philanthropyOz Blog

New Events & Positions Vacant

Philanthropy Australia and the Australian School of Social Entrepeneurs (SSE) are holding a Members Only event this September; a discussion with SSE’s major supporting philanthropic foundations, the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and The Westpac Foundation, to launch SSE’s first School this year.

• AEGN Morning Tea with Antje Toennis of the German GLS Bank Foundation (1 September, Melbourne)
• A Sense of Place: Sustainable Placemaking (2-5 September, UK)
• Sydney Leadership 2010 - Launch & Information Evening (8 September, Sydney)
• The Australian School of Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) - A discussion with supporting Foundations: The Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation and The Westpac Foundation (15 September, Sydney, Members Only)
• 19th Private Banker International Wealth Management Summit (5-6 October, Singapore)

Victoria Law Foundation and the City of Yarra are both seeking experienced Grants Managers:

• Grants and Awards Manager - Part-time, Victoria Law Foundation (Melbourne, Applications close 31 August)
• Community Planner - Grants, City of Yarra (Melbourne, Applications close 7 September)

For more information please see the Events Calendar and Positions Vacant page.

Giving in the Recession: UK report

The UK-based Institute for Philanthropy has released a report entitled ‘Giving in the Recession’ which details ways in which donors can fund strategically during the Global Financial Crisis and the UK recession. The report includes six case studies on how a range of philanthropic individuals and organisations are responding to the economic crisis through strategies including collaborative funding, spending down, social investment, and leadership roles.

The report is available for download from: the Institute for Philanthropy website.

New Events & Positions Vacant

This past two weeks we’ve received quite a few events to post, including the launch of our Sydney Addressing Homelessness Affinity Group coming up in September:

• Innovative ICT in the community sector - Doing IT Better Seminar (20 August, Melbourne)
• Does Profit Belong in the Social Investment Landscape? Heloise Waislitz Oration (2 September, Melbourne)
• Philanthropy Australia Launch of Sydney’s Addressing Homelessness Affinity Group, with international Guest Speaker Nan Roman (8 September, Sydney, Members Only)
• Does Profit Belong in the Social Investment Landscape? Heloise Waislitz Oration (10 September, Sydney)
• Asset Protection & Succession Forum (11 September, Sydney)
• Asset Protection & Succession Forum (15 September, Melbourne)
• The 2009 Not For Profit Futures Summit (19 September, Melbourne)
• Collaborative leadership in a shared power world (9-10 November, Sydney)
• Making Links 2009 Conference (17-18 November, Melbourne)
• European Foundations Annual General Assembly and Conference (1-5 June 2010, Belgium)

Artsupport Australia and Swinburne University’s Asia Pacific Centre of Social Investment & Philanthropy are both seeking skilled people for management positions:

• Victoria Manager, Artsupport Australia (Melbourne, Applications close 21 August)
• Professor of Social Investment & Philanthropy, Swinburne University of Technology - Asia Pacific Centre of Social Investment & Philanthropy (Melbourne, Applications close 25 September)

For more information please see the Events Calendar and Positions Vacant page.

Victorian Bushfire - tax amendments and interim reports

The Assistant Treasurer, Senator Nick Sherry, and the Hon Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction, today announced that the Rudd Government will amend Federal tax law to allow the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund to conduct a broader range of charitable and community activities. The amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 will apply retrospectively from 29 January 2009 and will apply only to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, giving it extra flexibility to support bushfire‑affected communities as they recover and rebuild. The new provisions will enable the Fund to:

• Provide for long-term assistance to orphaned minors, under the age of 18, without the need for annual assessments;
• provide reimbursements to individuals or organisations for performed eligible charitable activities;
• provide a discretionary payment of up to $15,000 to assist households for the period in which they are in transitional housing;
• provide a grant of up to $10,000 to affected primary producers to use for repair and restoration of farm activities, including re-fencing of properties;
• and establish what is called a ‘look-through provision’ so, if a family has a farm in a trust or company, they will also be eligible for assistance.

For more information see the Assistant Treasurer’s press release.

The Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority has released its six-monthly report into the reconstruction and recovery efforts. The report is available for download from VBRRA’s website.

The 2009 Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission has released its interim report into the February 2009 bushfires. The interim report makes recommendations of measures that could be implemented to make Victoria safer for the next fire season. It is available to read or download from the Royal Commission website.

Truby and Florence Williams Chair of Social Investment and Philanthropy

The establishment of Australia’s first Chair of Social Investment and Philanthropy was recently announced. The Truby and Florence Williams Chair of Social Investment and Philanthropy is a joint collaboration between Swinburne University’s Asia Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy and ANZ Trustees.

The Chair was established through a generous grant provided by the Truby and Florence Williams Charitable Trust, managed by ANZ Trustees. The five year position is only the third funded Chair to have been secured by the university. The position is also supported by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI), a national initiative aimed at driving social innovation by building the capacity of Australia’s not-for-profit organisations and strengthening their relationship to the private and government sectors.

New Projects Pool launched for Members

Philanthropy Australia is delighted to announced that our Projects Pool is now live!

Designed as a tool for our Full Members to share information about projects, the Project Pool is a reservoir of recommended projects for which non-profits are currently seeking funding. Each project listed has been recommended by a Philanthropy Australia Full Member - usually one which a Member has received an application for, and assessed as outstanding, but cannot themselves fund.

Using the Projects Pool Members can:

• Recommend projects for funding
• Seek out projects which come recommended by other funders, having had initial due diligence undertaken.

The Projects Pool offers a convenient, discreet and secure way for our Members to share project recommendations.

To access the Projects Pool go to our homepage and click on the link under Membership, or go direct to www.philanthropy.org.au/projects.

We are looking forward to filling the Pool with great projects, furthering collaboration and growing philanthropy.