She Gives celebrates women’s philanthropy and charities
Our dispatch from the launch of a fantastic new philanthropic initiative centred on women-led giving
She Gives, a movement drawing attention to women-led philanthropy, was officially launched at an event hosted by Perpetual Limited last week and attended by our very own Catherine Brooks. The event celebrated many well-known female philanthropists based in Melbourne, including Carol Schwartz (Trawalla Foundation), Tania Austin, and Gill Whelan (DECJUBA Foundation), all of whom Wendy Brooks & Partners have had the pleasure of working with in past years.
Hosting the panel (and asking great, pertinent questions) was Melissa Smith, the founder of She Gives and Noble Ambition. Impressed with how Austin described her philanthropic beginnings and passion, we thought it would be valuable to share her comments with our community. In the Trusts and Foundations sector, organisations will inevitably benefit from understanding the motivations and philosophies of people like Austin, whose giving is guided by particular values and ideas. Thank you Tania for your generosity!
What is “She Gives”?
She Gives is a “movement that seeks to highlight women’s giving at any scale and to any cause, thereby accelerating positive social change.” Their ambition is to celebrate, share, and inspire women’s giving in Australia.
Wendy Brooks & Partners is fortunate to work regularly with many female philanthropists. In fact, our namesake and founder, Wendy Brooks, is a substantial female funder in her own right. Wendy donates to support people and causes she is passionate about through organisations like Human Rights Watch, the Justice & Equity Centre, and via a sub-fund with the Geelong Community Foundation.
So, we know that women have always played an important role in giving and supporting positive social change in Australia. But now, with women set to inherit a majority of the $4.9 trillion bequeathed to Australians over the next decade, the role of women in philanthropy can only grow from here.
She Gives was established to shine a light on the power and collective contribution of women’s giving in Australia by sharing the inspiring stories of 100 women. You can add your story to contribute to their research and inspire others to give, too.
Tania Austin’s story – a key Australian philanthropist
One of She Gives’ first stories of giving is that of Tania Austin, who started her giving journey as a child. She went on to found the Cotton On Foundation, and later, the DECJUBA and TANK Foundations. Austin is the owner and CEO of fashion retailer DECJUBA.
Asked about the purpose of and the passion for her philanthropy, Austin said “giving comes from within, but it also becomes a civil responsibility,” indicating that although her giving began as a personal initiative guided by a sense of care, it eventually morphed into something she viewed as an essential duty to the broader community.
In deciding the best way to donate, Austin said “we must be curious about problems and think carefully about how we are going to solve those problems. If something doesn’t sound right, doesn’t feel right, then we need to work out what we are going to do about it.”
“What drives me is understanding [that] there is a problem, a need, and fixating on the problem and working collaboratively with others towards a solution.”
When asked about her commitment to certain causes, Tania said “we know that things don’t happen overnight, it requires persistence, patience, and sometimes you’re out there on your own caring about things that no one else is interested in yet. Then you need to think about how you get causes onto people’s radars, what makes them important enough for others to care [about].”
On the importance of stories and storytelling, Tania said “you need to think about more than just money. What platform do you have that you can use to make sure you are giving voices to the stories that must be heard? Setting up the Decjuba Foundation was about giving our philanthropy a home – a place that giving comes from, a collective sense of giving. The Foundation needs a voice to galvanise giving and that’s what we do when we give through the Foundation. For example, we give others the ability to contribute to our philanthropy, by buying a tote where 100% of the proceeds go to the Foundation.”
Austin also endorsed the idea of talking about her own giving to encourage others to give themselves: “When staff hear and see what we give to and why, they feel that they can be a part of the Decjuba Foundation, too. Our staff love that we are a female-led business and that we give so much back to community. Our giving inspires a lot of people, and they want to be part of the movement. It has compelled a lot of people to give back.”
To those seeking to be effective philanthropists themselves, Austin advises them to “think about where your time is best spent […] causes that we are passionate about create interest in those causes. Consider what you want to have an impact on, what causes you want to profile and spend time on. Crystallise what you are doing, and the flow on effect will be very rewarding.”
As influential and sizeable her own philanthropic activities have been, Austin still believes that giving of any different amount is impactful: “it’s wonderful if you can give on a large scale, but small gestures change lives in far greater ways than you’ll ever know.”
In closing, Smith said “think about what you can do more of. We could all do a little more. Ultimately, I believe we all share the same hope – we did the best we could, with the opportunities we had, to leave the country a better place.”
We’d like to thank Smith and the She Gives initiative for profiling the women that already give so generously, and whose giving inspires us to give even more.