In Australia's diverse charity sector, there are thousands of fantastic stories about the impact charities have on their communities.
We recently spoke with Cure4CF Foundation about their work, the biggest challenge they face and how they seek donor support.
What does your charity do?
Cure4Cystic Fibrosis is a not-for-profit organisation with a single purpose - to raise funds for medical research in support of a cure for cystic fibrosis (CF).
What is the ultimate goal for your charity – what do you want to achieve?
To significantly increase the amount of funding that supports Australian research and accelerates an accessible cure for CF.
What is the biggest challenge faced by your charity?
Cystic fibrosis is considered a rare disease and one of our biggest challenges is awareness of the disease in the broader community. Many are not sure what CF stands for and may not be aware that 1 in 25 people are carriers of a genetic mutation responsible for CF. Our Foundation is still relatively unknown.
Cure4 Cystic Fibrosis began as a parent led initiative in 2002, acquired DGR status in 2009 and hired its first staff member in 2016. In 2017 we won funding to purchase a database and build a mobile responsive website. We are now a team of 3 staff (2 FTE) and have the resources and expertise in place to build our national profile and share the impact of our work with the Australian community.
What is the most exciting development from your charity recently? (i.e. new projects, milestone celebrations etc.)
In February 2019, Cure4 Cystic Fibrosis, in partnership with the National Foundation for Medical Research and Innovation (NFMRI), launched its inaugural grant funding program to the national scientific and medical community.
This partnership will see Cure4 Cystic Fibrosis invest a minimum of $750K in CF research to fund the best CF translational research across Australia.
How does your charity seek out new donors to support its funding of Cystic Fibrosis research?
Cure4 Cystic Fibrosis is a lean charity, we have minimal staffing resources and we are very careful about what we spend on donor acquisition. We mainly rely upon the goodwill of our Board members and a very robust CF community to help identify donor and partnership opportunities, and word of mouth of our donors who can testify to our work and impact in the CF community.
We have won several substantial grants from other trusts and foundations and this has also helped to expand our networks and supporter base. We are very fortunate to have a pro-bono partnership with Nation Creative who has completely rebranded our Foundation and helped to increase our reach and awareness through our website and social media platforms.
We also have a pro-bono relationship with McGuiness Media who help us share the good work of the research projects we have supported and assist in earned media success. We have a regular giving program, a major giving circle and a robust community fundraising program, all of which provide opportunities for donor acquisition events and campaigns.
Find out more about Cure4CF Foundation on their website, or via their social media channels:
Interested in sharing your charity’s story? Email us at charitychat@acnc.gov.au.