About this organisation
Summary of activities
The IRF expanded its global and local impact through a strong focus on partnerships, innovative funding initiatives and powerful storytelling. Throughout the year, the IRF strengthened its strategic relationships with local, national and international organisations. Notably, it deepened collaborations with Rotary International and the UN Environment Programme through the Community Action for Freshwater (CAFW) initiative, amplifying the outcomes of powerful partnerships in presenting to Brisbane Rotary Groups. Working with founding members Brisbane City Council, we delivered on our commitment to thought leadership and knowledge sharing through facilitating workshops, think tanks and forums regarding the environment and environmental markets. Also working with founding member Thiess, the IRF supported the delivery of a waste management program and river clean-up alongside community stakeholders, significantly reducing riverine plastic pollution in a region near where Thiess operates in Makarti Village, Indonesia. Youth leadership engagement was driven through participation in the World Youth Parliament for Water's 6th General Assembly, coinciding with the 10th World Water Forum in Bali, Indonesia. The organisation also developed a content-led Voices for Rivers video series, amplifying diverse voices and inspiring action for equitable and climate-resilient water governance. We continued to drive on-ground practical action through local and international river clean-up projects and through delivering critical water and sanitation infrastructure.
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Outcomes
Outcomes are self-reported by charities
Programs and activities
Name: International Riversymposium
URL: https://www.riverfoundation.org.au/international-river-symposium/
Classification: Environmental education (Environment > Environmental education )
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Environment
- Overseas communities or charities
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: RiverPrize
URL: https://www.riverfoundation.org.au/river-prize/
Classification: Environmental economic instruments (Environment > Environmental economic instruments)
Beneficiaries:- Environment
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Other charities
- Overseas communities or charities
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
Name: 1000+ Resilient Rivers Blue Print/ Resilient Rivers Hub
URL: https://www.riverfoundation.org.au/resilient-rivers-hub/
Classification: Natural resource preservation (Environment > Natural resource preservation)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Environment
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
Name: Voices for Rivers
URL: https://www.youtube.com/@ReviveRivers
Classification: Web-based media (Information and communications > Communication media > Web-based media)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Environment
- Overseas communities or charities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Clean Rivers Pilot Project
Classification: Place-based interventions (Community development > Place-based interventions)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Early childhood - aged under 6
- Environment
- Families
- Overseas communities or charities
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: Tweed Kenya Mentoring Program
URL: https://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/tweed-kenya-mentoring-program
Classification: International development (International relations > International development)
Beneficiaries:- Adults - aged 25 to under 65
- Adults - aged 65 and over
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Early childhood - aged under 6
- Families
- Financially disadvantaged people
- Overseas communities or charities
- People from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (or people from a CALD background)
- People in rural/regional/remote communities
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Name: River Patrons
Classification: Natural resource preservation (Environment > Natural resource preservation)
Beneficiaries:- Environment
- General community in Australia
Finances
What is this?
This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
What should I be looking for?
First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
What should I be looking for?
Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
What is this?
Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
Transparency
Scoring detail
Details