Message from Mary Reemst, Chair, Macquarie Group Foundation

Welcome to the Macquarie Group Foundation Community Impact Report, which brings to life the work we do alongside our staff and partner organisations to support the communities in which we live and work. This year marks our 35^th anniversary as a Foundation. In that time, over $A410 million¹ has been contributed to thousands of community organisations around the world through efforts from staff, matching and our grant-making program. However, the dollars only tell part of the story – what we are most proud of is the long-term relationships we have built with our non-profit partners, enabling them to leverage our networks, business skills and the services of our staff as volunteers, fundraisers and pro bono advisers. This emphasis on capacity building in the sector has always been a key focus for the Foundation and reflects the strong commitment of our staff to building a better future.

FY2020 has been a milestone year. We have significantly expanded our grant-making program, awarding our largest grants since inception through the Macquarie 50^th Anniversary Award, and used many learnings from the Award process to provide crisis funding for the Australian bushfires and the global COVID-19 pandemic.

During the year, a record $A51 million² was donated to more than 1,600 non-profits around the world by Macquarie staff and the Foundation. This includes a record $A3.3 million contributed via Macquarie’s annual Foundation Week. We continued to demonstrate Macquarie's support for employee community engagement by matching approximately $A15.7 million of our employees' fundraising efforts, one-off donations and regular payroll giving, supporting the causes they feel passionately about.

Our focus on the communities where our staff live and work helps to leverage staff time, expertise and networks for greater social impact. In FY20 over 46,000 hours of voluntary community service was contributed globally, and we currently have 290 employees serving on non-profit boards around the world, providing pro bono leadership support.

Grant-making for impact

To mark Macquarie’s 50th anniversary, the Foundation awarded $A50 million in grants to five non-profits, selected from a field of almost 1,000 non-profits. Each of these five organisations will receive $A10 million over five years for their bold approaches to drive change. Their projects will impact millions of lives around the world, meeting social needs in the areas of life‑saving healthcare, protection from devastating diseases, improved social mobility for low‑income workers and action to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. You can read more about this later in the report.

Responding to crisis

The Foundation responded to the Australian bushfire crisis by announcing a bonus matching incentive for donations to The Salvation Army Bushfire Appeal, The Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery, WWF Australia and Foodbank Australia. Over $A1 million was raised through the appeal to provide vital support to bushfire-affected communities throughout Australia as a result of collective efforts by global Macquarie staff, friends and family, along with the Foundation bonus matching incentive.

Shortly after the end of FY2020, Macquarie announced an additional $A20 million allocation to the Foundation for donations to organisations that are working to combat COVID‑19 and provide relief to affected communities. To date, donations totalling $A9.3 million have been made to 26 non-profits focused on research and direct relief efforts around the world. The Foundation is continuing to speak with non-profits and experts focused on economic recovery to understand where to direct the remaining funding. 

Our Committee

We’ve also welcomed three new members to the Foundation Committee, ensuring we continue to diversify the areas of expertise and geographical spread of Committee members. You can view our Committee members below.

One of the great privileges in my role as the Chair of the Foundation is seeing the tangible difference our partner organisations make in peoples’ lives every day, and the deep community spirit that runs through our employees at Macquarie. I would like to share my gratitude to our staff for their dedication to our communities. We have shared some stories from our partners and staff in this report and I hope you enjoy reading them.