Unity of First People of Australia (UFPA) is dedicated to encourage and support initiatives created by Aboriginal Controlled Organisations (ACOs) which highlight the unique benefits that Aboriginal people, communities and culture bring to Australian society and the world. The UFPA have established a new Auspicing service to enable access to sources of philanthropic funding to ACOs who do not have DGR1 status.

In a funding context, an auspice is an organisation who manages grant funding on your behalf. For example, a small community group with limited resources may use a larger Not-for-Profit Organisation as their auspice. The larger NFP will receive and manage the grant funding, with the community group undertaking the actual project work. Auspice arrangements are reasonably common when a funding body requires applicants to have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. A community group may be able to find a larger NGO with DGR status to auspice their application so that they can still apply for funding.

Many ACOs are ideal candidates for receiving funding and donations to carry out invaluable on-the-ground charitable community work. However, Philanthropic vehicles, such as Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), often require funding or donations to only go to charities with tax deductible gift recipient status Item 1 (DGR1) as registered with the Australian Tax Office.

At present in Australia, only 0.5% of private philanthropic dollars are directed towards ACOs, as only ~25% of ACOs have DGR1 status. A key barrier to ACOs receiving philanthropic dollars is their lack of DGR1 status. There are a range of other barriers that further limit access of ACOs to philanthropic sector funding. These include time constraints in obtaining the required recipient status, and the significant effort, administration and costs associated with reporting and governance.

UFPA is a not-for-profit Aboriginal organisation that has DGR1 status and will provide the link between PAFs and ACOs without DGR1 status by offering a newly established Auspicing service that helps to bridge this gap. UFPA will support ACOs seeking philanthropic funding, similar to how the Australian Sports Foundation (https://asf.org.au) supports sporting organisations in accessing philanthropic funding and donations.

In short, philanthropic organisations such as PAFs will be able to disburse funds to UFPA in the form of a donation, who in turn will fund the ACOs project or event. The philanthropist identifies the ACO they would like to provide funding to, and provides UFPA a summary form which includes details about the organisation, what project/s could be funded, and how much funding would be provided. A small auspicing fee is added to the amount being provided by the funder, according to the fee structure agreed.

UFPA will complete due diligence and check that the funded project matches the UFPA constitutional objectives and then sign any donation agreement/documents from the funder as the recipient organisation. UFPA then provides the funder their EFT details, accepts the donation and provides the funder with a tax receipt. UFPA will then work with the ACO to ensure the funds are received and then acquitted as per the funding agreement. The ACO is required to send UFPA an acquittal with a brief summary of the project/event and UFPA would forward that document to the funder for their information.