Unlocking capital for climate resilience and community impact

Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) and Atlassian Foundation have announced a new partnership to support increased investment in charities that deliver positive social and environmental outcomes in Australia – ultimately meaning organisations can spend more time delivering impact, and less time talking to investors. 

The initiative will focus on organisations supporting communities facing challenges arising from climate change. 

Atlassian Foundation has committed US$1 million (approximately AU$1.5 million) to be matched by PRF through an allocation from its $60m Impact First Fund. 

The combined pool will be invested across a portfolio of impact investments. Funder contributions are provided as grants or donations and no financial capital is returned to funders. Instead, any financial returns generated by the underlying investments are reinvested into similar enterprises. 

The partnership aims to support First Nations and community organisations operating at the intersection of climate and community while unlocking more capital for their work. 

Atlassian Foundation’s Director, Operations, Farzad Yazdanparast is excited about the potential this has to grow the number and diversity of funders seeking to deploy capital to address climate-related challenges. 

First of its kind  

“This partnership is a first of its kind in Australia, and it gives the Atlassian Foundation a way to support genuinely catalytic investments in climate resilience here at home,” he says. 

“It aligns closely with our collective action strategy – we know the challenges facing communities at the intersection of climate and community are too big for any one funder to take on alone. We’re really proud to be a founding partner, and see enormous potential for this to scale and bring other funders in alongside us. We’re hopeful this is the start of something big.” 

PRF’s Director, Investment and Impact Capital, Ben Smith, is also Chair of the Foundations Group for Impact Investing (FGII), hosted by Philanthropy Australia. 

He says FGII has played an important role in helping trusts and foundations learn together and explore opportunities to deploy impact capital. 

“Atlassian Foundation is a fellow FGII member and we hope that partnerships like this can stimulate greater co-working in future.” 

Removing silos 

Ben sees the partnership as a first step towards opening the door for more funders that want to play a practical role in unlocking catalytic capital for opportunities that are too early, complex, small or uncertain for conventional finance. 

“Impact capital is often deployed in silos with an often-cited criticism of the impact investing market that high transaction costs pose an insurmountable barrier to entry,” Ben says. 

Pooling resources also creates efficiencies, including a single due diligence process, a single investment agreement and a single portfolio management approach. 

“This reduces the friction for an impact investor and creates a better experience for the investee – meaning investees can spend more time delivering impact, and less time talking to investors,” he says. 

The initiative is designed to make impact investing more accessible for trusts, foundations, family offices and individual investors. Through participation in a shared portfolio and Community of Practice, funders can build capability and confidence while increasing capital flowing to care for Country, climate action and community preparedness. 

The partnership is open to other funders, with Atlassian Foundation and PRF hoping to catalyse greater impact investment in Australia to support communities facing climate-related challenges.