The Mannifera funding collective is inviting all funders interested in strengthening Australia’s democratic resilience to consider signing-up to co-fund alongside us. 

Mannifera was launched in 2019 by a group of values-aligned funders seeking to invest in civil society organisations advocating for a democracy and economy with fairness at its heart.  Beyond delivering grants, we support funders and advocates to connect, learn, and build their collective influence.

In doing so Mannifera has become a prominent voice in the philanthropic community, urging other funders to consider the role a fair and open democracy plays in protecting many of the other rights and freedoms that the Australian community relies on for its prosperity. 

This new co-funding focus is designed to encourage more funding into the advocacy organisations working hard to protect Australia from the democratic backsliding that's been evident in other countries in recent years, including in the United States and Europe.

Funders who register their interest in co-funding with Mannifera will be informed about collective funding decisions coming out of the annual ‘Mannifera Muster’, and opportunities to connect with the Mannifera members and partners throughout the year.

'Funding advocacy is not commonplace in Australian philanthropy and yet it’s critical to many of the issues philanthropists care deeply about. Issues like climate change and poverty have in many ways arisen from a political system that isn’t working as it should.’

Mannifera’s grant partners are doing incredible work to fix this, but their resourcing is far outstripped by anti-democratic actors. To continue to make progress in this context, they simply need more funding.’

- Mannifera Executive Officer Harriet McCallum

'Despite the challenges democracy is up against, the community of funders and advocates being nurtured by Mannifera is a source of inspiration to me. It has been wonderful to witness the influence of our collective effort, and it's never been more important.'

- Deanne Weir, WeirAnderson Foundation (Mannifera member)

‘As our national profile and reputation has grown, so has the demand for our expertise. We receive multiple calls per day from journalists, parliamentarians and their staff, but increasingly find ourselves unable to meet the demand.’ 

- Dr Catherine Williams, Executive Director of the Centre for Public Integrity (Mannifera grant partner)

For more information on co-funding with Mannifera visit https://mannifera.org.au/join-us/ 

To discuss co-funding alongside us contact our Director of Engagement and Partnerships, Tambelin Boykin, at tambelin@mannifera.org.au or complete an expression of interest here.