Impact investment: Nature Glenelg Trust
Supporting a decade-long success story
Funding context
By providing core funding to the Nature Glenelg Trust, Rendere is helping a highly effective conservation organisation scale up its activities, particularly in the area of wetland conservation and restoration.
Rendere also provides strategic advice to the NGT team, with a particular focus on helping them build their fundraising capabilities; advice that has encouraged them to reach out to other philanthropic organisations.
Organisational context
The story behind the Nature Glenelg Trust (NGT) is a moving demonstration of the impact a single individual can have on the world. After working with the South Australian government for 12 years, ecologist Mark Bachmann came to the realisation that the responsibility for environmental protection did not rest with governments alone; not-for-profits could be equally effective.
Mark established NGT as a mission-driven, not-for-profit, science-based organisation dedicated to filling gaps, solving problems and working with the community and partners to achieve lasting conservation outcomes.
NGT has a particular focus on wetland conservation and restoration, with over 50 wetland recovery projects underway. It also operates a native plant nursery, specialises in threatened species research, delivers education programs and works on a range of other biodiversity and environmental community projects.
Outcome
With a stronger stream of supporter funds, the Trust has been able to purchase important properties including the Mt Vandyke sanctuary embedded within 50,000 hectares of bushland across two National Parks in the Barwon South West region of Victoria. The site will be used to protect a range of threatened species including the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Long-nosed Potoroo and Eastern Quoll and act as a springboard for actions to benefit those species across the wider landscape.
“The support of the Rendere Trust is highly valued at Nature Glenelg Trust. Jim Phillipson [Strategic Director] brings a deep commitment to both the work on the ground and capacity building more generally. We know that other funders look to the leadership of Rendere through Jim’s active engagement with like-minded philanthropists.
“Our approach to philanthropy is very much to provide a welcoming environment for savvy funders who have chosen to join us in restoring, managing and protecting the natural landscapes and the ecosystems we all value. Our relationship with the Trust is a great example of these shared values.”
– Nature Glenelg Trust CEO, Mark Bachmann.