Last week Nature Impact Collective staff and several members headed to Sydney University for an immersion in environmental philanthropy with our friends the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network. The discussions were inspiring and it was wonderful to catch up with friends and peers and meet those new to the network.
Nature Impact Collective members and staff were delighted to help promote nature giving and collaboration at the conference and side events:
New(ish) Members Breakfast
Rachel Honnery, founder of Pademelon Fund and member of Nature Impact Collective, dreamt up and hosted this new event on the conference schedule as a way to welcome new members into the network. Having joined the AEGN just 2 years ago herself, she wanted to provide a space for members to connect and get to know each other prior to the full conference getting underway. Around 20 new(ish) members attended and enjoyed chatting, sharing information about funding pathways and the opportunity to meet AEGN CEO Claire O’Rouke and Environmental Philanthropy Manager Margie Jenkins.
Next Gen Now: Strategies for Intergenerational Impact
A timely and hopeful conversation, moderated by Senior Editor at The Conversation Sunanda Creagh, as we sit on the doorstep of 5.7 trillion changing hands in Australia over the coming two decades.
Tishiko King, Just Futures Collab
Stephen Pfeiffer, Groundswell Giving
Jim Phillipson, Nature Impact Collective, Rendere Environmental Trust
Key Messages:
- The AEGN’s new research report “How are Young Donors Reshaping Philanthropy?” shows younger generations are placing climate and equity at the top of their agendas, favouring trust-based giving and seeing philanthropy as an extension of their activism. Available online soon.
- New gen donors can find it difficult to engage with traditional philanthropy. Learning programs as well as case studies, mentorship and safe spaces to share offer ways to start the journey.
- Collective giving and collaboration are powerful tools, able to unlock agency for next generations. When philanthropy happens through these vehicles, participants can step in with confidence and real responsibility, not as observers, but as decision-makers. One idea was to create subcircles within collective giving organisations, designed for young participants.
- Younger generations are thinking critically and being curious, and philanthropy will evolve. Participants spoke about the power of “modelling the change”, that visible acts of giving inspire others to follow. They highlighted the importance of celebrating wins together because momentum builds when people not just hear about success but actually experience it.
More reading: Next Gen Now: Strategies for Intergenerational Equity
“Start taking action today. Don’t overthink it or procrastinate. The corpus is growing in philanthropy so make a plan, go with your heart and just start distributing.”
Jim Phillipson
Healthy Rivers, Healthy Communities
From the north to the south of Australia, this workshop stoked a sense of urgency in the room to garner support for the crucial work being done. Facilitated by Ella Colley (Gum Tree Foundation, Nature Impact Collective) and Jo Norman (Norman Family Foundation).
Karmen Jobling and Aunty Alice Williams, Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN)
Jono La Nauze, Murray Darling Conservation Alliance (MDCA)
Ann McGregor, Melliodora Fund
Key Messages:
- While the Murray Darling Basin is home to around 15% of Australia’s First Nations population, they are often the last to have a say, owning a mere 0.17% of basin water and managing less than 1% of land. MLDRIN is working to restore this right to water and flow to the basin ecosystems. They empower young people to continue the work, but there is a strong desire to resolve these issues quickly.
- Opportunities to respond to the paucity of water flowing in the Murray Darling Basin are on the horizon. The Commonwealth Government is on the way to owning a very large amount of water for nature and the Murray Darling Conservation Alliance is working hard now to get better outcomes for nature in the upcoming Murray Darling Basin Plan Review (2026) and Water Act Review (2027).
- The free flowing rivers of Northern Australia have escaped the degradation experienced in the Murray Darling but face big environmental and cultural threats from extraction of water and dams for cropping, mining and fracking plus climate change. First Nations communities are voicing their concerns and working hard to have a say in decision making alongside regional NGOs and the newly formed Northern Australia Conservation Alliance. They need support now to achieve lasting protections.
Our Living Rivers: Bold Funding for a Critical Decade
“We don’t want to pass ‘aqua nullius’ on to future generations.”
Aunty Alice Williams
The Purpose and Power of Place-Based Campaigning
The fantastic leaders of three place-based organisations joined our CEO Esther Abram for a compelling discussion about the purpose and power of place based campaigning.
Kirsty Howey, Environment Centre NT
Martin Pritchard, Environs Kimberley
Jacqui Mumford, Nature Conservation Council NSW
Funder perspective – Beau Austin, Full Circle and Julie Taylor-Mills Coniston Foundation
Key messages:
- Place based campaigns (PBCs) build powerful movements and the momentum needed to achieve more systemic change. While stronger laws and policies are much needed, focusing on these in isolation from the special places people treasure is bound to fail. PBCs create the conditions needed to force governments to act.
- Broome locals, working with national and international organisations, saved James Price Point from becoming a massive gas terminal and continue to fight against fracking. Darwin locals saved internationally renowned bird habitat at Lee Point from being destroyed for housing and turned their sights to stop the Middle Arm industrial fossil fuel hub proposed for Darwin Harbour. Years in the making, Sunday’s announcement of the Great Koala National Park is due to local groups and activist networks joining together to push for koala habitat protection and the end of native forest logging.
- Local campaigners bring credibility, relationships and local knowledge to iconic climate and nature campaigns. Supporting organisations to employ people in significant regions is an effective philanthropic strategy.
Place Based Campaigning – AEGN Conference 2025 booklet
A Day in the Valley – Exploring Sustainable Agriculture and Native Foods Partnerships
We were thrilled to journey out to Kangaroo Valley with other AEGN members to visit Winderong, home of the Gum Tree Foundation, and the nearby Shark Island Foundation. Thank you to Nature Impact Collective Director and Gum Tree Foundation Ella Colley, along with AEGN’s Jess Feehley, for organising this fantastic event.
The trip rounded out the conference with a learning journey with these two foundations who are not only supporting work philanthropically, but are taking powerful actions to connect and build community and repair nature. At Winderong Farm we heard from Gum Tree Foundation founders about permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and sustainable living, as well as their long term and deep partnership with Waminda around native food cultivation and cultural healing. Moving on to Shark Island Institute we learned about the environmental documentary film projects they support, and enjoyed an incredibly delicious and beautiful spread catered by Blak Cede, Waminda’s social and cultural enterprise café.
