At the Rotary Melbourne meeting on Wednesday 27 March 24 Clementine Lucas, Head of Philanthropy at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Australia spoke on the topic ‘Growing Philanthropy in Australia – Why a culture of giving matters’.
The 34th Rotary Melbourne meeting of this Rotary year was the 5025th all time Club meeting, in the Club’s one hundred and third year.
The meeting was opened by Past President Bob Glindemann, with the welcoming of members and guests.
Past President Robert Fisher delivered the weekly reflection appropriately focused on Philanthropy and the importance of volunteer effort and a copy of which is published later in this Bulletin.
After proposing the customary Toast, and a brief meal service break, President Chris welcomed as Club Guests, Bill Pickett, and his wife Victoria. Bill has been a member of Rotary Melbourne since January 1993, during which time he served as a Director of Communities that Care, which served young people in need in many important ways. President Chris invited Bill to the podium to receive a Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) Award for his Community service through Communities that Care. A copy of the PHF Award and citation are published in this Bulletin.
Following the PHF presentation, President Chris introduced Tenille Gilbert, Managing Director of For ChangeCo which is a not-for-profit social enterprise that trains and places in employment vulnerable young people who have experienced homelessness. Early in this Rotary year, Rotary Melbourne provided $10,000 funding support for the establishment, in “pilot mode”, of a special event-catering division.
Tenille reported the initiative has been a resounding success and is likely to settle in as a sustainable line of business. Her brief update is featured at around the 14½ minute mark in the full meeting recording posted on our YouTube Channel. To view this recording Click here.
Past President Phil Endersbee then took over chairing the meeting to introduce Clementine Lucas, Philanthropy Manager at Morgan Stanley. Clementine presented an insightful overview of the operation and impact of philanthropy in Australia. She noted that the rate of philanthropic giving in Australia is well below that of other wealthy countries. Notably, Australia’s per-capita average philanthropic giving is less that 50% of the same rate in the USA. She concluded that Australia can and should be able to do much more philanthropic giving.
A lively Q&A added to her presentation covering possible adjustments to allow ease of philanthropic access for donations from superannuation funds; the need to carefully consider the charities to which we donate in Australia (where there are more than 50,000 with tax deductibility status) and how ultra-high net worth Australians might be encouraged to follow the lead from North America where the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is taking the lead to give back their fortunes.
You can view Clementine’s address (approximately 30 minutes) by clicking here; readers of this Bulletin can view the full meeting proceedings (approximately 52 minutes) by clicking here.
