We are thrilled to announce the establishment of the Maritzburg College Fund, a Sub-Fund of the Australian Communities Foundation (ACF). This structure facilitates donors in Australia making tax-deductible donations directed towards supporting Maritzburg College.
Tax-deductibility status is extremely difficult to achieve and maintain due to onerous governance, regulation and reporting requirements. In partnering with ACF, we believe this is a game-changer in the ability for Old Boys and supporters of the school in Australia to give back in a tax-efficient manner.
Who is ACF?
ACF is a not-for-profit community foundation that helps philanthropic individuals and organisations make a difference to the community causes and initiatives they care about. As a broker of change, ACF enables, supports and amplifies giving by connecting those who can give with those making positive change. ACF’s vision is to activate a nation of givers to create a fairer and more sustainable Australia.
ACF provides the services necessary for donors to establish Sub-Funds without incurring the administrative and legal costs of starting independent foundations. In addition, ACF provides grant-making expertise and in-depth knowledge of community issues to assist donors in developing strategic, sustainable giving plans and to make effective grants.
By connecting communities in need to generous people with a philanthropic agenda, ACF is able to provide strong, sustainable solutions to the issues different communities face. ACF assists donors to maximise their philanthropic resources by pooling assets to build a permanent endowment of funds. While pooled for investment purposes, the donations remain in each individual Sub-Fund where they are distributed on recommendation from individual Sub-Fund Holders. All funds are 100% responsibly invested.
The Maritzburg College Fund (Fund ID #24087), a Sub-Fund of the Australian Communities Foundation (ABN: 57 967 620 066) has been established by an initial foundational donation of AUD$100,000 (approximately R1million) made by the Sub-Fund Holders. This has satisfied ACF’s minimum initial funding requirements for Sub-Funds.
For further information about ACF and its policies, please refer to ACF’s website https://www.communityfoundation.org.au/policies or contact ACF on +61 (3) 9412 0412.
How are funds made available to Maritzburg College?
It is important to understand that funds donated into the Maritzburg College Sub-Fund are vested in ACF and not in Maritzburg College. This allows ACF to fulfill all administrative, investment, regulatory and reporting requirements related to the funds and facilitates tax deductibility status for donors. Funds are then distributed by ACF on recommendation from individual Sub-Fund Holders. This recommendation cannot be binding on ACF, but it is ACF’s established practice and operating model to distribute funds from Sub-Funds in accordance with Sub-Fund representative’s recommendations.
Sub-Fund Holders serve as the official Sub-Fund contacts, can submit grant requests from out of the Sub-Fund and will received all correspondence related to the Sub-Fund. Sub-Fund Holders wanting to make a grant from a Sub-Fund, must complete the Grant Request form, on the ACF fund portal. The decision to provide grants remains at the discretion of the Trustee. Grant requests under $50,000 are considered and approved by the ACF Grants Team, which has delegated authority from the Board (Trustee). Grants over $50,000 are approved by the Philanthropy & Impact Committee.
Who are the Sub-Fund Holders for the Maritzburg College Fund in Australia and on what basis do they intend to make grant requests to ACF in respect of the Sub-Fund?
The Maritzburg College Sub-Fund Holders are: Warren Turner (OC 1986), Mark Turner (OC 1988) and Gareth Turner (OC 1996). Grants from out of the Maritzburg College Sub-Fund will be made by the Sub-Fund Holders in consultation with the Maritzburg College Foundation, Maritzburg College Old Boys Association and The Headmaster of Maritzburg College. At least 4% of the funds need to be distributed each year. The Sub-Fund Holders made the foundational deposit of $100,000 to meet the Sub-Fund minimum initial size ($20,000) and automatically received a receipt from ACF which was compliant for income tax deduction purposes (being a valid receipt from a Deductible Gift Recipient Organisation). The Sub-Fund is now fully operational and open for donations.
Has this worked before in terms of funds getting to Maritzburg College?
Yes. The Sub-Fund Holders were keen to see this proven out in practice before others were publicly invited to donate. In September 2021, the Sub-Fund Holders put in a Grant Request for $10,000 (approximately R100,000) to be transferred to Maritzburg College in support of the school’s request for funds to be used to convert certain buildings into additional classrooms. ACF approved the grant, the funds were transferred to Maritzburg College who confirmed receipt shortly thereafter.
What are the Maritzburg College Sub-Fund administrative costs?
ACF charges an annual Administration and Support fee of 2.2% of the fund balance. In addition, ACF utilises professional investment advisors to invest funds under management and charges an annual Investment Management Fee of 0.5% of capital on funds up to $30 million. When funds are distributed to Maritzburg College in South Africa, this is done via the Global Development Group (GDG) which charges 7.5% on funds transferred. The administrative costs and transfer costs are therefore approximately 10% in total, meaning that Maritzburg College receives approximately 90c in the dollar. This is still considered to be a good outcome in light of the fact that all administration and compliance is taken care of, the donor receives an income tax deduction at their marginal tax rate (and is therefore likely to donate more in the first place), and Maritzburg College hopefully receives more financial support.
What is the Maritzburg College Fund succession plan?
There are several ways a Sub-Fund can continue to operate once the founding donors are no longer involved (for example, after death, through incapacity or upon resignation as a Sub-Fund contact).
The Maritzburg College Fund Succession Plan has been documented via a statement kept on file at ACF. This states that beyond the involvement of the founding donors and Sub-Fund Holders, Successor Sub-Fund Holders will be appointed by: The Maritzburg College Foundation (Primary Successor Advisor) or, failing that, The Headmaster of Maritzburg College (Secondary Successor Advisor).
How can I donate?
We encourage you to take advantage of this newly established structure to make tax-effective donations in Australia that will be directed to supporting Maritzburg College. The easiest way is via the following link which facilitates donations via credit card (Visa, Mastercard), GooglePay or direct debit:
https://australiacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=1171
This will auto-generate a valid tax receipt that will be emailed to you instantly for supporting an income tax deduction for the amount donated.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in contact via the Maritzburg College Foundation.
Pro Aris et Focus. Sincerely,
Warren (1986), Mark (1988) and Gareth (1996) Turner.