There is absolutely every reason to celebrate and empower the future potential and aspirations of committed people in impactful organisations working on strategy. This is where we spend much of our time as executives and Boards; in imagining and pushing for better outcomes for the communities we serve. It is courageous work and it ensures we can constantly challenge ourselves to build stronger and better systems and organisations. 

We reached our 200th project late 2025 as the year came to a close. This milestone invites both reflection and celebration for us — an opportunity to look back on what we’ve built, the scale and scope of the projects we have delivered, the impact of our advice, and reading into the patterns and themes to inform the future direction of our practice.

We are a young country, and growing fast. 50% of our population is under the age of 35 years. Our maternal death rates, at around 250 deaths per 100,000 births, are around 100 times the rate in Australia (WHO). Only 33% of our kids finish primary school, and only 15% finish high school. (UNICEF).

Too often, impact frameworks are treated as compliance tools—boxes to tick for funders, donors, or annual reports. But when done well, they are much more than that. An impact framework, thoughtfully designed and strongly embedded in the human experience of impact, does more than articulate outcomes to stakeholders; it becomes a living process that shapes how teams think, learn, and drive strategy.

Community, as a concept, is simultaneously self-evident (we know it’s out there) and complex (we'd all define it slightly differently). It’s typically defined as the warm, fuzzy and reciprocal engagement between a smaller, more localised group of individuals who share a common purpose.

For Australian NFPs, restoring public trust is not just a reputational concern—it is fundamental to their ability to deliver social impact. Organisations that embrace transparency, actively engage with communities, and adapt to shifting expectations will be best positioned to navigate this new era of grievance and uncertainty.  

We spend a lot of time working with non-profits and funders, exploring how they can do more to contribute to a more equitable society. In spite of that, we spend very little time exploring whether applying a gender-lens to our discussions around the design, implementation and funding of interventions in a deliberate and thoughtful manner could lead to better outcomes.

Compassion, often cited as the greatest virtue, acknowledges the suffering in the world, and recognises a community is only as strong as its weakest (a very African sentiment, pointing to their communitarian view of the world, and central to the ‘Ubuntu’ philosophy that ‘we are all connected’).  

As Philanthropy Australia spearheads our national campaign to Double Giving by 2030, let’s push into this new agenda so that, if successful, we can be more confident that we will also at least double the impact in the process. Some philanthropies are already making this subtle shift in direction, progressively working to distribute this assumed power, change the system and effect a stronger, fairer and more sustainable social economy that benefits the many, and not the few. Others are likely to resist or adopt a business-as-usual approach.

The Health and Medical Research sector is one of the largest recipients of philanthropic giving in Australia. GoodWolf recently set out on a ‘listening tour’ with a selection of 10 CEOs from foundations granting into this sector to explore their evolving practice model for supporting this critical field, and to understand how they are adapting to its opportunities and challenges.

It seems to us that many in society have a fear of data – like the fear of finance – and we don’t think we know enough to analyse or interpret data. So, alongside the creation of the technology and data tools, we need to embark on a societal education program to build our ‘bench strength’ to have confidence and capacity to understand and act on data in a coherent manner; in a way that considers and (even better) includes the important stakeholders that matter. 

If the state of the housing sector was being ranked by our fire risk rating, it would be pointing to ‘catastrophic’.  

The hopes and dreams of young aspirant first-home buyers are up in smoke, and stressed-out mortgagees are feeling the intense heat of RBA’s twelve rate hikes, the fastest tightening cycle on record. The majority of these mortgagees are families living on the suburban fringe, further widening the gap between the haves and the have nots.  

As 2022 draws to a close, we are delighted to share with you some highlights of our year at GoodWolf and what we have been building together with our collaborators, valued clients, and delivery partners.

“For most, the challenges Directors and Trustees face arise from the philosophical repositioning of investment activities as a way to enhance the Foundation’s mission and unlock public benefit, and rethreading governance and contractual requirements to achieve this. This is a significant change management exercise, rather than simply a ‘switch’ in investment strategy”

Since the beginning of the impact investing movement in Australia and abroad, we have heard from investors that ‘the deals aren’t there’. But on the demand side, for example amongst social enterprises, we also hear that ‘there is not enough appropriate capital’.

“This is an exciting next step for the sector after a generation of strategic advances on the granting side. The timing is right for Trusts and Foundations to start exploring this next paradigm shift in investment strategy, and shifting its capital towards greater impact. But Trustees, Directors and Senior Managers need sustained support to navigate this journey, and an opportunity to work alongside their peers in the process. The transition ahead is a ‘doing’ problem and starts with building consensus at the Board about why and how to effect the transition.”

Despite the leadership and progress we see internationally from prominent Foundations, like Ford and Rockefeller who have committed their endowments to the objective of 100% responsible investing and impact, and the growing number of ‘100% Foundations’ convened by TONIIC (US), the $50bn Trusts and Foundations sector in Australia still has a long way to go to shift its traditional investment mindset.

As we are all asset owners in some form, we too can play a role in the change by making our expectations clear to our own financial advisors, institutions and superannuation funds.

“Addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis is not just about getting to net zero. It’s about the impact of that transition on people and communities… If we don’t mitigate the consequences and maximise the opportunities – particularly in relation to jobs and skills that that offers, the transition is simply not going to happen…”

We must drastically reduce emissions and stimulate nature to absorb more by restoring biodiversity – through afforestation and reforestation. To reverse the sharp decline, we have and continue to see in biodiversity by 2030, we need to address a funding gap of US$825 billion per year (this figure comes from ‘Financing Nature: Closing the Global Biodiversity Financing Gap’ by The Nature Conservancy).