Jackie Ruddock’s mantra is “giving is getting”. And with her recently completed project What Ken Be Done?, she gave as good as she got.

What Ken Be Done? saw Jackie wear a piece of Ken Done clothing every day for an entire year, aiming to raise $15,000 for Melbourne organisation The Social Studio. She outdid herself, however, and raised over $25,000 by the time the year was up late last month, all in the name of “good” fashion.

Out and proud Jackie represents a new, dynamic type of social entrepreneur. Gone are the days where the word “philanthropist” only conjured up images of twin-set and pearls clad socialite housewives nibbling finger food and drinking champagne at formal charity functions, Jackie uses creativity to fuel giving, which in turn promotes her creativity.

“We thought we’d do a bit of a stretch goal, aim for $15,000 and just see,” said Jackie when Same Same caught up with her recently in Sydney. “People really came on board! And isn’t that what creativity is about? You just keep saying – now what could we do?”

The Social Studio is the perfect recipient for Jackie’s fundraising. The aim of the organisation is to work with young people from refugee backgrounds to develop their self-esteem, skills and employment prospects using fashion design as a starting point.

“The Social Studio are great because I never had to go down the route of saying why refugees need support,” she says. “Instead, I got to talk about why there’s so much strength in creativity in all of us.”

It’s Jackie’s attitude toward her philanthropic ways that is so inspiring. Instead of throwing money at charities to assuage guilt, she believes in focusing on the positives in her world. “If you start to look at what need looks like, it’s pretty overwhelming,” she says. “When I decided to do this project, it wasn’t to talk about those negative emotions. Yes, I raised $25,000. That’s phenomenal and I’m very proud. But in terms of a project that I got to do something about hope and creativity and having a bit of fun and bringing people together, you can’t measure that in dollars.”

And her choice of artist to represent wasn’t by chance either. Apart from Jackie already being an avid fan – she owned about 40 Ken Done pieces even before she started the project – Ken Done himself has a long reputation for his charity work, ranging from being a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF to working with local primary schools to foster children’s love of painting and art.

“It’s about weaving the story in as much as possible so [What Ken Be Done?] wasn’t about me,” explains Jackie. “It’s about the stories of what motivates us and why having purpose is so important.”

So how does the average Australian find their own philanthropic purpose? Jackie’s advice is to simply work out why you want to give and then how. “There’s definitely that model of giving money and no one is questioning that model. I think long-term investment is brilliant,” she says, “[but] there are a vast array of ways to give – giving money and giving time are very different ways of getting involved.

“When you work to do your giving, it’s an incredibly mutually beneficial model. If that’s what philanthropy is about then I think that’s great.”

This is definitely not the last we’ll hear from Jackie – she has a few more ideas to unleash on the world after reflecting on the amazing success of What Ken Be Done? Right now though, she is “all up for celebrating for quite a while!” And deservedly so.

Check out daily photographs of Jackie’s What Ken Be Done? outfits at Good Fashion For Good.

Find out more about being involved in philanthropic work at Philanthropy Australia and Give Now. You can also visit Jackie’s chosen charity The Social Studio here.