Radio Interview | ABC Illawarra
Journalist: David Claughton
Interview with: Lisa Grinham, CEO, Good2Give
Program: Country Hour (NSW)
Aired: 30 Jan
Summary:
Not-for-profit charity Good2Give says one in every two people in Australia have donated money to charities involved in the bushfire relief. David notes Good2Give has worked with companies to distribute $13m a year. Lisa states they know from disasters in the past that bushfires are not a short-term crisis.
David notes people are concerned with the Red Cross after putting out about a third of what they received so far into the field. Lisa states the Red Cross takes a medium- to long-term view around working with communities to provide support and help them to rebuild. David asks if Good2Give is getting feedback from the charity regulator and the ACCC. Lisa says some of their clients have been contacted by the ACCC to check if their fundraising is legitimate. And she says workplace giving is one area that they work with the corporates to enable distributing money to communities in need.
Excerpts from the interview:
Journalist |
Is the money getting to people on the ground? There’s a lot of concern about that. Even with some of the major organisations that are very familiar with emergency response. |
Lisa Grinham |
You do have charities that their key focus is immediate disaster relief, so they are on the ground there, they are distributing the money. There are others that take a more medium- to long-term view, and they are involved in the recovery and the rebuilding of these communities. |
Lisa Grinham |
We know that, from disasters in the past, things like bushfires are not short-term crisis. They impact on mental health, financial security, essential services, and these issues can be felt for many, many years. So, from our perspective, we’re certainly seeing the charities that are experts in this area, they’ve got experience, they know when and how to react. |
Journalist |
Yet people are really deeply concerned, even about the Red Cross, which is an emergency-response organisation putting out $35 million, about a third of what they’ve received so far, into the field now. In fact, only a part of that is gone out now. So, is that a good-enough performance from your perspective? |
Lisa Grinham |
Again, knowing Red Cross, they take a medium- to long-term view around working in communities to support people and communities to rebuild. So, I have all the faith in the Red Cross, having been doing this for decades, that they’ve found what communities need. I think that the general public needs to trust the charities, and trust that the charities know what they’re doing. |
Journalist |
Businesses are doing some remarkable things to support communities affected by fires. Are you involved only in this area of workplace giving? |
Lisa Grinham |
Workplace giving is one area that we work with the corporates. We do also work with them in terms of distributing monies out to other communities in need. Most of what we do though is actually on the financial side of things. I think what’s been incredibly inspiring, is the great way the media’s actually shone a light on those businesses that are doing great work and I think for some of those that perhaps haven’t been so active, it’s actually challenged them to step up to the plate. So, I think the way businesses across Australia, large and small, have reacted in this time of emergency has been extraordinary. And I think the creative ways that companies are thinking about how they can actually support and add value to communities is vitally important. They’re looking at what are their strengths and how can they play to their strengths to actually help communities. |
Learn more about how businesses have been helping communities affected by the bushfires.
