Highlights from the 2026 National Community Foundations Forum.

Services in Denmark, located over 350km south of Perth, are 'next to nothing', says Karen Burford, Chair of the local community foundation. But that’s beginning to change, thanks to the foundation’s tireless commitment and ability to convene local stakeholders on issues such as youth mental health, food insecurity and substance misuse services.

The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation is forging a distinctive partnership with community foundations to achieve ‘immediate impact’ where it’s needed in Western Australian communities. The trust-based giving model recognises that community foundations hold the key relationships central to achieving significant long-term change in their local areas, said Chair Elizabeth Perron.

A fund aimed at tackling gender inequality and strengthening women-led philanthropy hosted by the Geelong Community Foundation was launched in April with the backing of more than 100 founding members.

A grassroots alliance of community foundations along the Murray River is driving regional collaboration in a growing network.

Community foundations are coming together across Australia to tackle some of the most complex issues facing communities today in a more collaborative and systemic approach. Through the Impact Communities approach, shepherded by Community Foundations Australia (CFAus), groups of foundations are sharing knowledge, testing ideas, strengthening advocacy and exploring how community philanthropy can drive meaningful change across a wider sphere than a local context.

Designed with and for community foundations, the Lifecycles framework and card game offer community foundations the chance to reflect on four fluid stages — emergence, growth, durability, and renewal - not as a linear progression, but as an ongoing journey.

Tamás Scsaurszki, one of our international guests at the National Community Foundations Forum, shared the powerful story of how Péter Magyar’s landslide win over Viktor Orbán came after he spent two years visiting hundreds of communities in rural Hungary holding 'talking groups' about civic matters.

Em Scott, CEO of the national community foundation Rainbow Giving Australia, has published nine major recommendations to address chronic underfunding for community organisations supporting LGBTIQ+ equality and inclusion as part of her Churchill Fellowship research.

Community foundations influence renewable energy policy in real-time as NSW parliament debated bill