Schools Plus was formed to break down the barriers between schools and donors.
We exist to improve the education outcomes of Australian students in need by increasing schools’ access to philanthropy.
Our organisation was founded in 2013, after several reports and not-for-profit leaders pointed to the many potential benefits of increasing philanthropy in the Australian education system.
Those reports include the Leading Learning in Education and Philanthropy (LLEAP) survey that ran between 2011 and 2013, which found many people wanted to give money, time or talents to advance the education of students in need. But the survey highlighted a number of barriers that made it difficult to give to schools in need.
The 2011 Review of Funding for Schooling (the “Gonski report”) also called for a much stronger focus on philanthropy in education. It recommended an organisation be established to encourage giving to schools in low socio-economic areas and to build the capacity of those schools to develop their own relationships with donors.