Who, What, Why

Australia has 60,000 registered charities. Their passion to improve our community is inspiring, as is the commitment of their founders, employees, funders, and volunteers. We salute and admire them. Helping them achieve their vision and goals is why we set up Tanarra Philanthropic Advisors (TPA), as we believe we have a useful role to play. That is because some two-thirds of our nation’s charities are small organisations with annual revenue of less than $250,000. Their goals are often bigger than their budgets or organisational capabilities. Even larger charities can benefit from quality external advice. Areas where external advice can be very beneficial include :

• clarifying their mission
• sharpening their business plan
• organising for cost-effective success
• getting the right mix of skills and commitment around the board table
• ensuring board and management are working closely as one
• developing an optimal and sustainable funding model
• having at their disposal first class financial modelling tools to assist in budgeting and business planning
• developing a sound (but not suffocating) risk management framework and culture.

Our vision

An Australian charity sector realising its full potential to deliver significant social and economic outcomes.

Our mission

To strengthen the strategic and financial positions of Australian charities, enhancing the great work they are already doing.

We provide (primarily) pro bono advice, with the benefit of decades of experience as financial and strategic advisors and investors, coupled with a deep background in, and understanding of, the philanthropic investment space. We believe our combination of skills and perspectives is even more important for charities today, as many philanthropic supporters now have a mindset of being investors in high-quality well-run organisations rather than passive donors.

What we will do is provide honest, direct, practical, thoughtful, independent advice, utilising the skills of the Tanarra investment team – one of the best in Australia – as well as a network of highly qualified supporters. We’ll tell charities what you need to hear, not necessarily what you want to hear. Sometimes this may be that the best path to achieving mission is to combine with other organisations with similar goals, to gain strength through scale. For small charities, within a reasonable time budget, our advice is free. For larger charities, it’s low bono.

What we won’t do are three things

• raise money for charities or be an introduction service to potential donors or investors
• provide legal advice
• advise charities on how to grow market share against others in essentially a zero-sum game in their sector. We want to work with charities that are committed to growing the pie or value in their sector, either by increasing overall revenues, building something entrepreneurial and innovative, or reducing sector costs.

Each project is scoped with agreed hours, following a selection process and due diligence.

READ ABOUT OUR PROJECTS

WE DON’T

• raise money for charities or be an introduction service to potential donors or investors
• provide legal advice
• advise charities on how to grow market share against others in essentially a zero-sum game in their sector. We want to work with charities that are committed to growing the pie or value in their sector, either by increasing overall revenues, building something entrepreneurial and innovative, or reducing sector costs.
• give financial donations or grants
• produce management consultant reports
• serve on charity Boards.
• do marketing or social media

We support progressive Australian charities and social purpose organisations who

• can demonstrate they are growing the pie, not taking market share
• have a progressive ‘roll up the sleeves’ board
• are crystal clear on their mission and focussed on those they serve
• has programs and beneficiaries based in Australia
• we believe in the importance of their work or its possibilities.

READ ABOUT OUR PROJECTS

Read our 2021 Impact Report

Read our 2020 Impact Report

Read our 2019 Impact Report

Read our 2018 Impact Report

Our team of 25+ people in Australia and international offices have been handpicked for their exceptional skills and track record.

We are very good at:

• shaping and sharpening strategy and business models,
• scaling and innovating through a global lense,
• predicting and managing risks,
• improving financial models and efficiencies,
• optimising sector structures and,
• improving governance and transparency;

Get to know us

We also harness the capability and experience of the global Tanarra Group.

Tanarra is an Australian family office investment and advisory firm with an excellent track record. Its principal is John Wylie, one of Australia’s well regarded investment bankers and investors.

Tanarra’s focus is on building genuine value rather than realizing near term returns and their approach is based around genuine partnerships and encouraging leadership teams to leverage Tanarra’s substantial experience to build market-leading organisations. Tanarra focuses on relationships and working together with management teams and fellow stakeholders to drive optimal decision making.

Tanarra Philanthropic Advisors will be aligned with the underlying principles of Tanarra’s approach described above and are committed to delivering transformative outcomes for the charity sector through the formation of partnerships based on integrity, understanding and connection.

For more information on Tanarra, visit their website here.