Entrepreneurs who want to get involved in philanthropy need to do some on the ground research first.
“The best way to figure out what is the best philanthropic strategy is to actually go out and get involved in the community,” Bernholz says.
“There is a learning curve and an engagement of philanthropy and some of that just takes the time to get out there.”
Bernholz says we are entering “a new age” of philanthropy particularly utilising social media and the internet.
“There’s tremendous opportunity to mobilise large numbers of people very, very quickly, reach them with a message, get data, get meaningful feedback,” she says.
“Our actions in the digital age create an additional public benefit. It’s an exciting time to be trying a lot of new things.”
Here’s how three entrepreneurs have made philanthropy part of their business:
The driver for Harris’ passion for philanthropy was getting bashed up at school when he was 14.
“I was a skinny, pimply teenager and it took me a while to get over it,” he explains.
“I’ve always felt since Australia has given me the chance to become what some people would term a successful business person, investing in future leaders and young Australians is an important thing.”
Harris now aims to spend about 10% of all his after tax money and time on the community, a philosophy based on American philanthropists.
He is heavily involved in Reach, the youth charity founded by Jim Stynes, and bought a $2 million building in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, which he rents to Reach for $5 a year.
Now Harris has bought another Collingwood property for $5 million which he is leasing to the social enterprise STREAT for the sum of $5 a year for 50 years.
“STREAT’s model is to get kids one on one with baristas, waitresses, chefs while they are being paid the dole,” Harris says.
“At the end of that the business model is to give them self-belief and self-esteem.”
STREAT aims to be self-sufficient and survive without government funding while changing the lives of the kids involved who nearly all end up with a job outside the social enterprise.
“These kids were being paid the dole by taxpayers,” Harris says.
“I’m getting a capital building that is going to appreciate. So I’m still getting something out of it. Everyone is a winner.”
When Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes set aside 1% of the equity in Atlassian to the Atlassian Foundation they perhaps did not realise it would one day be worth $35 million.
Like Atlassian’s business plan, Farquhar says the company takes a long-term view to its charitable giving.
“It’s really about education,” he says.
“Ideally in 50 years time we want to say we have really achieved fixing something rather than just patching over something.”
To this end, the Atlassian Foundation concentrates on education rather than services such as homeless shelters which, while vital, don’t really address the root cause of the problem.
So far, the Atlassian foundation has focused on charities such as Room to Read, which works on educating children in the developing world.
“Their motto is that world change starts with educated children,” Farquhar says.
When Maggie Beer was named as Senior Australian of the year in 2010 she realised she wanted to do something significant about the issue of food in aged care.
“I didn’t set out as a person to become a philanthropist. I found a cause that needed someone,” she says.
“Everyone has gained so much from giving; it’s often a matter of timing, the right time, the right place, the right idea.”
Beer says entrepreneurs are ideally placed to get involved in philanthropy.
“It takes exactly the same components to be successful as an entrepreneur as it does to pull off any idea like philanthropy,” she says.
“They need that different way of thinking that led them to be successful as an entrepreneur. It is the same base recipe.”
Beer says getting staff involved is key and in the past she tried to be more discreet about her involvement in philanthropy.
“Interestingly we didn’t share with our staff things we were doing for a long, long time, and it has been pointed out to me that our staff want to know because they are proud,” she says.
“It helps to be part of a community and feel a sense of belonging… our staff are very proud.”
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
