DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR MISSION
Children’s Discovery is a registered charity and deductible gift recipient (Authority no. 18359 to fundraise under section 13A of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991) so all donations are tax-deductible.
Children’s Discovery is also an approved charity on the Benevity platform. If your company is registered with Benevity please donate via this avenue as every dollar you donate will be doubled!
We focus on the areas of importance borne out by research:
- Early Childhood Education
- STEM Education
- Practical Technological Skills Development
- Access to Under-represented Cohorts
- Community Engagement
If your philanthropic motivation is based on supporting any of these objectives, your contribution will help us extend the reach of our programs and restore Australia’s standing in STEM.
WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP
Around 80,000 children access Children’s Discovery programs annually through approximately 400 participating public libraries. However, this only represents around 20% of Australia’s public libraries and hence we reach only a fraction of those who could benefit.
In order to make our programs as widely accessible as possible, Children’s Discovery strives to minimise the cost to facilitators of offering our programs, which in turn enables facilitators to minimise the participation cost per child. In fact in almost all cases our programs are accessed by participants for free. To this end, we are dependent on contributions that are used to subsidise the cost of developing and distributing our programs and training local facilitators.
In addition to subsidising the cost of our programs, we need financial assistance to:
- support research and development into refreshing and extending our existing suite of programs
- extend our program delivery to preschools, primary schools and out-of-school-hours childcare providers
- support our presence in regional communities, historically under-represented in STEM-based education and career opportunities.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
All donations are gratefully received and efficiently used. We are always pleased to discuss specific funding ideas or initiatives with potential donors, but the following gives an indication of how donations of different levels are used.
Donations of up to $300
Donations of any size are greatly appreciated. Smaller donations are pooled and used to subsidise the cost of training facilitators.
Donations $300–$2,000
The typical cost of a Children’s Discovery SPARK! Box (themed, age-based, loanable, reusable science kit) is around $300. Donations of between $300 and $2,000 are used to offer additional SPARK! Boxes to participating libraries.
Donations $2,000–$10,000
Donations in this range enable us to provide a suite of our programs to the public libraries in a local government area. This will typically include one or more of the following:
- Little Bang Program Facilitator set, participant kits for up to 20 participants, facilitator training. Note: the program can be run multiple times over many years.
- Big Bang Program Series of eight workshops with facilitator training and materials for up to 25 participants.
- SPARK! Boxes Loanable, reusable science kits that can be borrowed from libraries.
With consent, we recognise the support of an individual or organisation in making our programs available to a particular library or LGA.
Larger Donations
Larger donations are used by Children’s Discovery to support research and development efforts and to increase the resources involved in training facilitators and distributing our programs.
Large donors with a particular philanthropic objective in mind (eg based on a program area, the development of subject matter, targeted at a specific geography or cohort etc) are encouraged to contact Children’s Discovery directly as we are always pleased to discuss such initiatives.
We are open to co-branding of such initiatives and/or collaboration in their implementation. Where consent is provided, we also recognise such support with beneficiaries and in our ‘Thank you to our supporters’ section of our website.
DONATE TO CHILDREN’S DISCOVERY
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Thank you to our supporters!
As an independent, not-for-profit, registered charity, Children’s Discovery’s ability to maintain its programs, foster a culture of learning through play, and promote universal attributes (the 5Cs) to children Australia-wide, depends on raising funds in support. We are most indebted to our major benefactor and all our supporters.
Chris Abbott / The Abbott Foundation
Through The Abbott Foundation Chris Abbott has been Children’s Discovery’s main benefactor for the past decade. Without his enthusiasm and financial assistance, Children’s Discovery would not exist. Chris champions the “prevention is better than a cure” philosophy, and on this basis his philanthropic endeavours have sought to fund activities that stimulate young minds.
Chris funded Children’s Discovery’s development of STEM-based programs that have been taken to thousands of children a year through partnership with public libraries. “To me it’s been a very worthwhile subsidy for the number of children involved. When we started it would have been around $20 per child. Today, with more than 400 libraries involved, the subsidy is under $3 per child. It has been a very pleasing outcome.”
Jon Jutsen
Jon has supported Children’s Discovery as Chair of its Board and through direct financial contributions. “I hope my contribution and donations set an example to others similarly convinced to invest in early childhood STEM experiences as Children’s Discovery provides a “big bang” for buck!”
Funding Partner – Inspiring South Australia
Inspiring South Australia has assisted with funding more than 100 public libraries across the state, the majority of which are in regional areas. “I have always been extremely proud to have been associated with this initiative, and firmly believe that together we have made a lasting and significant difference to the lives and futures of many in this state.” – Dr Sheryn Pitman, Program Manager, Inspiring SA
Delivery Partner – State Library of South Australia
The State Library of South Australia has assisted with the rollout of Children’s Discovery programs by coordinating and scheduling our training program in 20 local ‘hubs’ across the South Australia. They continue to coordinate the collection of feedback forms from across the state and are a conduit for ongoing communications about new Children’s Discovery resources and training opportunities.
“This STEM initiative has been one of the longest running and successful early childhood programs in South Australian libraries … it has also met Strategy 4 in Tomorrow’s Libraries – Partnering with Intent – Achieve scale and greater impact through partnerships.” – Sharmayne Coso, Public Library Service SA
Australian Toy Association Charitable Foundation (ATACF)
The ATACF is a trust of the Australian Toy Association (ATA) the sole representative body for the toy industry within Australia. It recognises that Australian children have a diverse range of needs and that provision must be made to assist them to live healthy, happy and balanced lives. The ATACF has kindly made donations to Children’s Discovery that subsidised program implementations at the Shire of Denmark (WA), Shire of Ashburton (WA), Whitsunday Regional Libraries (QLD), and the NSW Central West Zone.
Luke Tristram
Luke is an Australian technology entrepreneur whose generous donations have subsidised Children’s Discovery program implementations at Leeton Shire in New South Wales, Rosny in Tasmania, and Moreton Bay in Queensland.
Supported by OnePageCRM
OnePageCRM provides Children’s Discovery use of their new customer relationship management software which is being constantly updated and improved with our feedback.
State Library of New South Wales
The State Library of New South Wales provided funding assistance for training sessions at the SWITCH 2022 Conference in Albury and a grant for libraries attending Little Bang training in Blacktown, Sydney in September 2022.