raised by our community
of generous donors and
supporters in 2021/22.

average bequest
in 2021/22.

the record amount raised in NSW
at the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

The goodwill and charity of donors and supporters enables the Society to undertake its good works in communities throughout the state every day. In the face of many unique challenges, often occurring without warning, during the course of the past financial year, the fundraising team achieved a remarkable result of almost $29.5 million raised, which has helped facilitate a range of services providing food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare, emotional support, and much more to people in need.

The Major Donors team undertook specific campaigns coinciding with the Christmas and Winter Appeals focused on early intervention as a preventative measure to reduce the number of people falling into homelessness. Due to the challenges of the pandemic, meeting with major donors in-person and touring services operated by the Society was not possible during the financial year.

Despite these difficulties, significant contributions from benefactors enabled the continuation and expansion of our good works, including $150,000 from The Charitable Foundation to fund the Matthew Talbot Hostel meals program, $318,000 from the Community Building Partnerships, and $134,000 from the Powering Communities grant programs to purchase and install photovoltaic panels on shops and offices run by the Society, and $65,000 in COVID support grants offered through the State Government and local councils.

Other significant donations included $250,000 from the Dick and Pip Smith Foundation and $500,000 from a single donor with 40% directed to support the communities impacted by flooding.

A total of 185 grant applications, including a significant health tender, were submitted during the year with 121 successful applications raising $1.4 million for the Society.

The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW received 105 generous gifts in wills to assist people who are experiencing disadvantage with an average bequest of $95,000.

We receive these gifts with gratitude and have thanked the families and friends of our benefactors through our “Heirs Program”. We continue to acknowledge our benefactors by sharing stories from their loved ones in our publications. Family members and friends are invited to privately visit our services, thank you events and attend our Annual Mass where we present our “Book of Gratitude” containing all the names of individuals who have left a bequest to the Society

The ongoing effects of the pandemic impacted our ability to meet in-person with supporters at our services and home visits. We connected during the year through phone, email, and mail correspondence with more than 800 of our supporters kindly reconfirming they will be including a gift in their will to the Society.

In the face of another confronting year for the charity and corporate sectors brought on by the effects of the pandemic, we increased our corporate partnership revenue by 45%, raising just over $1.4 million to support our work in the community.

IGA, once again, partnered with the Society during the Christmas season to raise $361,000 through the sales of Christmas tokens and Community Chest products. Early in 2022, IGA demonstrated its support for flood-impacted communities in northern NSW by generously donating $362,000 from its retailer network to the Vinnies NSW Flood Appeal.

A number of corporates contributed significant gift in kind donations to provide disaster relief, reducing our expenditure costs, and supporting the Society to raise revenue in our network of Vinnies Shops. Lowes donated 24,000 pairs of brand-new shoes valued at close to $1 million. oOH! Media donating advertising for the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and NSW Flood appeal valued at over $1.5 million. Amazon donated over $250,000 of goods and equipment to support flood-impacted communities. Amazon additionally supported a Back-to-School campaign donating $100,000 of $100 Amazon vouchers to assist 1,000 families nationally.

A renewal of the Genworth Partnership provided a significant donation of $300,000 to support Our Lady of the Way, our Metropolitan Van Services, and funded a new role for our domestic violence refuges in the Inner West and Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Abergeldie renewed their partnership with an increased donation to $50,000 per year for three years to support the Parramatta Night Patrol.

Newscorp and the Commonwealth Bank both generously donating $250,000 each to support our work in flood-impacted regions in NSW with immediate cash grants and funding to assist in recovery efforts.

Long-term supporters Johnson & Johnson renewed their partnership with Vinnies providing significant funding to support the First Nations Traineeship and Development program.

In the community fundraising and events space, we have adapted to the challenges of the time and celebrated a successful year of growth, raising $1,647,457 in the 2021/22 financial year.

As much of life returns to normal post-lockdown, we have kept in place options for supporters who require COVID-safe measures in their fundraising efforts. These include online fundraising pages and QR codes, particularly for conferences who have limited face-to-face collections for their Winter and Christmas Appeals in order to protect vulnerable members of the community.

We saw increased activity through our community fundraising website from new and returning supporters. This platform has allowed us to host a wide range of activities, both virtual and in-person, including 36 School Sleepouts and seven Community Sleepouts raising a collective $126,903. This is in addition to a wide range of activities across this platform, including conference appeal pages, disaster appeals, such as the NSW Flood Appeal, workplace giving, toy drives, and mufti days to name a few.

We saw the successful return of the Vinnies NSW Community Sleepout in 2021. Due to the challenges of the pandemic and its associated restrictions, participants around the state were given the option of sleeping out at home, in their car, backyard, or couch and joining together via a livestream. The event raised a total of $296,992 across 11 locations, with funds raised going back to support their respective regions.

In its 17th year, the Vinnies CEO Sleepout welcomed participants both in-person and virtually around NSW. We saw many first-time participants take up the cause, as well as those returning, and the event set a new fundraising record of $3.245 million in NSW, as well as over $9 million nationally.

The 2021/22 financial year was an opportunity to continue and strengthen the digital fundraising campaign – ‘Gift a Night’ – introduced the previous year to support the Matthew Talbot Hostel. In 2022, this campaign raised $233,713 from over 2,200 donors.

Our Christmas Appeal focused on providing necessities such as food to children and families struggling during the festive season as a result of the extended pandemic-related lockdowns and increased job losses. The Appeal raised $1,174,549 from over 5,700 donors. Our Winter Appeal focused on helping families fleeing from domestic violence situations, raising $1,737,351 from over 5,300 donors.

The Vinnies NSW Flood Appeal was launched in response to the devastating floods in northern parts of the state in March. The Appeal raised over $3.6 million from 6,700 donors.

Our generous regular givers contributed more than $940,500 to support people experiencing poverty and disadvantage.