What is Big Dry Friday?
Big Dry Friday is a day to recognise the importance of rural and regional Australia, to connect city and country and to provide support where it's needed most.
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The concept is simple…. On a Friday, once a year, city people forego (or match) what they might spend on a nice lunch or drinks and donate it to support rural Australia.
How it began
2019
More than $1.3 million in funds raised
In 2019, with the drought at its worst, over $1.3 million was raised through the efforts of some of Australia's leading fund managers, everyday Australians, businesses, the Queensland Reds, the Morgans Foundation and The Goldburg Family Foundation.
The funds raised were distributed via Rural Aid to regional communities in the form of Visa debit cards to be used for essential supplies.​​
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Watch the video below, which features some of the highlights from Big Dry Friday 2019.
Morgans Financial Limited launched Big Dry Friday in 2018 with the aim of creating awareness of the plight that many regional and rural Australians were facing at the hands of one of our most severe droughts.​​
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The idea was to reconnect rural, regional and urban Australians with the aim of directing support to where it was needed most.
Businesses, their staff and clients were invited to sacrifice a day's entertainment or, alternatively, match their expenses that day with a donation to their preferred regionally-focused charity.​​
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In 2018, $775,000 was raised with the key beneficiaries being AHVise, Aussie Helpers and Drought Angels.
Key contributors in the inaugural year were financial advisers in the Morgans network who donated their brokerage income for the day along with the Morgans Foundation, which was a significant contributor.​​
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2018
Severe drought grips the nation
In 2020, during a challenging year for many as COVID19 took hold, BDF became a much smaller event – Little Dry Friday.
Contributors raised more than $365,000 with many new participants joining the cause.
Again, all proceeds were donated to rural charity Rural Aid, which dispersed 100% of the funds via gift cards to farmers suffering financial hardship.​​
2021
More than $1 million in funds raised
In 2022, Big Dry Friday expanded with events across the country, including Sydney and Perth.
We maintained our focus on supporting education and mental wellbeing in regional and rural Australia, as well as those suffering financial hardship from flooding events during the year.
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We were proud and humbled to raise $1.3 million thanks to the generous support of the Morgans network and corporate partners including staff, clients and friends who ran events or made a donation.
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Core beneficiaries receiving the funds included Rural Aid, Outback Futures and Schools Plus, while a number of other regionally-focussed charities received a donation in a smaller capacity.
View highlights from the day via the button below.
2020
Little Dry Friday
While the drought eased through 2020 into 2021, the feedback from the supporting group was stronger than ever that we should keep the momentum going and in 2021 we added many new supporting businesses and groups.
The clear feedback was to widen the scope and thus we broadened our focus to creating longer term benefits for rural and regional Australia – supporting education, mental health and wellbeing.
We raised more than $1 million which was dispersed to six charities – Schools Plus, Rural Aid, Country Education Foundation, Outback Futures, RNA Foundation and Marcus Oldham.​​ Find out how the funds were spent and the impact they made.
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2022
More than $1.3 million raised for education, mental health support and those suffering financial hardship from 2022 floods.
2023
More than $1.5 million raised for rural and regional education, mental health support and more.
Momentum continued in 2023 with multiple events in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth helping to raise a record $1.5 million on Big Dry Friday.
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The phenomenal generosity of the Big Dry Friday community, including many companies, staff, clients and friends, was a clear sign of our collective desire to continue to support rural and regional Australia.
These funds go directly to charities focused on creating long-term benefits in the areas of regional and rural education, mental health support, remote healthcare and those suffering financial hardship through natural disasters.
Start planning your Big Dry Friday event today. Find out how to get involved by hosting an event or becoming a partner.
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