The Ian Potter Foundation
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The Ian Potter Foundation was established in 1964 and is today one of Australia's major philanthropic foundations. Sir Ian Potter (1902-1994) was an Australian financier and stockbroker, and the founder and benefactor of the Foundation.
Contents |
History
Seahorse Logo
From the late 1930s, 'seahorse' was the cable address for Ian Potter and Company, the stockbroking firm founded by Sir Ian Potter. The seahorse symbol was taken as the logo of The Ian Potter Foundation in 1996.
Funding Principles
A committment to excellence
- We support organisations, programs and individuals who are outstanding in their field, in a national and international context.
An emphasis on the "innovate - evaluate - disseminate" process
- We seek to fund programs and projects which take a new approach to problems, support the evaluation of their tiral, and, if successful, their replication in other locations or contexts.
A focus on prevention
- In seeking to maximise the value of our grants, we try to addres the causes of problems, rather than treat the symptoms. Supporting research is fundamental to this approach.
Potential for leverage
- Our grants have greater impact when combined with support from other sources. These m ight include other trusts and foundations, government, business, and volunteers. We are very happy to be one of a number of supporters of a program.
Long-term thinking
- We try to fund programs that will continue to have an impact well beyond the period of our support. Will the grant be significant (within its context) in ten years' time?
Partnerships
- We encourage applications from organisations which are working with others in their field, and indeed in other fields.
Sustainability
- In making grants, attention is given to the sustainability of the project at the conclusion of the period covered by the grant.
While most of the grants we make are in rsponse to applications, we sometimes choose an area we widsh to support and seek organisations with whom we might work in partnership. These generall become Major Initiatives of the Foundation.
Program Areas
Arts
Sir Ian Potter was deeply involved in the visual and performing arts, and used his entrepreneurial skills to develop key arts organisations in Australia. With Dr H.C. "Nugget" Coombs, he established the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. In turn, the Trust created the Australian Ballet and the Australian Opera and gave support to many individuals and organisations working all all aspects of the arts. Sir Ian Potter was Chairman of all three organisations at various times.
Funding Objectives
- To support major cultural institutions and organisations in Australia, and through them to encourage, in particular, young people of talent and individuality.
- To suppor the linking of education and the arts.
- To extend cultural opportunities to regional centres, and encourage the development of arts programs at a local level.
Exclusions
- The Foundation does not support performances, exhibitions or festivals unless there is a special educational focus.
Education
The Foundation's grants in the area of education are strongly influenced by its other interests, particularly the environment, the arts and community wellbeing. The Ian Potter Foundation's commitment to supporting innovation and the advancement of knowledge reflects the work of Sir Ian Potter himself, particularly in developing new financial models for almost half of Australia's major projects in the 1950s and 1960s.
Current funding priorities
Current funding priorities include:
- Early childhood education;
- Volunteerism in schools;
- School-family linkages;
- Science education, and
- Education in rural and regional areas.
The Foundation's travel grants program also has a strong educational element, as the large majority of grants are made to universities in support of early career researchers and academics.
Funding Objectives
- To support educational policy research of outstanding quality.
- To support educational programs of benefit to the general community.
Exclusions
The Foundation does not support kindergartens, pre-school, primary or secondary schools, special education schools or school building funds.
Environment & Conservation
Finding ways for Australian Communities to live sustainably in the context of a challenging future due to land degradation, Australia's limited water resources and climate change is the Foundation's overarching commitment in this program area. The Foundation supports both field and impact research and developmental projects which monitor or trial innovative solutions to environmental problems
The Foundation's first major commitment to the environment was The Ian Potter Farmland Plan, an initiative of the Foundation which has had lasting significance. Undertaken from 1984 to 1988, its aim was to demonstrate that both ecologically and economically sustainable agriculture could be achieved. This was done by farmers addressing problems of land degradation, using a process of whole farm planning, design and implementation. In line with the Foundaiton's commitment to advancing knowledge, this project is currently being evaluated by RMIT using a 'before' and 'after' impact assessment.
The Australian Landscape Trust is the second of the Foundation's major initiatives in the area of the environment and conservation. The Trust is characterised by the successful working partnerships it has established between Federal, State and Local Governments, the corporate and private sectors, and philanthropic trusts and foundations, both in Australia and overseas.
Outside these major initiatives, the Foundation continues to support smaller projects around Australia that combine elements of biodiversity and ecological preservation, volunteerism, and community education. in addition, conserving valued parts of the built environment for future generations is an important contribution that the foundation makes to Australia's cultural wellbeing.
Funding Objectives
- To develop partnerships with communities, government and the private sector to help prevent irreversible damage to the environment and to encourage the maintenance of biodiversity.
- To support programs and policies which are committed to the economic and ecologically sustainable development of land, and the preservation of species.
- To foster a broad public awareness of the environmental challenges facing urban and rural Australia.
- To assist communities which are threatened with serious economic hardship due to the degradation of land and water resources, to develop policies to manage the social, economic and cultural changes needed for survival.
- To assist projects designed to preserve the built environment which has cultural significance.
Health
Health education is a key strategy of the Foundation in helping prevent disrase and improve the health status of Australians, particularly those that are disadvantaged. The Maternal and Child Healthy Skin Education Program conducted by St Vincent's Hospital, which translated parent information about common childhood skin conditions into five languages, is a great example of this approach.
In addition to prevention, the Foundation also supports research into health issues and projects that imrpove service delivery. The Foundation is keen to support innovation and forward thinking strategies that advance our understanding of health conditions and best practice treatment.
Collaborative research between universities, research institutes, community health organisations or condition-specific associations is encouraged. Projects which work across the interface of acute and community care to improve patients' quality of life are also of interest.
This focus on prevention is also reflected in our support for Indigenous health programs. The Foundation will consider programs which engage Indigenous communities in managing their own health issues and which add skills to local communities so as to have a lasting impact.
The Foundation also consistently supports programs which offer innovative solutions to people living with health problems, and organisations or programs with a high level of volunteer support.
Funding Objectives
- To support organisations undertaking research into and treatment of major diseases.
- To support innovative programs designed to improve the delivery of services to people handicapped by health conditions.
- To support educational programs for the prevention of diseases.
Exclusions
- Salaries of health personnel, research assistants, small items of equipment or programs which are substantially funded by Government or major public health organisations
- Equipment and services which should properly be provided for in the usual operation of the hospital or health facility.
Medical Research
Medical research has historically been one of the Foundation's strongest program areas, and Sir Ian Potter's support of the Howard Florey Institute pre-dates the establishment of the Foundation. Together with Kenneth Myer and Baillieu Myer, Sir Ian began a tradition of philanthropic support for medical research in Victoria through the Howard Florey. This support was instrumental in the ongoing success of medical research.
Funding Objectives
- To support major initiatives by leading Australian research institutes, universities and teachign hospitals in innovative biomedical research, the anticipated benefits of which are likely to advance the institution as a whole.
Exclusions
- Projects suitable for submission to the National Health and Medical Research Council or the Australian Research Council.
- Salaries for researchers or research assistants and for equipment which should be the subject of submissions to the NH&MRC or ARC.
- Purposes which are core to the operations of the organisation and should more appropriately be funded from institutional operating funds.
- Research projects for which there would be a reasonable prospect of attracting commercial funding.
- Research scholarships or projects which would be awarded by the grantseeker to third parties.
Science
The Foundation's scientific research program area shares strong links with its environment and education programs.
Two common themes are the identification of exceptional and visionary individuals, and support for early career researchers. Research that adds to our understanding of Australia's biodiversity is also a high priority.
Funding Objectives
- To support high quality scientific research of particular value to the development and enhancement of the economic and ecologival sustanability of Australian enterprises.
- To support high quality scientific research to preserve Australian flora and fauna.
Exclusions
- Projects suitable for submission to the Australian Research Council.
- Salaries for researchers or research assistants and for equipment which should bethe subject of submissions to the ARC.
- Purposes which are core to the operations of the organisation and should more appropriately be funded from institutional operating funds.
- Research projects for which there would be a reasonable prospect of attracting commercial funding.
Social Welfare
The Foundation supports the development of new approaches to social welfare issues which, if successful, could be replicated by others. The sharing of knowledge gained from trialling and evaluating these demonstration projects is a major outcome of this program area.
One key initiative supported by the Foundation has been the introduction of intensive family preservation programs to Australia. These programs assist families of "at risk" children so that the removal of children by child protection authorities may be avoided. Other examples are the development of interest free loan programs for low income families, and home-visiting programs to support families with young children, often with complex needs.
"Strengthening families through community rebuilding" has been the major theme in the Foundaiton's most recent grantmaking [2005-06], as has the creation of meaningful employment and training opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities.
The Foundation continues to provide limited support to small community-based organisations with a strong volunteer component.
Funding Objectives
- To support innovative programs which have a strong [reventative focus and which are directed to family preservation.
- To assist programs which have an established record of providing menaningful employment opportunities for young people.
- To assist projects designed to develop strong business, community and volunteer partnerships which provide support for families and other groups experiencing exonomic or other hardships.
- To encourage the economic, social, educational and cultural life of communities and the people who live in them, and to help develop nationally applicable strategies for community development.
- To encourage the dissemination of results of successful programs Australia wide and to assist organisations to access proven overseas practice.
Travel & Conferences
The Foundaiton's competitive early career travel grants program is distinctive in Austarlian philanthropy. The grants made are small, generally of between $2,000 and $3,000, and are paid to the individual's employing organisation. The objective of the Travel Grants Program is to assist early career staff members with an appointment of at least three years to travel for the puproses of progessional development through attending a conference and to gain further experience and meet their international peers in order to build their expertise.
Funding Objectives
- To assister early career staff members with an appointment of at least three years to attend overseas conferences, to develop their research, and to have the opportunity to gain further experience and to interact with their peers in the international scene.
- To support conferences of international status to be held within Australia. Grants are generally only made to assist with the travel costs of an international key-note speaker at the conference.
The Foundation requires that the traveller's organisation commit their own funding before requesting a matching grant.
Exclusions
- Domestic travel;
- Travel grants for Undergraduate, Masters, or Doctroal students; or
- Retrospective grants for travel already undertaken in part or in whole.
Governance
The Ian Potter Foundation is governed by a Board of thirteen non-executive Governors. The Chairman is Mr Charles B. Goode AC. Governors also serve terms on the Finance and Audit, the Governance, and the History Committees. The Board meets four times each year.
Lady Potter AC is a Life Governor.
Distribution
Since its establishment in 1964, The Ian Potter Foundation has awarded 7,341 grants up to a total of $90 million [as of 2006].
2005-2006
During the 2005-2006 financial year, The Ian Potter Foundation received 816 applications for funding across the 8 program areas. A tolta of 216 grants were awarded, ranging from $1399 to the Queensland Association for People with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus for infant simulators to teach parenting skills to young people with spina bifida to $10 million to the Howard Florey Institute towards the formation of a major new neuroscience entity, the largest grant The Foundation has ever made to medical research.
Grants approved during the year totalled $16,004,207. The distributions made during the year to 30 June 2006, totalled $9,060,416. As of 30 June 2006, the amount committed but not yet paid for approved grants totalled $13,287,112.
- Arts grants total: $3,520,182
- Education grants total: $623,500
- Environment and conservation grants total: $684,200
- Health grants total: $215,921
- Medical research grants total: $2,300,000
- Science grants total: $583,000
- Social welfare grants total: $912,631
- Travel grants total: $117,738
- Conference grants total: $87,044
Funded Projects
Paper/Report: Sustainable antenatal care services in an urban Indigenous community: the Townsville experience evaluates the Mums and Babies program in Townsville, funded for its first three years by The Ian Potter Foundation.
Sources
- Ian Potter Foundation Annual Report 2006