Resources, support and advocacy for the mental health and wellbeing of social sector professionals and volunteers.
Benefolk Foundation was established in 2020 to work with government and philanthropy on the broader Benefolk mission – to provide resources for, and advocate for the mental health and wellbeing of social sector professionals and volunteers.
Our flagship resource hubs – The Community Well and Expert Bar – are in direct response to the data we have gathered with sector partners over the last five years, and have been utilised by more than 10,000 organisations.
Our flagship research project – RESET 2020 National Impact + Need Research Study – also validated the need for a single focus on the mental health and wellbeing of Australian social sector workers:
- 45% of respondents often or always felt stressed or anxious
- 34% did not know where to go for support for their mental health and wellbeing
- 41% felt frustrated, cynical,overwhelmed or exhausted
This data is our north star with partners: to empower changemakers with everything they need to make their impact and thrive.
As someone who has been a CEO in the charities sector for over 30 years, and CEO of CCA for 10 years, I know firsthand the pre-existing systematic challenges, and indeed new challenges, that are impacting our sector and its people. These challenges directly impact organisational and individual wellbeing and resilience. We have been involved promoting the value of Benefolk Foundation’s collaborations to our members and the broader charities sector. At CCA we have drawn on the RESET 2020 data and know that the findings it provided provoked many positive conversations both within charities and beyond.
David Crosbie,
CEO, Community Council of Australia
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The RESET 2020 initiative was an innovative and collaborative COVID sector response. It has been widely hailed as a flagship project that supported, enabled and influenced policymakers, organisation leaders and grantmakers alike during an unprecedented year of turbulence. It showed us all that we need to prioritise the systemic causes of burnout in the sector.Benefolk's strategy will ensure that the wellbeing focus of the 1.2 million employees and 3-4 million volunteers in the sector are not overlooked by the needs of our beneficiaries.
Jodi Kennedy,
GM Trusts & Philanthropy, Equity Trustees
I have been proud to be inaugural Chair of Benefolk Foundation which continues to work collaboratively with sector partners to address the very complex, and urgent issue of social sector burnout. It is no longer acceptable – indeed, the elephant in the room – that social sector organisations, their staff and volunteers are on a perpetual mental health rollercoaster. There is much we can do to improve mental health wellbeing, and in turn, improve social and community outcomes.
Sarah Davies,
Outgoing Inaugural Chair, Benefolk Foundation; Former CEO of Philanthropy Australia
