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Who Funds What. Who Watches. What Works.
2,466 Australian foundations scored on transparency, need alignment, evidence-backed funding, and geographic reach. $11.8B in annual giving — but how much of it reaches communities that need it most?
Source: ACNC Registry × Foundation Grantee Scraping × ACNC AIS × ALMA Evidence Database × Funding Deserts Index.
Foundation Scorecard
Composite score from four dimensions: transparency (do we know who they fund?), need alignment (do they reach disadvantaged areas?), evidence (do grantees have proven interventions?), and geographic reach (how broadly do they fund?).
| # | Foundation | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Ramsay Foundation foundation · 240 grantees Transp. 82 Need 78 Evidence 76 Reach 68 | 78 |
| 2 | Minderoo Foundation foundation · 180 grantees Transp. 74 Need 72 Evidence 64 Reach 61 | 70 |
| 3 | Snow Foundation foundation · 95 grantees Transp. 86 Need 70 Evidence 68 Reach 72 | 74 |
| 4 | Ian Potter Foundation foundation · 120 grantees Transp. 80 Need 62 Evidence 61 Reach 66 | 67 |
The Transparency Gap
Most foundations operate as black boxes. Of 2,466 scored, only 252+ have any publicly traceable grantee data. The largest invisible foundations control billions in annual giving with zero public accountability for where the money goes.
Largest Foundations With Zero Transparency
| Foundation | Annual Giving | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Ramsay Foundation | $210.0M | foundation |
| Minderoo Foundation | $268.0M | foundation |
| Snow Foundation | $28.0M | foundation |
| Ian Potter Foundation | $42.0M | foundation |
The Philanthropy Revolving Door
72 foundation trustees also sit on the boards of organisations their foundation funds. 116 trustee–grantee overlaps across 72 foundations. This isn't necessarily corruption — small sectors have small talent pools — but it warrants scrutiny.
Evidence-Backed Funding
Foundations whose grantees have interventions documented in the Australian Living Map of Alternatives (ALMA) evidence database. 1,155 grantees across1,155 interventions.
| Foundation | Grantee |
|---|---|
| Paul Ramsay Foundation | Justice Evidence Partner |
| Minderoo Foundation | Remote Community Partner |
| Snow Foundation | Housing and Health Partner |
Methodology
Transparency score (25% weight): Based on the number of publicly identifiable grantees. 5 points per grantee, capped at 100. Grantees are traced through ACNC annual reports, foundation websites, and public grant announcements.
Need alignment score (30% weight): How much funding reaches disadvantaged areas. Based on the average desert score of LGAs where grantees are located. Higher score means more funding flows to higher-need areas.
Evidence score (25% weight): Percentage of grantees that have interventions documented in the Australian Living Map of Alternatives (ALMA) evidence database. Doubled and capped at 100.
Geographic reach (20% weight): Diversity of funding across states (10 points each), remoteness categories (10 points each), and unique LGAs (1 point each, capped at 50). A foundation scoring 100 funds across multiple states, all remoteness categories, and 50+ LGAs.
Governance (supplementary): Trustee–grantee board overlaps are flagged but not included in the composite score. These indicate potential conflicts of interest but also reflect the reality of small professional networks.
Limitations: Transparency scores heavily favour foundations whose grantee data CivicGraph has been able to scrape or trace. Smaller foundations may be highly transparent through direct reporting but invisible to automated collection. Need alignment only measures where grantees are located, not where services are delivered.
Explore Foundation Networks
See how foundations connect to grantees, government programs, and evidence-backed interventions on the interactive graph.
Download: Foundation Intelligence
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