How UnLtd pivoted to purpose
Welcome to a Tuesday update from Unmade. Today: UnLtd’s two decade evolution from fund raising to direct impact; and below the paywall, the Unmade Index finally breaks its fortnight-long losing streak.
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UnLtd’s pragmatic pivot
Sometimes when you start researching an article, the facts take you in a different direction to the one you were anticipating.
That’s the case with UnLtd, the Australian media and marketing industry’s not-for-profit foundation helping young people at risk.
A contact pointed me in the direction’s of UnLtd’s financial accounts, which are available on the website of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. My source was concerned that only 16% of the organisation’s revenue was showing up in the accounts as being passed along as grants and donations to the charities that UnLtd helps. By contrast, more than half of UnLtd’s revenue is going on staff costs, the number suggested.
Based on the cold, hard numbers that’s a reasonable concern to raise. Over the years, the revenue raised by UnLtd has grown far faster than the amount it gives directly to youth charities. But there’s a far more interesting story than that behind UnLtd’s increasing impact.
Back in the 2016 financial year – the earliest the accounts are available on the ACNC website – UnLtd raised $650,000 in revenue and distributed $142,000 to the youth charities it directly supports. By FY23, UnLtd was bringing in $3.8m a year, but directly distributing only $612,000.
At the same time, the organisation was spending a greater proportion on staff and contractors. In the five years of FY19 to FY23, the amount being given to charities actually dipped a little, from $622,000 to $612,000, but the spending on staff more than doubled from $1.03m to $2.12m.
So has UnLtd become profligate? Actually, no, I don’t think it has. But it has significantly changed its philosophy about how it does good.
UnLtd’s story begins almost 20 years ago, when it was founded by Kerry McCabe as MAYday, which stood for Media Assisting Youth.
Initially, MAYday had a relatively simple model – the big media owners were asked to donate spare advertising inventory which was then sold at an industry auction night.
Over time, the ambitions became bigger, and more sophisticated. A key moment in the organisation’s evolution came in 2012 when The Monkeys helped it rebrand as UnLtd wth the new tagline of Undoing Youth Disadvantage for Good.
Gradually, rather than being an organisation that simply raised funds and handed them over, UnLtd began to think about how it could become a catalyst for the whole marketing industry to drive change. Direct social impact became a bigger part of the story. Involving companies from across the industry in their own activities became a key element. The dollars raised that way do not go through UnLtd’s books
Alongside filing its FY23 accounts, UnLtd also published an Industry Impact report. It’s worth a look. It’s hard to do justice to the scope of UnLtd’s activities these days without doing so.
One area where UnLtd has widened its horizons is to work with partner agencies to build awareness and fundraising campaigns for the charities it supports.
It is also much more of an events organiser now too. In FY23, it organised 27 events across five cities on behalf if its various causes. With more than 4,000 attendees, Every one made money.
And then there was UnLtd’s big social enterprise idea – MOOD Tea, distributed via Woolworths.
UnLtd also got involved in championing mental health support within the industry, including training more than 400 peoplke in “mental health first aid” to assist colleagues.
US activist Dan Pallotta has influenced UnLtd’s philosophy.
Pallotta argues that society is illogical when it comes to charitable organisations seeking to make as big an impact as possible. For instance, spending a bigger proportion of an organisation’s budget on advertising and marketing to make a bigger difference is usually the correct strategic move, but often judged harshly, he argues.
Ironically, that’s the very point that got me digging into UnLtd’s numbers in the first place.
Next month, UnLtd will screen UnCharitable, a documentary in which Pallotta makes the argument that not-for-profits are prevented from making as much change as they potentially could.
Next month also sees the arrival at UnLtd of its next CEO, entrepreneur Stephen Hunt, replacing Chris Freel after a stint of more than six years.
If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have been puzzled why the board did not appoint somebody from more deeply within the charities sector. The more you understand about UnLtd’s direction of travel, the more it makes sense.
Unmade Index finally gets a day in the green
The Unmade Index finally broke its losing streak on Monday, moving upwards after an unprecedented nine days of consecutive falls.
Our index of locally listed media and marketing companies recovered by 2.37% to 536.6 points.
The biggest rebound yesterday was Seven West Media which improved by 7.69%. Ooh Media picked u[ 3.09%, while Nine improved by 3%.
Time to leave you to your Tuesday. I’ll be back with more tomorrow. Thanks as always for supporting Unmade.
Toodlepip…
Tim Burrowes
Publisher – Unmade
tim@unmade.media
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