and impact our work leaves on society. This is where Australia’s new gen of philanthropists can lead the way; by continuing their families’ drive to help those in need now and our environmental and democratic future.
Disclaimer: I work or have worked as a media/comms consultant to some of the charities and philanthropists mentioned in this article.
NOISY BOY MEDIA 