philanthropyOz Blog

Position Vacant

Macquarie Group Foundation have a vacancy for Staff Giving Manager in the Sydney CBD. Managing various aspects of the staff giving program, duties will include: due diligence on, and communicating with, Australian and international charities; liasing internally with staff globally on charity donation administration; and reporting on the Foundation’s staff giving activities. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate experience in the NFP sector, ability to communicate across tax and payroll jurisdictions globally, and strong people and administrative skills.

Applications close 14 April 2011

» Visit the Positions Vacant page for further details

VCOSS announces Ben Bodna Award

VCOSS have announced an annual award in memory of Ben Bodna, former President of Philanthropy Australia, who passed away in 2008. Ben was a tireless supporter of the disadvantaged, from the beginning of his career as a probation officer through becoming head of the State Welfare Department and Victoria’s first Public Advocate. Ben’s community involvements include roles as chairperson of Foundation Boroondara, President of UNICEF Australia, joint Chair of the People Together Project, and President of the Victorian Brain Injury Recovery Association.

The Ben Bodna Award aims to advance knowledge and effective practice in the fields of social justice, community, disability or bio-ethics. It is open to individuals (not organisations) who must reside in Victoria and intend to use the grant in Victoria. The award provides a grant or grants that will total up to $10,000 per annum. The closing date for applications is 29 April.

For more information: http://www.vcoss.org.au/what-we-do/community-sector/Bodna.htm

Tasmania meeting for grantmakers

Grantmakers are invited to meet with Philanthropy Australia CEO, Deborah Seifert and Membership Manager, Bruce Argyle, in Hobart on Thursday 14th April from 3pm - 4.30pm.

This will be an opportunity to meet together with us and a small group of grantmakers who are based in and/or operating in Tasmania. It will be good to hear recent areas of activity and to be able to talk about any issues you would like to raise. Bruce will also provide an update on what has been happening at Philanthropy Australia.

Full Members and non-Member grantmakers are welcome to attend.  RSVP essential by Tuesday 12 April to Annie Scoufis at Philanthropy Australia on (02) 9223 0155 or email a.scoufis@philanthropy.org.au.

NZ Government’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal now a DGR

The Assistant Treasurer has announced that the New Zealand Government’s Christchurch Earthquake Appeal will be listed in the tax legislation as a Deductible Gift Recipient for Australian taxation purposes. Australians who donate $2 or more to the official appeal can claim a tax deduction for their donation. Previously, Australians could only claim a tax deduction if they donated to an Australian-based appeal.

Donations to the appeal are tax deductible for a period of two years from 22 March 2011 and taxpayers should ensure they receive a receipt for their donation.

New Events

We’ve been mapping out a lot of our events ahead of time for 2011, so today’s events update includes a lot of dates for Affinity Group meetings.

Of special note in general events is AEGN’s grantmaker field trip to Arnhem Land in August; it looks to be an excellent learning tour of the bio-diverse Northern Territory.

• Ideas & Society Program: Disability Care and Support Forum, with Bruce Bonyhady (12 April, Victoria)
• Perpetual Foundation Thought Leadership Seminar: Reforming Fundraising Regulation (29 April, Melbourne)
• National Infrastructure Conference 2011 (8-9 June, Sydney)
• Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network 2011 Field Trip to Arnhem Land (7-12 August, NT)
• CIVICUS World Assembly 2011 - Civil Society and Global Decision-Making: Doing It Better (10-12 September, Canada)

Members Only*

* Full Members of Philanthropy Australia only, unless otherwise specified.

• UPDATED: Philanthropy Australia AGM (27 April, Melbourne; Associate Members also invited)
• Bendigo Regional Meeting (2 May, Bendigo; Non-Member grantmakers welcome)
• Addressing Homelessness Affinity Group (3 May, Sydney)
• Circle of Learning (4 May, Sydney; Associate Members also welcome)
• Corporate Network (5 May, Sydney)
• Trustees Dinner (12 May, Melbourne)
• CEO Network Lunch (17 May, Melbourne; invitation only)
• Indigenous Affinity Group (18 May, Melbourne)
• Education Affinity Group (24 May, Melbourne)
• Arts Affinity Group (25 May, Melbourne)
• CEO Network (25 May, Sydney; invitation only)
• Launch of Philanthropy Australia’s Rural & Regional Affinity Group (26 May, Bendigo)
• Indigenous Affinity Group (15 June, Sydney)
• Arts Affinity Group (22 June, Sydney)
• CEO Network Lunch (19 July, Melbourne; invitation only)
• Education Affinity Group (27 July, Sydney)
• Arts Affinity Group (24 August, Melbourne)
• Indigenous Affinity Group (24 August, Melbourne)
• Education Affinity Group (30 August, Melbourne)
• Arts Affinity Group (13 October, Sydney)
• CEO Network Lunch (18 October, Melbourne; invitation only)
• Indigenous Affinity Group (20 October, Sydney)
• Education Affinity Group (27 October, Sydney)
• Indigenous Affinity Group (16 November, Melbourne)
• Education Affinity Group (22 November, Melbourne)
• Arts Affinity Group (23 November, Melbourne)

Further details on these events are available on the Events Calendar.

If you have any events relevant to Australian grantmakers coming up, please let us know by submitting it on our website here.

Position Vacant

The Queensland Art Gallery Foundation is seeking a Foundation Coordinator to research, develop, promote and coordinate the delivery of the Foundation’s initiatives and to implement strategies to support and extend membership and philanthropic support for the Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art.

Applications close Monday 4 April 2011

» Visit the Positions Vacant page for further details

Japan earthquake donations; Qld flood appeal clarification

The ongoing earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan has affected tens of thousands of people and will need ongoing assistance. Australians wishing to make tax-deductible donations may do so via the Red Cross appeal at: http://www.redcross.org.au/japan2011.htm

Please note that we have been notified that the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund operates both an item 2 and an item 1 DGR. Members who are Private Ancillary Funds and Public Ancillary Funds must request a tax receipt under the item 1 charity (ABN 82 378 381 789) in order to comply with their legal requirement not to fund item 2 DGRs.

Positions Vacant

The Foundation for Young Australians is currently seeking to fill two positions:

Senior Communications Manager

The Senior Communications Manager plays a crucial role in planning, developing and implementing communications strategies across the organisation. You will lead promotion of a wide range of national youth-focused programs and opportunities and play a key role in stakeholder engagement with sponsors and supporters, Government agencies, the media, and young people themselves.

Applications close Monday 14 March 2011

Manager, Research

The Manager, Research will play a crucial role in developing and implementing a strategic research and evaluation agenda for FYA. This role is responsible for managing high quality research projects and program evaluation approach, drive the creation of opportunities for high quality research and evaluation projects for external partners and agencies, and disseminate the findings of FYA’s research and evaluation strategy to external and internal audience.

Applications close Friday 1 April 2011

» Visit the Positions Vacant page for further details

Demographics special guest at next week’s Ageing Futures Affinity Group

We are looking forward to hearing from our special guest at our first Ageing Futures Affinity Group meeting for 2011 which is from 10.30am - 12.00 noon on Wednesday 9 March.

David Sykes is a Senior Demographic Researcher with Spatial and Research, Department of Planning and Community Development.

As a demographic researcher he specialises in modeling and forecasting populations and often give talks to a wide variety of audiences. His presentation will focus on:

• Projected future populations, particularly the ageing population;
• Past trends in ageing and life expectancy with some international comparisons; and
• Characteristics and behaviours of older populations and how these may change in the future.

The intention is to provide an overview of what the ageing population will look like in the future, and how this may impact on granting priorities in this area.

David will also provide his feedback on the Ageing Futures Funding Framework developed last year.

Philanthropy Australia’s Ageing Futures Affinity Group would be delighted to welcome other interested grantmakers to this opportunity.

The meeting will be held at Equity Trustees in Melbourne and chaired by Anita Hopkins, Equity Trustees.

If you wish to attend and are Full Member of Philanthropy Australian or non-Member grantmaking organisation, please RSVP to Annie Scoufis at a.scoufis@philanthropy.org.au by Tuesday morning 8th March.