Coopers Brewery will give $150,000 to a new charity each year as part of a sustainable giving program aimed at helping struggling communities.
The charitable arm of Coopers Brewery, the Coopers Brewery Foundation, has introduced the program to run in conjunction with its normal philanthropic work.
An eligible charity or organisation will be awarded $150,000, paid over three years, and one new charity will be chosen each year.
By 2019, the foundation will be supporting three organisations simultaneously under the program.
Coopers Brewery Foundation chair Melanie Cooper said the program had been in the planning stages since 2016 and was designed to provide long-term certainty for the chosen organisation.
“One of the challenges facing charities and organisations relying on charitable grants is that long-term planning is difficult,” she said.
“We see this as a way of helping reduce that uncertainty.
"The charity can plan for the future knowing they will have guaranteed income for the next three years.”
Cooper said this year’s successful recipient would be chosen from the aged care, medical research, or health care sectors.
The 2018 grant would focus on family and community, while 2019 would be dedicated to youth education.
More than 70 applications had been received by the 1 June closing date with the following charities selected to proceed to the next stage in the evaluation process:
- Australian Dental Outreach Foundation
- Centre for Eye Research Australia
- Hannah’s House
- Parkinson’s SA
- St John Ambulance NT
- Women’s and Children’s Hospital Foundation
The successful charity will be chosen at the foundation’s September board meeting.
The foundation has donated more than $4.2 million to 254 Australian charitable projects since its establishment in 2006.
The milestone was reached at its annual charity golf day, where more than $108,000 was raised for Youth Opportunities and Operation Flinders.
The foundation’s income is derived from non-operational fundraising efforts of the brewery, including tours, special events, recycling of waste materials, and donations from corporate partners, shareholders and members of the public.
