Successful Australian startup founders donate money at more than twice the rate of other taxpayers, and have already committed to giving away more than $19 billion according to a new research into local philanthropy.
The arc from founder to funding and then foundation is detailed in the Australian Tech Giving Report by StartGiving and the University of Western Australia’s Centre for Social Impact. It’s the first comprehensive benchmark of philanthropy in the local tech sector, which is projected to contribute $250 billion a year to national GDP by 2030.
The report comes as the global philanthropic movement Pledge 1% marks its 10th anniversary, with Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar, a founding member, stepping into the role of chair. More than 19,000 companies in 130 countries have pledged to set aside 1% of equity, profit, product, and/or employee time to drive social impact.
Australia has also produced some remarkable tech startups with philanthropy at their heart, including Humanitix, which donates 100% of its profits to charity, and Daniel Flynn’s Thankyou.
Envato cofounders Collis and Cyan Ta’eed built philanthropy into the company’s culture from the outset, and since selling the business for $373 million last year have been focused on philanthropic work in the Northern Territory with their family.
StartGiving, founded by Airtree cofounder Daniel Petre in 2022, has one of the world’s biggest tech philanthropists, Bill Gates, on its advisory board. The not-for-profit organisation inspiring a new culture of giving in the Australian innovation community, and provides advice and financial support to make it happen.
“Australia’s growing tech sector has clear, untapped potential for more and greater giving, driven by a new generation of self-made tech founders,” Petre said.
“Impact-driven, comfortable with risk, people-oriented, and highly collaborative, tech givers’ contemporary giving styles could revolutionise what it means to be a philanthropist in Australia.”
The report several founders who’ve had successful exists, including GO1’s Andrew Barnes, and Aconex’s Leigh Jasper, as well as emerging founders such as Dimitry Tran from Harrison.ai, plus several VCs.
The research found that tech founders exhibit a different relationship with wealth than those in traditional sectors. Many interviewees cited luck as a significant factor in their success and expressed discomfort with their wealth compared to equally hardworking peers.
“I sold my business for a lot of money, and I felt almost guilt for the amount of money that it was,” an anonymous tech founde said.
“I mean, I worked hard, obviously, but it wasn’t commensurate with the amount of work I did…there’s people who work a lot harder than I do. So, I felt it was a duty of mine to give back to the community,”
Tech founders are bringing an entrepreneurial mindset to philanthropy—backing people over projects, offering flexible multi-year funding, and prioritising impact over recognition, Arminé Nalbandian, CEO of the Centre for Social Impact, said.
“This shift in approach has the potential to fundamentally rebalance the power dynamics of giving.”
StartGiving CEO Antonia Ruffell said tech givers are action-oriented.
“Often with the means to give earlier in life, they’re motivated to start their philanthropy earlier, not decades down the track. We hope this report will inspire and encourage more tech founders with the means to start giving now,” she said.
Petre believes the 30 wealthiest people in Australian tech could contribute well over $25 billion to philanthropy, with nearly $19bn already committed by a handful of them.
There’s already a mindset in place with Canva cofounders Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams pledging to give away the majority of their multi-billion-dollar fortunes away. They’re already Australia’s 2nd most generous philanthropists. More recently AirTrunk billionaire Robin Khuda made a $100m donation to support women in STEM.
Notable findings in the Australian Tech Giving Survey include 67.8% of survey respondents saying they donate money, compared to 27.5% of Australian taxpayers. Already, in just a few years, philanthropy by tech founders has grown from 1% to 21% of total grants made by Australia’s Top 50 givers.
And more than half (57.7%) of those who responded said they expect to increase their giving next year, with around 20% planning to establish foundations.
More at startgiving.com
NOW READ: Bill Gates explains why philanthropy matters when you’re successful in tech in a new podcast with Daniel Petre
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