philanthropyOz Blog

Awards give voice to hardworking non-profits

The Not-For-Profit Network is holding its inaugural Not-For-Profit network awards for Australian and New Zealand non-profit organisations on the Gold Coast on Friday 23rd November. Four awards will highlight the achievements of the people, projects, and organisations whose actions help their organisation to be more sustainable, are focused on achieving the organisation’s vision, contribute to the organisation’s success, and strengthen the fabric of our society.

The Not-For-Profit Network’s Managing Director Belinda Busoli said that these awards provide the community with an opportunity to recognise the amazing work done by the many non-profit organisations across Australia and New Zealand and thank these organizations for their ongoing support to society. “Resources are tight, hours are long, and thanks are rare. Our team believes it is time for the sector to stand up and take hold of the microphone, and share their message with a wider audience. We launched the Not-For-Profit Network awards to help provide a voice for the sector as well as recognise those organisations, projects and people who are doing such great work”.

Nominees include Philanthropy Australia, The Cancer Council, RSPCA, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Diabetes Australia, Transformation Ministries, and the Australian Sports Foundation.

For further information on Not-For-Profit Network’s Awards you can contact the team on (07) 3210 2288, email at shane@nfpn.com.au or visit the website at www.nfpn.com.au.

The Charles Bronfman Prize Announces Call for Nominations Prize Seeks Young Humanitarians from All Fields

New York — The Charles Bronfman Prize has launched its 2008 award cycle, marking the start of this year’s international quest for extraordinary, young humanitarians. The Prize celebrates the vision and talent of an individual or team under 50 years of age whose humanitarian work has contributed significantly to the betterment of the world. Its goal is to bring public recognition to dynamic individuals whose Jewish values infuse their humanitarian accomplishments and provide inspiration to the next generations.

Nominations guidelines and forms for the $100,000 award are available at www.TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com. Nominations for the 2008 Prize will be accepted through November 30, 2007.

Ellen Bronfman Hauptman and Andrew Hauptman together with Stephen Bronfman and Claudine Blondin Bronfman established the Prize to honor their father. The Prize Founders are encouraging submissions. “Our father has spent a lifetime developing, implementing and supporting initiatives that help to strengthen the unity of the Jewish people,” they said, adding “the Prize reflects his values and dedication to young people, and aims to carry on his legacy of commitment to Jewish life and community.”

In identifying the kinds of nominees being sought, Charles Bronfman pointed to past Prize recipients Jay Feinberg, Dr. Alon Tal, and Dr. Amitai Ziv, calling them “next generation leaders whose vision for change in their respective fields is bettering the world in exciting and meaningful ways. Each has created a mechanism for acting on their vision and delivering measurable results. Their leadership, innovation, and impact are the best indicators of the kinds of nominees we are now seeking for the 2008 Prize cycle, and the work we hope that this Prize can draw attention to.”

- www.TheCharlesBronfmanPrize.com

Position Vacant at Philanthropy Australia

Membership Manager, Victoria (Melbourne CBD)

Philanthropy Australia is the national peak body for philanthropy and is a non-profit membership organisation. Our members are trusts and foundations, organisations, families and individuals who want to make a difference through their own philanthropic giving and to encourage others to become philanthropists. Our mission is to represent, grow and inspire an effective and robust philanthropic sector for the community.

We are seeking a self motivated individual who is passionate about the role of philanthropy in the community and who is vitally interested in the ways and means philanthropists can make a difference. The focus of this role is on client relationships and membership services. The role of Membership Manager is wide-ranging and includes representation and recruitment. It is based in Melbourne overseeing Victoria and Tasmania and reporting to the CEO.

Salary is negotiable based on experience.

Go to the Positions Vacant page for more information.

October issue of ‘Australian Philanthropy’ published

‘From Little Things Big Things Grow: The Role of Small Grants’ is the title of our latest issue of Australian Philanthropy, which should have arrived in Members’ and Subscribers’ mail last week.

A number of philanthropic foundations have changed their focus in recent times to address broad policy issues through major, long term relationships with large organisations. With this emphasis on ‘strategic philanthropy’, small not-for-profit organisations have found it harder than ever to obtain small grants for comparatively small projects. There remain a number of foundations, however, who are achieving some inspiring results and real change in the health of communities and lives of individuals through flexible and responsive small grants.

This issue features articles by Sylvia Geddes, EO of The R E Ross Trust, and Helen Cook from the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, exploring the importance of this type of philanthropy. Our feature interview makes fascinating reading as Jan Stewart explains the genesis of LotteryWest and how they achieve a 95% grant application success rate! From Australia’s oldest philanthropic foundation (as far as we know …) - Wyatt Benevolent Institution, to one of our most recent - the Swinburne Philanthropy Alumni Trust, we hear first-hand why these very different grant-makers choose to offer small grants programs.

As always, a couple of key articles are available on the ‘Australian Philanthropy’ website, so if you haven’t yet subscribed you can read these online. http://www.philanthropy.org.au/services/journal.htm

Major Donations

Our Topical Issues: Major Donations page has been updated with news of a gift of $1,000,000 to the Royal Women’s Hospital from Pauline Gandel. Click here to find out more.

Westpac wins corporate volunteering award

Rivalry aside to celebrate volunteering

Westpac has won a new national award that recognises employers for encouraging their workforce to volunteer.

In partnership with NAB, Australia’s leading volunteering organisation Volunteering Australia, has instigated the Award for Excellence in Corporate Volunteering.

Nominees, ranging from Shell, IBM, Alcoa, ANZ, PricewaterhouseCoopers and ExxonMobil, were pipped at the post by Westpac for demonstrating best practice, innovation and positive community impact, with 85% of their workforce participating in volunteering or fundraising activities.

Westpac is the first recipient of the award and receives $5,000 to donate to the community organisation of its choice.

Samantha Brown, Westpac’s Head of Community Involvement said the award is a credit to its employees and highlights their passion for getting involved in the community.

“Westpac employees support a range of community organisations in a variety of ways. Increasingly, we are seeing teams and individuals undertaking volunteering activities that draw on their professional skills,” said Ms Brown.

Volunteering Australia’s CEO Julia Pollard said the Corporate Volunteering Award for Excellence recognises the contribution these workforce volunteering programs make to the community.

“From the calibre of entries, it is reassuring to know that many companies have achieved exceptionally high levels of standard in their programs.

“Through its support of this award NAB is demonstrating its own commitment to promoting the value of volunteering to the broader community.

“Westpac has established community programs which ensure that their involvement with not-for-profits is comprehensive, sustainable and of real value,” said Ms Pollard.

The award was announced as part of the 2007 NAB Volunteer Awards. NAB’s support for rewarding best practice in volunteering spans a 10 year period with over 500 groups sharing $2.6 million to date.

NAB employees donated 6200 days, an equivalent to $1.5 million in salary, to volunteering last year, grasping the opportunity to volunteer through their workplace.
Richard Peters, NAB Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, said that the Corporate Volunteering Award for Excellence is a fitting addition to the NAB Volunteer Awards.

“Corporate volunteering has proven to be an effective and sustainable component of corporate social responsibility strategies. An award that recognises this will hopefully encourage all levels of management to embrace not for profit partners,” said Mr Peters.

- News on Volunteering Australia’s website

New Position Vacant Listings

Foundation Manager - Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Foundation (Sydney)

Development Manager - SMILE Foundation (Sydney)

Find out more on our Positions Vacant page.

New Members of Philanthropy Australia

Philanthropy Australia would like to warmly welcome the following new Members who have joined us in the past quarter:

Full Members

• Allco Foundation
• Australian Respiratory Council
• Donkey Wheel Ltd
• King Family Foundation
• Rio Tinto WA Future Fund

Associates

• Australian Rural Leadership Foundation
• Barwon Health Foundation
• Documentary Australia Foundation
• Gadens Lawyers
• The Nature Conservancy
• St John of God Services (Victoria)
• Warakirri Asset Management

You can find a list of all our Members on our Website.

Event - Strong & Smart: Indigenous Youth, Education & Cultural Empowerment

5 December, 2007; Surry Hills, NSW

Lunch Presentation by Dr Chris Sarra
Co-hosted by Artsupport Australia and Philanthropy Australia

Go to the Events Calendar to find out more.

New Australian Directory of Philanthropy Coming Soon!

The 14th (2008/09) edition of The Australian Directory of Philanthropy is due for release in late November 2007.

We have ceased selling the 2006 edition in hard copy due to imminent release of the 2008/09 edition. We recommend the Online version if you require the Directory urgently.

We are not currently taking pre-orders for the new edition.

We’ve set up an email notification service, which you can sign up for if you’d like to be notified when the new edition is available.

Find out more at philanthropy.org.au/directory2008