Frances Easton on journey to raise $10m for Mackay’s most vulnerable
A generous donation, the biggest in Mackay Community Foundation’s 18-year history, will enable the charity to distribute about $120,000 a year to the region’s most vulnerable.
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Frances Easton is passionate about giving back to the Mackay community and believes she can help raise at least $10 million by 2040 for Mackay’s most vulnerable.
The Mackay resident is Mackay Community Foundation chairwoman, leading the not-for-profit organisation working towards an ever increasing income stream for the Mackay community.
Her drive to give generously has been bolstered after the foundation received the largest donation in its 18-year history.
Ms Easton said generosity from Denny Investments Pty Ltd would enable the foundation to double the size of its annual grants, enabling it to distribute about $120,000 a year.
Denny Investments was a long-term member of and investor in the Mackay district.
A building Denny formerly owned at 7 Gregory Street — designed by the Sander Turner Ellick Team and built in the late 1990s by Fergus Builders — will now be known as “Foundation House”.
The site was home to Mackay’s branch of the Australian Workers Union for a long time but is now has Hearing Australia as tenants on the ground floor.
The foundation is seeking a new tenant for the first floor who wants their net rent go back to worthwhile causes in this community.
Not wanting to take away from the admiration he holds for many Mackay charities, company director David Denny said donating to the foundation ensured the money would stay in the Mackay region.
“When one is considering estate planning matters, lots of ideas are floated,” he said.
“A practical suggestion often made is to ‘include a charity in your will’.
“This concept has always appealed to me but the selection of a charity is not as easy as it may seem.
“By deciding to assist the Mackay Community Foundation this problem is solved.
“The foundation is well established, well managed and most importantly can direct assistance where it is most needed from time to time.”
Ms Easton has been working as a financial advisor at Alman Partners Mackay for 23 years and has seen the first hand benefits of investing money.
“As a financial adviser, I really love the premise of being able to grow an income stream for our community as that is what we do for our clients,” Ms Easton said.
“At some point they want to finish long-term work and that is what the Mackay Community Foundation is about.”
The Mackay resident used the foundation’s tree metaphor to describe how the foundation will supply Mackay with a long-term source of income for the future.
“The roots of the tree are the not-for-profit organisations helping people, we planted the seed 19 years ago and all the donors have been able to nurture that tree and grow it.
“We have been able to pick the fruit to give back to the community.”
Mackay Community Foundation has supported various not-for-profit charities for more than 15 years.
The foundation aims to cover the gaps in services that the state and federal government do not fund.
Ms Easton said they worked at the grassroots first, focused on providing shelter, clothing and food for vulnerable people in need.
She said the foundation had supported domestic violence services significantly over the years with annual grants.
“The Domestic Violence Resource Services apart of Mackay Women’s Services do some amazing work and we provided them a grant last year for around about $17,000, ” Ms Easton said.
“We funded a program where people go into workforces out there and actually talk to the workforce about domestic violence and where people can get help and having those discussions and focusing on the perpetrator not the victim.
“It is getting the conversation out there and talking about the signs of domestic violence.”
Alman Partners founder Scott Alman established Mackay Community Foundation in 2003, alongside Steve Lowry from Alman Partners, Andrew Coates from McKay Solicitors and Wayne James from Next Accounting.
While working as financial advisor, Mr Alman recognised how compound interest could grow a foundation’s donations into an increasing income stream for the Mackay community.
Ms Easton said between the four men, they had $100 in the corpus, and over the years it had grown to $3 million.
“The corpus is the money invested, so if someone gives us cash donations that money is invested into a well diversified managed fund which has exposure to Australian shares,” Ms Easton said.
“So it is growing but also producing a level of income through dividends.
“So the dividend earnings, that is what we provide in grants to not-for-profit organisations.”
The foundation celebrated the transfer of the property two weeks ago.
Previous Mackay business owner David Denny donated Denny Investments building on 7 Gregory St, Mackay to the Mackay Community Foundation.
Mr Denny’s donation was the largest the foundation had ever had, and it increased the corpus to $3 million.
Ms Easton said Mackay businesses could also rent out the building, with the rent money going directly to the foundation.
“Prior to the donation of the building, we had 1.8 million but now with the evaluation of the building and that donation, our largest donation to date that has brought us up to $3m in the corpus,” Ms Easton said.
She said the foundation consisted of only volunteers, with every dollar that was donated going into grants for not-for-profit organisations in the Mackay region only.
“I had a donor say the other day ‘the biggest reason I donate to you guys is purely because I know if I am not here tomorrow, I know that my money continues to work for my community’,” Ms Easton said.
“That is the premise … and the legacy to the community.”
She said the foundation would provide 4 per cent of the balance of its corpus every year to not-for-profit organisations and how that would equate to $500,000.
“The main thing to get out there is our aim for the foundation is to keep growing the corpus and work towards $10m in the corpus by 2040 or earlier,” Ms Easton said.
“I believe we will get there, we have gone to $3m now very quickly.
“We have a very generous community in Mackay, and I know people love the story of the foundation.”
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