Our values.

At Good Foundations, this is what we value.  We’re interested in working on projects that are intentionally designed to create impact for the people they seek to serve. We want to help organisations to develop meaningful programs that engage their staff and encourage more and better philanthropy and community support . We believe in having integrity, going the extra mile to create innovative solutions, and putting our heart and soul into our work.  We value the long-term relationships we form with our clients, to whom we offer only honest and balanced advice.

We believe in Shared value as a powerful concept. Shared value is a business strategy that focuses on creating both economic value for a company and societal benefits for the communities it operates in. It's a way to integrate social and environmental issues into a company's core business operations, rather than treating them as separate, external concerns.

Our beginnings. 

After 16 years doing the corporate rounds (at PwC, NAB and Westpac), Stephen Penny went on to become the Chief Financial Officer of Opportunity International Australia (OIA), who focused on socially focused micro-finance around the world. It was whilst visiting clients with Opportunity in India that Stephen's view on life changed and Stephen went on to create Good Foundations in 2012. Recognising the need for a stronger, more efficient and business-minded sector, Stephen established Good Foundations to focus on how not-for-profits run themselves as a business. It is only with a solid foundation that an organisation is born, whether for profit or not, and goes on to achieve success.

After 14 years of advising and consulting to 250+ for-purpose organisations of all shapes, sizes and purposes, in 2025 Good Foundations has changed its focus to now concentrate on working with for-profit businesses, so they can do more and better community giving. We'd like to see a world where businesses of all sizes consider what their role could be in making society a better place, and how (and why) they could become involved with community giving, or increase the impact and outcomes of what they are already doing. 

We do this by providing information and education to for-profit businesses on community giving, in terms of how, why and what they could do, connecting them to other specialist advisers, as well as consulting directly to corporates.

This shift in focus is being led by Sam Sayers and Stephen Penny. In summary, Sam has held CEO roles for many years in the for-purpose sector, including at a corporate foundations.

Everything we do is towards the aim of building the operational capacity and effectiveness of the sector. We combine knowledge and experience gained from both the corporate and not-for-profit sectors amongst our team to work closely with our clients to solve problems. We provide pragmatic and insightful advice, build close and long-term relationships with our clients and have fun doing it.

Collaborations

We know that not-for-profits, especially new or small organisations, can struggle to generate enough revenue to really get going. The Funding Network do an awesome job of linking these types of organisations to funders, which is why we recommend organisations who fit their criteria should apply to pitch at an event. For those wishing to support the sector, we also recommend they become a supporter of The Funding Network by attending an event and supporting a grass roots organisation working to create change.

The Funding Network's mission is to build the capacity of Australian grassroots not-for-profits by broadening the culture of giving and strengthening community connections. They do this through live crowdfunding events where like-minded individuals, foundations and corporations come together to create powerful social change. 

If you wish to find out more about The Funding Network, please visit https://www.thefundingnetwork.com.au