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Entertainment Group launches the ‘Gathering for Good’ initiative
CEO Heidi Halson tackles donor fatigue and a cost of living crisis with celebration and collaboration.
Most Australians remember The Entertainment Group as the publisher of that thick, golden book of coupons that lived in the glovebox of every family sedan for decades.
While the physical book is gone, the business behind it has shifted gears since its establishment in 1994. Now it’s tackling a much more modern problem as corporate Australia is struggling with donor fatigue.
This week the company announced the launch of the Gathering For Good. It’s a cross-sector initiative designed to bring business leaders and philanthropists together to find new ways to drive social impact.
With the cost of living crunching household budgets, the traditional ‘set and forget’ donation model is under immense pressure.
The Entertainment Group, which has transitioned from its paper-based legacy to a purely digital membership platform, is positioning itself as the necessary bridge between tightened consumer wallets and charities desperate for sustainable funding.
From novelty cheques to core strategy
The inaugural event kicked off at Sydney’s OTTO Ristorante. Addressing the room, chief executive officer Heidi Halson noted the stark difference between corporate responsibility of 1994 and the expectations of 2026.
“Corporate responsibility meant that you’d go to luncheons like this and they gave you a cab charge voucher to get you home,” Halson said. “It’s gone from taking a photo with the local footy team and presenting a novelty cheque, to actually being a very important part of every business and every strategy going forward.”
Rather than a standard networking lunch, the group curated a specific mix of finance, health, and corporate affairs leaders to workshop how fundraising, technology, and hospitality can intersect.
Joining Halson at the table were non-profit leaders including Australian Cancer Research Foundation, Head of Partnerships and Community Fundraising, Lisa Herden, and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation head of corporate giving Michal Cohen-Noble. They sat flanked by corporate heavyweights Grant Thornton, partner Dhun Karai, NRMA group director of public affairs Robert Giltinan, and HSBC Head of Sustainability – Australia & NZ, Charis Martin-Ross.
The pandemic hangover for charities
While the hospitality industry has largely moved on from the pandemic, Halson pointed out that the charity sector remains deeply scarred.
“The years of COVID and the impact of that on our business, the hospitality industry, and the fundraising community has been devastating,” Halson said. “Fundraising in particular hasn’t seen the bounce back that other industries have.”
This reality is driving the company’s focus for the year ahead.
With $112 million raised for over 50,000 fundraisers since 1994, the platform continues to forward a 20% cut of memberships sold directly to a nominated cause. The goal now is to find new ways for members to become regular donors upon purchasing their membership.
People over technology
While the platform looks to add new donation features to support existing fundraising channels, Halson remains adamant about the company’s core identity.
“We are not a technology company, we are a people company, and that’s where we shall stay,” Halson said. “Giving back isn’t a campaign for us. It’s what we’ve been doing for the last 32 years. Our ambition is simple: to turn everyday actions into something extraordinary.”
For media buyers and marketers, the move signals a shift in how social impact platforms market themselves.
They are no longer just charities but essential lifestyle utilities that keep the third sector afloat.
Article sourced from Media Weekly. Original article can be found here.
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