The best time to

START GIVING

was yesterday

StartGiving is a not-for-profit organisation inspiring a new culture of giving in the Australian innovation community.

We’re on a mission to make giving by successful tech founders the norm, and the expectation.

Giving back is a responsibility

Giving back is a 

responsibility

A virtuous circle of good

We believe that wealth comes with a responsibility to give back to society.

If you’ve been successful as a founder, you’ve undeniably worked hard. But you’ve also received some gifts along the way: your health and talents, your upbringing and access to opportunities, living in a rich, peaceful nation.

If these lucky breaks have helped you achieve considerable wealth and security, we think it’s time to use some of what you don’t need to help others.

Female founder in front of a whiteboard with planning content on it

Why

Now?

Make the move, be the change

The most intractable social or environmental issues don’t wait for funding rounds. Giving money to good causes now creates impact that compounds. 

By moving a portion of your on-paper wealth to a giving structure, you can start making a real difference in the world today. Join our bold movement to change the culture of giving in Australia.

Changing the culture of

Australian giving 

Male founder in an office with bookcases stacked with books

Making giving the norm

As the wealth of our richest citizens has doubled in the last five years, Australia’s collective giving has barely grown.

We’re kickstarting a new philanthropic movement in Australia. Our goal is to make giving by successful tech founders the norm and the expectation, creating millions in new funding for charitable causes while building an impact-led community.

We’ll do this by helping hundreds of people in the innovation sector, just like you, to start your giving journey. With a longstanding passion for philanthropy, Daniel Petre founded and is personally funding StartGiving in full, so our service will always be free.

Sharing insights and perspectives from tech givers

Hosted by our founder and chair, Daniel Petre, and CEO, Antonia Ruffell, the StartGiving podcast is for Australian tech founders looking to start or scale their giving journey.

Listen to our episode with Bill Gates, as he discusses the fulfilment he’s experienced from philanthropy, the benefits of giving now versus later, and how much of their wealth Australian tech founders should consider giving away.

Our founder

“In the end, all of us have to put our heads on our pillows at night and deal with our thoughts. If you can sleep soundly in the knowledge that you could have helped those in need today, but decided not to, then good for you. I have yet to meet one founder who feels like that.”

Daniel Petre AO

Our founder - Daniel Petre AO

Our Expert Offering

A trusted guide for your philanthropic journey

Our team combines decades of experience in the innovation and philanthropic communities.

We use our knowledge and networks to concierge you through the process of setting up your giving structure, connecting you to ideas, specialists and like-minded peers. With deep expertise managing the complexities around foundation establishment, donating equity and dealing with third-party regulators, you are in expert hands.

How it works

Scale your impact with structured giving

Set-up

Move equity (or cash) into a private ancillary fund (PAF) to create a personal foundation

Tax benefit

Receive an immediate tax deduction, which can be spread over five years

Give

Gift 5% of the balance to charities of your choice every year

Scale

As your company grows, so does the balance of your PAF, scaling the good you can do in the world

How

Much?

Male founder in large bright office looking directly at camera

Start with a meaningful percentage

We’re asking founders to move a percentage of their equity into a private ancillary fund (PAF) now, based on their on-paper wealth. That percentage will be different for everyone.

It should be a level that won’t materially affect your lifestyle or put you at risk if markets take a downturn. But by establishing a PAF now, your giving potential grows alongside your company, allowing you to scale your impact and make a tangible difference each year in line with your own success.

For example, if you have $20m on-paper wealth, you might put 5%, or $1m, into your PAF, requiring you to give $50k to charity in year one.

As seen

And heard

We’d love to hear from you

Complete this form to arrange a time for us to speak, or to join our mailing list and stay up to date with all things StartGiving. We will never spam you.