*Financials may be subject to change following end of financial year audit. This financial graph shows trading performance of actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations and managed investments are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation has raised over $10 million in less than two years of operating, which is an incredible achievement thanks to our wonderful supporters.
The Foundation has two key points of distinction. Firstly, we are committed to running lean. Our admin costs are 10% of total income and our fundraising costs 8%. Charity Reserves are important and are invested responsibly to ensure sustainability of the Charlie Teo Foundation.
Secondly, we are funding research differently, looking for scientists and projects that are outside of the box. Our Brain Cancer Research figures show our donors what has been distributed to (or spent on) research projects, and importantly what amounts have been committed to research projects (but not yet spent). We fund based on milestones, encouraging the scientific publication of both successes and failures. The Foundation is excited to announce new projects in the pipeline across FY20.
Highlights of the year
Charlie Teo Foundation Brain Tumour Bank is now open!
Charlie Teo Foundation Brain Tumour Bank is now open! Dr Teo has been collecting specimens with the consent of his patients for the last 10 years. Human research ethical approval has been obtained to consolidate these into one, open-access resource for researchers – the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere!
Charlie Teo Foundation awarded the first ever Alegra’s Army Grant
Charlie Teo Foundation awarded the first ever Alegra’s Army Grant into childhood brain cancer to researcher Dr Matt Dun from the University of Newcastle. The award of $326,000 is for research into better immune-based treatments for children with DIPG.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations and investment performance are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation celebrated our 5-year milestone, which was a wonderful a time for reflection on the achievement of incredible goals and forward thinking.
We distributed over $2 million to 10 brain cancer research projects in this financial year within our research strategy and themes of More Data, Better Tools and Research Rebels. All these projects are listed on page 13 of our FY23 audited financial statements.
We held our first ever ‘Bright Night’ fundraising event hosted by Ben Fordham offering HOPE of a better future for people with brain cancer.
Highlights of the year
$2 million powering 10 projects
We distributed over $2 million supporting 10 brain cancer research projects throughout Australia, Asia and North America.
Team Charlie was the No. 1 Charity Team in the Sydney Marathon!
In our first ever walk in the Sydney Marathon, Team Charlie was the NUMBER ONE TEAM with over 200 walkers raising over an incredible $50,000 for brain cancer research.
The Rebel Ball raised over $1M after event costs
We were thrilled to be hosted again by Crown Sydney! Guests generously came together raising over a phenomenal $1 million (after event costs!) for brain cancer research.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Despite a difficult start to the year with over 100 days of a COVID-19 lockdown locally, we worked remotely to ensure we stayed true to our mission and continued to offer HOPE to people with brain cancer.
We distributed over $2 million to brain cancer research projects in this financial year within our research strategy and themes of More Data, Better Tools and Teo Research Rebels. All these projects are listed on page 13 of our FY22 audited financial statements.
We received more tax-time donations from new community donors than ever before, and are so grateful for the wonderfully generous contributions from the Australian public!
Highlights of the year
Our first-ever research symposium
Charlie Teo Foundation held its inaugural brain cancer research symposium connecting out of the box thinkers from around the world. Our funded researchers came together with patients to share their ideas, resulting in new ideas and collaborations that would otherwise not have been possible.
$2 million spent on game-changing research
Despite being in a COVID lockdown, we continued our hard work to find and fund brain cancer researchers thinking outside the box. We distributed over $2 million in research funding to 13 different brain cancer research projects through the financial year.
The Rebel Ball was Crown Sydney’s first ever charity ball
We were thrilled to be Crown Sydney’s first ever charity ball! Guests generously came together raising over a phenomenal $1 million (after event costs!) for game-changing brain cancer research. In a special performance, the incredible Marcia Hines took us back to party like it was 1977!
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation funded 12 different research projects throughout FY21. A challenging year due to COVID-19, we focused on making the best decisions to enable us to work towards our purpose – to beat brain cancer! Some extensions in time were needed by researchers to safely and successfully get teams in the lab. We worked together with our funded researchers on ways forward. We didn’t stop in Brain Cancer Awareness Month (May) with our Challenge 4 Brain Cancer and the Rebel Ball raising incredible funds for brain cancer research!
Highlights of the year
Funded 4 new 'Research Rebels'
Our Teo Research Rebels think outside the box. We fund them to explore a big idea. In FY21 we found and funded 4 incredible researchers from Australia, Switzerland and Israel. Their ideas, passion and focus truly amazed us!
Corporate Australia dug deep
Donations from corporates exceeded $1 million in FY21. We're so grateful to our corporate partners who continue to give and support our cause.
The Rebel Ball was reimagined
The Rebel Ball is the Charlie Teo Foundation's signature fundraising event of the year held in Sydney. What an incredible, COVID-safe event it was this year raising huge funds for brain cancer research! Intimate, exclusive and beautiful.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation spent $2M million on brain cancer research grants and programs in FY20 in accordance with our research strategy.
It was a very challenging year for fundraising with the impact felt all around Australia of the devastating bushfires, followed by COVID-19. With the cancellation of our 2 major fundraising events including our signature event, the Rebel Ball, we ended the year with a 50% reduction in targeted income. Whilst our costs remain low, the reduced income had an impact on our costs as a percentage of total income. We are conscious during these challenging times to ensure we remain committed to being a low-cost and transparent charity and you will see us continue to demonstrate this over the near year. We have been lean and efficient with costs since our launch, with responsible charity reserves. This puts us a good position to continue our mission and fight against brain cancer, and we won’t give up!
Admin Costs further explained…
As per our Open Book Policy, we do not do any costs allocations to make our numbers look more favourable. All employee expenses (for our 4.0 full-time equivalent employees) are Admin Costs. We recruited a new Head of Research this year, who has been fundamental in proactively sourcing scientists and projects all around the world to beat brain cancer. Other key Admin Costs are general operating expenses including insurances, computer, telephone and internet expenses.
Highlights of the year
$2M spent on brain cancer research this year
These funds were distributed to various universities and research organisations in Australia and the U.S. All projects funded are in line with one of our three research themes: More Data, Better Tools and Teo Research Fellowships.
First ever Teo Research Rebel awarded
Dr Kristina Cook was our very first recipient of a Teo Research Rebel, exploring whether the body clock can be used to synchronise brain cancer cells to a time of day where they are most vulnerable to attack. A cancer biologist, cancer survivor herself and up and comer brain cancer researcher at the University of Sydney, Dr Cook has worked with the 2019 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine and is applying her learnings to brain cancer.
Our first ever Facebook Live event raised $165,000 at no cost
With the cancellation of our major balls due to COVID-19 Government restrictions, we needed to think quick. Thanks to our incredible pro bono supporters and the generosity of our Ambassadors including the best professional surfer of all time Kelly Slater, we held our first ever Facebook Live event! It was a steep learning curve for us, a lot of fun, and we’re so grateful to have received such positive feedback from our supporters and brain cancer community. It was the first, but it won’t be the last!
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded. Charlie Teo Foundation changed its operating structure from a trust to a company. In FY19 assets from the trust were distributed to the company prior to the trust being wound-up and voluntarily revoked as shown on the ACNC register. The FY19 audited financial report shows such distribution from the trust to the company as income, in accordance with accounting standards. We encourage you to refer to the above graph, which reflects our financial performance in FY19 as though there was no change to our operating structure. In line with our value of openness, we feel this gives our donors a better picture of our actual performance.
Being a new charity, the Charlie Teo Foundation focused in FY19 on responsibly building up charity reserves for distribution to research, formulating a fundraising and disruptive brain cancer research strategy underpinned by a low-cost model and exploring alternative or atypical researchers and projects for funding. We raised over $5 million in income – that is over $9 million total in less than 2 years of launching the Charlie Teo Foundation.
Charity reserves were invested responsibly to ensure sustainability of the Charlie Teo Foundation. Funds will be committed to brain cancer research in FY20 in accordance with our research strategy.
Highlights of the year
We proudly announced fantastic corporate partnerships
Our multi-year partnership with the Audi Foundation represents a significant investment in brain cancer research. As a leading Australian medical research organisation, we were chosen as a charity beneficiary of the Hearts & Minds Investments (HM1). HM1 will be a growing and sustainable source of funding to the Charlie Teo Foundation and medical research in Australia for years to come. Our partnership with the Australian Hairdressing Council and the Journal Mag saw some fabulous community engagement Australia-wide with the Charlie’s Angels campaign.
We established our Scientific Advisory Committee led by Charlie
The SAC recommended and the Board approved our disruptive research strategy and funded a research project to complete some important work to understand how one pathway disrupts the immune system and contributes to brain cancer aggressiveness.
Supporters showcased their rebellious side at our fundraising events
The Rebel Ball raised a phenomenal $1.1 million after costs for brain cancer research. On the night we also officially announced a world-first, large scale study into GBM brain tumours in collaboration with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Our gala dinners in Brisbane and Melbourne were inspiring nights and we're so grateful to all of our community Australia-wide.
We had a great time participating in City2Surf with our team raising over $75,000! Our first ever Christmas with Charlie event saw us raise over $180,000, an event run at ZERO costs thanks to the support of our wonderful community.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation opened its door in late 2017 in office space provided rent-free by our incredible partner, Industrie Clothing. With a small team and dedicated volunteers, we began our journey of raising much-needed funds for brain cancer research. We held our official launch on 1 March 2018, attended by Mrs Gina Rinehart and Dr Charlie Teo’s network of exceptional supporters.
Our fundraising result in these early days together with an ongoing commitment to our low-cost strategy was simply incredible. Establishing good governance, an appropriate structure and appointing directors, small team of staff and wider team of volunteers and pro bono supporters was of key focus this year.
Highlights of the year
Inaugural ball raised $1.3M after costs
Our first major fundraising event supported by Doltone House was an incredible success.
$1 million gift made to the Charlie Teo Foundation
We were incredibly touched to receive a $1 million bequest within 6 months of opening our doors. Soon after we made our first research distribution in April 2018 towards personalising the treatment plan for brain cancer patients.
*Financials may be subject to change following end of financial year audit. This financial graph shows trading performance of actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations and managed investments are excluded.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations and investment performance are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation celebrated our 5-year milestone, which was a wonderful a time for reflection on the achievement of incredible goals and forward thinking.
We distributed over $2 million to 10 brain cancer research projects in this financial year within our research strategy and themes of More Data, Better Tools and Research Rebels. All these projects are listed on page 13 of our FY23 audited financial statements.
We held our first ever ‘Bright Night’ fundraising event hosted by Ben Fordham offering HOPE of a better future for people with brain cancer.
Highlights of the year
$2 million powering 10 projects
We distributed over $2 million supporting 10 brain cancer research projects throughout Australia, Asia and North America.
Team Charlie was the No. 1 Charity Team in the Sydney Marathon!
In our first ever walk in the Sydney Marathon, Team Charlie was the NUMBER ONE TEAM with over 200 walkers raising over an incredible $50,000 for brain cancer research.
The Rebel Ball raised over $1M after event costs
We were thrilled to be hosted again by Crown Sydney! Guests generously came together raising over a phenomenal $1 million (after event costs!) for brain cancer research.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Despite a difficult start to the year with over 100 days of a COVID-19 lockdown locally, we worked remotely to ensure we stayed true to our mission and continued to offer HOPE to people with brain cancer.
We distributed over $2 million to brain cancer research projects in this financial year within our research strategy and themes of More Data, Better Tools and Teo Research Rebels. All these projects are listed on page 13 of our FY22 audited financial statements.
We received more tax-time donations from new community donors than ever before, and are so grateful for the wonderfully generous contributions from the Australian public!
Highlights of the year
Our first-ever research symposium
Charlie Teo Foundation held its inaugural brain cancer research symposium connecting out of the box thinkers from around the world. Our funded researchers came together with patients to share their ideas, resulting in new ideas and collaborations that would otherwise not have been possible.
$2 million spent on game-changing research
Despite being in a COVID lockdown, we continued our hard work to find and fund brain cancer researchers thinking outside the box. We distributed over $2 million in research funding to 13 different brain cancer research projects through the financial year.
The Rebel Ball was Crown Sydney’s first ever charity ball
We were thrilled to be Crown Sydney’s first ever charity ball! Guests generously came together raising over a phenomenal $1 million (after event costs!) for game-changing brain cancer research. In a special performance, the incredible Marcia Hines took us back to party like it was 1977!
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation funded 12 different research projects throughout FY21. A challenging year due to COVID-19, we focused on making the best decisions to enable us to work towards our purpose – to beat brain cancer! Some extensions in time were needed by researchers to safely and successfully get teams in the lab. We worked together with our funded researchers on ways forward. We didn’t stop in Brain Cancer Awareness Month (May) with our Challenge 4 Brain Cancer and the Rebel Ball raising incredible funds for brain cancer research!
Highlights of the year
Funded 4 new 'Research Rebels'
Our Teo Research Rebels think outside the box. We fund them to explore a big idea. In FY21 we found and funded 4 incredible researchers from Australia, Switzerland and Israel. Their ideas, passion and focus truly amazed us!
Corporate Australia dug deep
Donations from corporates exceeded $1 million in FY21. We're so grateful to our corporate partners who continue to give and support our cause.
The Rebel Ball was reimagined
The Rebel Ball is the Charlie Teo Foundation's signature fundraising event of the year held in Sydney. What an incredible, COVID-safe event it was this year raising huge funds for brain cancer research! Intimate, exclusive and beautiful.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved, and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation spent $2M million on brain cancer research grants and programs in FY20 in accordance with our research strategy.
It was a very challenging year for fundraising with the impact felt all around Australia of the devastating bushfires, followed by COVID-19. With the cancellation of our 2 major fundraising events including our signature event, the Rebel Ball, we ended the year with a 50% reduction in targeted income. Whilst our costs remain low, the reduced income had an impact on our costs as a percentage of total income. We are conscious during these challenging times to ensure we remain committed to being a low-cost and transparent charity and you will see us continue to demonstrate this over the near year. We have been lean and efficient with costs since our launch, with responsible charity reserves. This puts us a good position to continue our mission and fight against brain cancer, and we won’t give up!
Admin Costs further explained…
As per our Open Book Policy, we do not do any costs allocations to make our numbers look more favourable. All employee expenses (for our 4.0 full-time equivalent employees) are Admin Costs. We recruited a new Head of Research this year, who has been fundamental in proactively sourcing scientists and projects all around the world to beat brain cancer. Other key Admin Costs are general operating expenses including insurances, computer, telephone and internet expenses.
Highlights of the year
$2M spent on brain cancer research this year
These funds were distributed to various universities and research organisations in Australia and the U.S. All projects funded are in line with one of our three research themes: More Data, Better Tools and Teo Research Fellowships.
First ever Teo Research Rebel awarded
Dr Kristina Cook was our very first recipient of a Teo Research Rebel, exploring whether the body clock can be used to synchronise brain cancer cells to a time of day where they are most vulnerable to attack. A cancer biologist, cancer survivor herself and up and comer brain cancer researcher at the University of Sydney, Dr Cook has worked with the 2019 Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine and is applying her learnings to brain cancer.
Our first ever Facebook Live event raised $165,000 at no cost
With the cancellation of our major balls due to COVID-19 Government restrictions, we needed to think quick. Thanks to our incredible pro bono supporters and the generosity of our Ambassadors including the best professional surfer of all time Kelly Slater, we held our first ever Facebook Live event! It was a steep learning curve for us, a lot of fun, and we’re so grateful to have received such positive feedback from our supporters and brain cancer community. It was the first, but it won’t be the last!
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded. Charlie Teo Foundation changed its operating structure from a trust to a company. In FY19 assets from the trust were distributed to the company prior to the trust being wound-up and voluntarily revoked as shown on the ACNC register. The FY19 audited financial report shows such distribution from the trust to the company as income, in accordance with accounting standards. We encourage you to refer to the above graph, which reflects our financial performance in FY19 as though there was no change to our operating structure. In line with our value of openness, we feel this gives our donors a better picture of our actual performance.
Being a new charity, the Charlie Teo Foundation focused in FY19 on responsibly building up charity reserves for distribution to research, formulating a fundraising and disruptive brain cancer research strategy underpinned by a low-cost model and exploring alternative or atypical researchers and projects for funding. We raised over $5 million in income – that is over $9 million total in less than 2 years of launching the Charlie Teo Foundation.
Charity reserves were invested responsibly to ensure sustainability of the Charlie Teo Foundation. Funds will be committed to brain cancer research in FY20 in accordance with our research strategy.
Highlights of the year
We proudly announced fantastic corporate partnerships
Our multi-year partnership with the Audi Foundation represents a significant investment in brain cancer research. As a leading Australian medical research organisation, we were chosen as a charity beneficiary of the Hearts & Minds Investments (HM1). HM1 will be a growing and sustainable source of funding to the Charlie Teo Foundation and medical research in Australia for years to come. Our partnership with the Australian Hairdressing Council and the Journal Mag saw some fabulous community engagement Australia-wide with the Charlie’s Angels campaign.
We established our Scientific Advisory Committee led by Charlie
The SAC recommended and the Board approved our disruptive research strategy and funded a research project to complete some important work to understand how one pathway disrupts the immune system and contributes to brain cancer aggressiveness.
Supporters showcased their rebellious side at our fundraising events
The Rebel Ball raised a phenomenal $1.1 million after costs for brain cancer research. On the night we also officially announced a world-first, large scale study into GBM brain tumours in collaboration with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Our gala dinners in Brisbane and Melbourne were inspiring nights and we're so grateful to all of our community Australia-wide.
We had a great time participating in City2Surf with our team raising over $75,000! Our first ever Christmas with Charlie event saw us raise over $180,000, an event run at ZERO costs thanks to the support of our wonderful community.
*This financial graph shows actual money raised, saved and spent. In-kind donations are excluded.
Charlie Teo Foundation opened its door in late 2017 in office space provided rent-free by our incredible partner, Industrie Clothing. With a small team and dedicated volunteers, we began our journey of raising much-needed funds for brain cancer research. We held our official launch on 1 March 2018, attended by Mrs Gina Rinehart and Dr Charlie Teo’s network of exceptional supporters.
Our fundraising result in these early days together with an ongoing commitment to our low-cost strategy was simply incredible. Establishing good governance, an appropriate structure and appointing directors, small team of staff and wider team of volunteers and pro bono supporters was of key focus this year.
Highlights of the year
Inaugural ball raised $1.3M after costs
Our first major fundraising event supported by Doltone House was an incredible success.
$1 million gift made to the Charlie Teo Foundation
We were incredibly touched to receive a $1 million bequest within 6 months of opening our doors. Soon after we made our first research distribution in April 2018 towards personalising the treatment plan for brain cancer patients.