BlueRock launches Be BlueRock Foundation
30 May 2022 at 12:51 pm
Melbourne-based advisory firm BlueRock is set to officially launch the philanthropic arm of its company, the Be BlueRock Foundation.
After a chance meeting with Besen Family Foundation CEO Tabitha Lovett in 2019, BlueRock’s managing director of private wealth Adam Morse discussed the merits of a public ancillary fund and how BlueRock could help individuals and businesses interested in creating foundations for philanthropic purposes.
The Be BlueRock Foundation was the result. Set up as a public ancillary fund, it allows individuals and organisations to create their own sub-funds beneath it, with BlueRock managing all the paperwork.
While the foundation was created in 2020, it will officially launch on 7 June, following two years of cancelled event plans thanks to COVID.
The foundation is headed up by BlueRock philanthropy manager Kaitlin Beattie. She told Pro Bono News the motivation for creating their own public ancillary fund was to simplify giving.
“If an individual, business or company chooses to create a sub-fund with Be BlueRock then the benefits are that we manage all of the paperwork and the entity only has to manage one tax deductible receipt rather than navigating the many smaller donations, and then organising how to funnel those fund appropriately,” she explained.
“We take care of all of the tax and compliance, and then the sub-fund just distributes a minimum of 4 per cent a year.”
Beattie, who has worked with the B Corp for several years, says she wanted to get more involved “on the impact side of things” and was passionate about helping businesses to give in a way that takes the stress out of the process.
She said the foundation provided a way for both their clients and staff to engage in conversations about giving back and strengthening communities.
“When creating the foundation, we put a survey out to all of our staff to see what cause areas we wanted to align with,” she said.
“We came up with three core areas, which are conservation, animals and the environment; youth mental health; and financial literacy.”
The curriculum for a financial literacy program for disadvantaged groups has already been written and the organisation is now in talks with different charitable organisations to see where the initiative will be best directed.
For more information see the website.
