Giving Policy

1 Purpose

1.1 Give Industries Limited (the "Company") is a charity grounded in ideas of effective, data-driven giving, with a vision to see "a world empowered by effective giving".

1.2 The Company exists for the charitable purposes set out in its Constitution, namely to provide benevolent relief to people, including the relief of poverty, sickness, suffering, distress, misfortune, disability or helplessness, of people in need of such relief by:

1.2.1 giving to others providing direct benevolent relief;

1.2.2 making money to give in advancement of benevolent relief by various activities including income producing activities; and

1.2.3 doing all other things as are incidental, ancillary or conducive to the attainment of these objects.

1.3 The purpose of this policy is to assist the Board in ensuring that all gifts it makes are for the advancement of Benevolent Relief.

2 Scope

2.1 This policy applies to:

2.1.1 the members of the Board of the Company; and

2.1.2 all Distributable Surplus generated by the Company.

3 Definitions

3.1 Unless context otherwise provides, the following terms have the following meaning in this policy:

3.1.1 ACNC means the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission;

3.1.2 ACNC CIS means the ACNC's Commissioner's interpretation Statement on Public Benevolent Institutions;[1]

3.1.3 Benevolent Relief takes its meaning from the common law;

3.1.4 Distributable Surplus has the meaning given in clause 4.1;

3.1.5 Giving Criteria has the meaning given in Part 6 of this Policy;

3.1.6 Giving Priorities means the priority causes set out in Part 5 of this Policy;

3.1.7 MOU means a memorandum of understanding;

3.1.8 Public Benevolent Institutions means a charity registered with the ACNC and endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a 'Public Benevolent Institution';

3.1.9 Recognised Group Beneficiaries has the meaning given in Part 8 of this Policy; and

4 Policy Statement

4.1 The Company intends to, subject to usual accounting provisions for anticipated liabilities, savings required by its strategic plan, and modest reserves required by its working capital policy and safety net policy from time to time, to give 100% of its remaining net cash profit in each financial year ("Distributable Surplus") to the advancement of Benevolent Relief by not later than the end of the following financial year.

4.2 All gifts of amounts from the Distributable Surplus by the Company must be approved by the Board of the Company.

4.3 No gifts of Distributable Surplus amounts may be made unless the Board is satisfied that the gift will be applied towards the advancement of Benevolent Relief. In determining whether or not it is satisfied, the Board must consider and apply the Giving Criteria.

4.4 Without limiting the Company's ability to distribute to causes advancing Benevolent Relief generally, the Board will prioritise making distributions to causes determined to be Giving Priorities.

5 Giving Priorities

5.1 The Board must determine the Company's giving priorities from time to time.

5.2 The Company's Giving Priorities as at the commencement of the financial year applicable to this policy are:

5.2.1 Saving lives;

5.2.2 Transforming lives by relieving poverty; and

5.2.3 Creating sustainable communities in the manner contemplated by clause 7 of this policy.

5.3 In addition to the Giving Criteria, the Board must consider the Giving Priorities.

6 Giving Criteria

6.1 The Board will apply the following criteria ('Giving Criteria') when determining whether or not to make a proposed gift:

6.1.1 the Board will prefer gifts to entities which are considered to be 'highly effective' charities based on recommendations and data published by both GiveWell[2] and The Life You Can Save;[3]

6.1.2 the Board will prefer recipient entities which are Public Benevolent Institutions. This is because the recipient entity's registration and endorsement provides assurances that the gift will be applied for the Benevolent Relief;

6.1.3 if a proposed recipient entity is not registered with the ACNC as a 'Public Benevolent Institution', the Board will:

a consider the guidance provided in the ACNC; and

b either:

i enter into a binding MOU with the proposed recipient which requires that the distribution be applied towards Benevolent Relief. The MOU must also require the recipient to duly acquit the expenditure and report back the Company to demonstrate the appropriate use of the gift;

ii provide the gift via a registered Public Benevolent Institution such as The Life You Can Save Australia Ltd; or

iii not give the gift to the proposed recipient;

6.1.4 if a proposed gift is to be sent overseas, the Board must comply with the ACNC External Conduct Standards.[4] In complying with the ACNC External Conduct Standards, the Board will (before making any overseas distributions) establish and comply with an Overseas Distributions Policy to be developed and adopted by the Board; and

6.1.5 the Board will prefer making distributions to causes which provide relief to Recognised Groups of Beneficiaries.

7 Giving Priorities Guidance

7.1 The Board will consider the following additional guidance which concerns its Giving Priorities:

Creating Sustainable Communities

7.1.1 This priority is about providing Benevolent Relief to people through targeted environmental initiatives. The targeted initiatives are to relieve the Benevolent Relief need caused by adverse environmental factors.

7.1.2 Examples of permitted initiatives include:

a Cleaning a contaminated water supply that is contributing to impoverishment of people in the community; and

b Providing renewable energy (such as solar power) to remote communities where the inaccessibility to energy is contributing to the impoverishment of people in the community.

7.1.3 This priority is not about giving to environmental causes generally. This is because environmental causes generally, such as climate change, are not sufficiently targeted to be Benevolent Relief.[5]

8 ACNC Examples of Recognised Groups of Beneficiaries

8.1 The Board acknowledges that the ACNC accepts that the following groups of beneficiaries are sections of the community in need of Benevolent Relief ('Recognised Group Beneficiaries'):[6]

  • 8.1.1 people in poverty;
  • 8.1.2 people living with a disability;
  • 8.1.3 people suffering from the effects of a disease;
  • 8.1.4 victims of crime;
  • 8.1.5 people living with an addiction;
  • 8.1.6 refugees and asylum seekers;
  • 8.1.7 people who face barriers to obtaining and maintaining employment;
  • 8.1.8 people who are in prison;
  • 8.1.9 people who are reintegrating into the community following release from prison;
  • 8.1.10 people who are leaving a situation of domestic violence;
  • 8.1.11 elderly people who need support with completing daily tasks; and
  • 8.1.12 people living in remote parts of Australia who face barriers to obtaining basic goods and services that are readily available in less remote communities.

9 Review Process

Policy Review Frequency: annually

Policy Owner: Board of Directors

Last Review Date: 27/06/2025

Footnotes

[2] Website accessible here: https://www.givewell.org/ (accessed on 26 September 2023).

[3] Website accessible here https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org.au/ (accessed on 26 September 2023).

[5] See Example 7 from the ACNC's CIS.

[6] See paragraph 20 of the ACNC's CIS.