Starting in 1999, Australian Fundraising has been helping schools and groups raise big profits for over 20 years. What Bill and Silvia Gaydon started in their garage has grown to a vibrant team of over 25 staff members, dozens of Australian business partners and support for over one million fundraising participants annually. But one thing will never change: we’re an Australian family owned-and-operated company, through and through. Read more about our story so far.
The Earliest Days
Being in involved in local community sport for most of their children’s childhood, Bill and Silvia Gaydon had a personal appreciation for the challenges of school and group fundraising. Before the days of online payments, social media and laser printing, every aspect of a fundraiser was a slow, labour of love. Volunteers were few and far between, and would spend hours making promotional materials, placing orders and counting cash by hand. Even then, some organisations would struggle to make a profit.
Deciding to help organisations make real profits without some of the hard work (at least!), Bill and Silvia first bought a fundraising franchise in 1997. Although building an awesome community of local fundraising connections, Bill and Silvia’s parent company closed down – leaving them without a franchise, and their customers without fundraising programs to keep their organisations afloat.
Starting with Lapathons (now the School Run 4 Fun) and chocolate fundraisers (later replaced by Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough), Bill and Silvia Gaydon launched a new operation, Australian School and Club Fundraising in 1999. That’s us now – hi!
Where Are We Now?
Fast forward 20 years, it’s a been a long but exciting journey for Australian Fundraising. From a garage in Mt Ommaney, to our own warehouse and office in Seventeen Mile Rocks, QLD, Australian Fundraising is a vibrant and dedicated team of over 25 friendly staff. While Bill and Silvia are still regulars at Australian Fundraising, the company is now managed by their adult children, Robert and Kylie.
Over the years, Australian Fundraising has helped schools and groups fundraise in dozens of unique ways, including Chocolate Fundraisers, Raffles, Sunscreen Drives, Plant-A-Difference, Read-A-Thons, and much more. To date, Australian Fundraising has helped schools and groups raise over $126 million dollars.
In 2006, Bill launched his own new product fundraiser in Australia: Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough! Made in Queensland, over 80% of the ingredients in every tub are sourced right here in Australia. With over ten dough-licious flavours, Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough has helped schools and groups turn cookies into cash!
Learn More About Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough
In 2017, Australian Fundraising was the first Australian school fundraising company to launch the Colour Craze That’s Sweeping The Nation – the Colour Explosion School Run 4 Fun. Student fundraising averages skyrocketed as students ran through the rainbow. Now, we also offer the Slime Spectacular School Run 4 Fun, Colour Splatacular School Run 4 Fun and our classic School Run 4 Fun.
Learn More About School Run 4 Funs
As the world changed, so did we – with custom-built cybersafe online fundraising platforms designed specifically for schools and groups. Each year, our online platforms My Profile Page and Billy G’s Gourmet Cookie Dough become more engaging, gamified and cybersafe for all of our fundraisers.
To date, Australian Fundraising has helped schools and groups raise over $126 million dollars, with our highest ever fundraising school raising $90,743 in a single Colour Explosion School Run 4 Fun fundraiser!
We’ve also expanded our generosity beyond just schools and groups, partnering directly with Carbon Neutral, The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Dolly’s Dream and the Alannah & Madeline Foundation. Each foundation benefits from our fundraisers through unique charity fundraising options, such as our Make-A-Difference Go Green School Run 4 Funs or Alannah & Madeline Foundation Buddy Run.
What’s Next?
Every year, Australian Fundraising comes up with new and exciting ways to make fundraising bigger, better and brighter for everyone. From big changes – like entirely new fundraising programs – to smaller ones, like new incentive prize options or extra resources, Australian Fundraising is leading the school and group fundraising industry into the future. We hope you’ll join us!
