OUR STORY
OUR PURPOSE
For over 25 years, we have had the privilege of working in partnership with Australia’s not-for-profit sector, other funders and all levels of government.
The Nelson Meers Foundation was established in 2001 by businessman and philanthropist, Nelson Meers AO, and his daughter, Sam Meers AO. We were the first ‘prescribed private fund’ (now ‘private ancillary fund’) to commence operation in Australia. Since we began our funding program in 2001, we have funded over 250 innovative and diverse projects and over 200 different organisations.
We are inspired every day by our many project partners. We aim to support the organisations we work with by placing our trust in them, and providing them with the conditions to grow, connect and scale their projects.
The Nelson Meers Foundation is family-led, and our grantmaking is underpinned by our family values of creativity, fairness, sustainability and collaboration. The Foundation supports the multi-generational personal giving of the individual members of the Meers family, who give in their personal capacity to programs both within and outside the Nelson Meers Foundation’s funding remit.
To extend our impact beyond our grantmaking, we take public positions that support our work, actively seek to collaborate with our philanthropic peers, and encourage collaboration between the organisations we support.
We strongly believe that private giving plays an integral role in ensuring the vitality and resilience of Australian society and we actively advocate for greater opportunities for philanthropic giving, and more impactful philanthropic giving, in Australia.
From a governance perspective, our operations are overseen by an advisory board chaired by Sam Meers AO and comprised of family members and members of the community.
What We Do
Over the past 25 years, the Nelson Meers Foundation’s key objective has been to foster innovative artistic and cultural expression, and to encourage greater engagement with the diversity, complexity and richness of our cultural sector.
We have done this by supporting organisations and projects that create positive change, promote individual wellbeing, community cohesion and cultural tolerance, particularly through the lens of the arts and culture.
Our experience over this time, through the wisdom of the many project partners we have worked with, and the more recent engagement of the next generation of the Meers family, has led us to expand our funding remit to reflect our vision for a society in which cultures, communities and the planet can thrive together.
We value creativity, experimentation and cross-disciplinary thinking. We see artists, cultural practitioners, community advocates and environmental innovators as essential to addressing complex challenges. We focus on elevating diverse voices and backing high-impact projects that recognise the deep interconnection between cultural expression, strong communities and a healthy environment.
We aim to create the conditions for ideas to grow, connect and scale, providing flexible, trust-based funding, with an emphasis on minimising administrative burden and allowing our partners to lead their projects in the ways they know will be most effective. Rather than funding single outcomes, we support ideas that can spark lasting systems change, build partnerships and influence across sectors and generations.
Our approach is relational and collaborative, grounded in ongoing dialogue, shared learning, transparency and respect.
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Engage With Us
Our grants program for the current year has now closed. Our new grants program will launch in the second half of 2026.
If you would like to be notified when the new grants program opens, please email us at info@nelsonmeersfoundation.org.au and we will be pleased to keep you updated.
