5 reasons why our donors trust us

There are close to 60,000 registered charities in Australia, with NGOs working tirelessly towards solving some of the biggest social, health and economic issues facing the world. Australians are the backbone of the not-for-profit sector in this country. Australians choose to support worthy causes close to their hearts, and create lasting impact in under-resourced, poorly-funded, and marginalised communities.

Australians have shown The Fred Hollows Foundation amazing support since 1992, with Professor Fred Hollows’ words ringing true: “I have a lot of faith in the humanitarian nature of the average Australian.”

Earlier this year, The Good Cause Co. named The Fred Hollows Foundation as one of Australia’s best charities in 2020.

The Charity RepTrak® 2019 Rankings saw The Foundation land in the top five most trusted charities as part of their Australian Charity Reputation Index survey. This study is conducted yearly by the Reputation Institute to measure the public’s view of the overall reputation of the country’s 40 largest charities. 

Furthermore, The Foundation is also one of only a handful of non-profit organisations worldwide that is recognised by The Life You Can Save as one of the most effective charities globally.

Over the years, The Foundation has played a pivotal role in addressing blindness and vision loss, and the interventions of NGOs like The Foundation in the global eye health sector have seen around 90 million people have their sight restored since 1990. This is one of the reasons why Australians put their trust in us and choose to support our work. 

1. The legacy of Professor Fred Hollows

Professor Fred Hollows is still one of Australia’s most recognised and beloved humanitarians, and his legacy lives on through the sight-restoring work we do at The Foundation.

Fred got things done. He was uncensored, unscripted and unapologetic when it came to fighting for people’s basic human right to good sight and high quality eye care.

He always pushed for change when it came to ending avoidable blindness. In his time as an eye surgeon, Fred helped restore sight to thousands of people in Australia and overseas.

But Fred never had a saviour complex – he was focused on empowering local communities to look after themselves by training local eye doctors, nurses and community health workers, as well as building and equipping health clinics in remote areas in need of proper facilities.

“You have to impart skills and technology and help them help themselves. Leave the world a better place.”
- Professor Fred Hollows

Fred’s go-getter attitude and sense of mateship for his fellow humans resonated with like-minded Australians who believed in Fred’s vision wholeheartedly and got behind him, ultimately leading to the birth of The Fred Hollows Foundation.

#2 The dedication of Gabi Hollows

As the founding director, Gabi Hollows is the biggest champion of her Fred’s legacy and is often described as the very heart and soul of The Fred Hollows Foundation.

A skilled orthoptist, Gabi met Fred at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney right after graduating. She joined him on the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program. Over a three-year period they visited over 465 remote Indigenous communities with a team of eye health and community workers, and treated more than 100,000 people.

Gabi is passionate about The Foundation’s sight-restoring work and is dedicated to keeping alive Fred’s vision of a world where nobody is needlessly blind.

“I am astounded and humbled by the generous support The Fred Hollows Foundation continues to receive. When Fred and I set up The Foundation, we never dared to dream so many people would rally behind our vision...”
- Gabi Hollows
 

#3 Our ongoing work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities

Professor Fred Hollows campaigned for social justice and was passionate about supporting Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and advocating for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to good health and self-determination. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are three times more likely to be blind than other Australians. While much progress has been made to close the gap in eye health, more needs to be done. 

The Foundation believes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Peoples and organisations are best-placed to deliver services to their own communities. The Foundation seeks to strengthen Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services. 

The Foundation’s Indigenous Australia Program (IAP) supports culturally-appropriate eye care services for people in under-serviced communities around the country by working with partners to deliver medical treatment for cataract, diabetic retinopathy and trachoma. IAP also coordinates and improves outreach services, and provides training to build the local eye health workforce. 

The Foundation also advocates to Australian governments for sustained investment to improve the eye health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and to close the health gap.

In 2019 alone, this is the impact The Foundation’s Indigenous Australia Program has had in local communities:

• 13,473people screened in remote and under-serviced communities
• 1,307 eye operations and treatments
• 302 cataract operations
• 1,833 pairs of glasses distributed
• 4 surgeons trained

#4 Our impact in the countries where we work

The Fred Hollows Foundation works in over 25 different countries, and every year invests in providing sight-saving surgery and treatment to hundreds of thousands of people, and building, renovating and equipping thousands of medical facilities, as well as educating millions people about eye health and hygiene. 

Fred’s legacy and The Foundation’s ongoing work has created strong bonds between Australia and countries such as Nepal, Vietnam, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines, to name just a handful.

The Foundation is committed to investing in local people and equipping facilities in order to create sustainable and positive change in under-resourced communities.

In 2019 alone, with support from everyday Australians, The Foundation created impact in all the countries where we work. These are some of our achievements:

• 646,835 eye operations and treatments performed
• 20+ million people treated with antibiotics for trachoma
• 68,293 people trained, including surgeons, nurses, community health workers and teachers
• 24 medical facilities built or renovated
• 4,677 medical facilities, training centres and schools equipped
• 2.3+ million school children and community members educated in eye health and sanitation 

#5 Our promise to our supports

The Foundation always strives for transparency, consistency and expertise in everything it does in honour of Fred’s legacy and Gabi’s continued drive.

Every day, The Foundation is able to restore sight to some of the world’s poorest people because of the Australian people’s support. 

The Foundation acknowledges that there are many other worthy charitable causes and it is humbling to be chosen by the Australian people, who put their trust in our work. We want all our supporters to know that we appreciate them, their expectations and their faith in our ability to make a difference. This is why we have made the following commitments as part of our supporter promise:
 

• We promise to always be transparent about how we raise and spend funds
• We promise to value your contribution, regardless of how you choose to support us
• We will update you on our in-country programs
• We will always respect your privacy
• We will keep you in the loop
• We strive to work with local and trusted partners to deliver services, while also strengthening the communities in which we work

READ OUR SUPPORTER PROMISE IN FULL