The Bryan Foundation donates $1.2m to SVA QLD Venture Philanthropy Fund

The Bryan Foundation has made a cornerstone philanthropic donation in the Social Ventures Australia (SVA) Queensland Venture Philanthropy Fund, committing $400,000 each year over the next three years.

The announcement was made at an event in Brisbane, where representatives of the Bryan Foundation were joined by business and community leaders from across Queensland.

The SVA QLD Venture Philanthropy Fund was established to connect Queensland philanthropists with high impact social purpose organisations that are working with disadvantaged individuals and communities in Queensland.

Queensland ventures will receive a combination of funding and capacity building support, including advice on business strategy, measurement and evaluation of impact, and the opportunity to access new, expanded supporter networks.

SVA has pioneered venture philanthropy in Australia since 2002, recently reporting that over an average partnership period of six years, the ventures SVA supported achieved an average annual growth in beneficiaries of 50 per cent, and an average annual growth in turnover of 40 per cent.

The Bryan Foundation’s Chair, Jill Simes said, “The Bryan Foundation and SVA’s interests are closely aligned and we have been fortunate to have partnered with SVA from very early in our history.

“We are very excited by the opportunity to continue and strengthen this long-term partnership by becoming the founding partner of the SVA Queensland Venture Philanthropy Fund. We commend SVA to anyone and encourage the business and philanthropic sectors in Queensland to get involved with the fund.”

SVA’s Queensland Director, Mark Herbertt said, “We’ve worked closely with the Bryan Foundation for over six years and have partnered to expand a number of ventures in the SVA portfolio into Queensland with their very strong support.

“With the Foundation’s support for our Queensland Venture Philanthropy Fund this partnership moves to take on a much stronger focus on helping disadvantaged Queenslanders to access a great education, get a good job and have a safe place to live.

“We’ve established a Queensland Advisory Committee for the fund with Jill Simes, Chair of the Bryan Foundation as its first member.”

An advisory group of Queensland stakeholders is being established to provide guidance.