philanthropyOz Blog

Grantmaker Spotlight: Kids in Philanthropy

This post written by Amanda Miller, Kids in Philanthropy.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy launch, 27 May 2012

Kids in Philanthropy (KIP) is a sub-fund of the Sydney Community Foundation. It is an innovative new philanthropic fund created to teach children the art and skill of giving. KIP, which was launched on Sunday 27 May 2012, will focus on building social awareness, a social conscience and a practice of giving in kids for kids. The ultimate aim of KIP is to build social awareness among kids and by doing so create opportunities for knowledge sharing, friendship, encouraging a spirit of sharing and cultural exchange.

KIP will involve children in workshops to teach them about all aspects of philanthropy guiding them through fundraising and the development of programs to help make a genuine difference to the lives of their peers living in Sydney and Melbourne’s disadvantaged suburbs. There will also be events enabling the kids from KIP and the programs they fund to work together and celebrate their achievements.

KIP, which was the idea of Dr Catriona Wallace and two of her five children, is supported by an Advisory Board, who provided the seed funding, and includes experts in community-based philanthropy such as the Sydney Community Foundation’s Kristi Mansfield, psychologist Dr Tracey Pillinger and child philanthropy consultant Melanie Greblo.

Photo: Kids in Philanthropy launch, 27 May 2012

Children aged from five to 18 will be able to participate in KIP along with their families, forging stronger connections between parents and children around their values and giving. While the initial program is set in Sydney, KIP will become a national initiative.

The first project to be funded by KIP is a Technology and Learning Program designed specifically for children in the middle years aged eight to 12 years olds, who attend various schools in Fairfield, in Sydney’s south west - one of Sydney’s most disadvantaged local government areas. Developed as a result of extensive community consultation working with Fairfield City Council and schools, the Technology and Learning program will be piloted by KIP and will provide the most disadvantaged children with the opportunity to participate in technology, music, art and sporting programs - activities and care they might otherwise miss out on.

At KIP’s launch on Sunday, attended by over 200 people, some of the children involved with KIP spoke about what philanthropy means to them and why they are excited to be involved with KIP.  Dr Catriona Wallace spoke about her personal story and why she founded KIP, and Amanda Bray of Fairfield City Council, together with Fairfield Youth Advisory Council speakers, spoke about the needs of the Fairfield community and the impact the program will have.

To get involved with KIP visit www.kip.org.au or call the Sydney Community Foundation on (02) 9251 1228.

Weekly Roundup

PRESSING MATTERS STORY OF THE WEEK

Forget the Gold Coast: school leavers focus on charity in Cambodia

By Louise Schwartzkoff and Andrew Stevenson (SMH, 14/11/11)

With the ink barely dry on their Higher School Certificate exam papers, 19 graduates from Mosman High School will fly to Cambodia to help build houses for impoverished families in a village outside Phnom Penh. They are part of a growing group of HSC graduates eschewing the traditional Gold Coast knees-up in favour of alternative options.

» Click here to read the full article on the Sydney Morning Herald website

» What is PRESSing Matters?

EVENTS

Coming up this fortnight:

• The Annual European Forum on Fundraising (18-20 November, London)
• Philanthropy and the marine sector with Dr Sylvia Earle (21 November, Sydney)
• Philanthropy 101 Seminar (22 November, Sydney; click here to register)
• Disability Projects Briefing for Philanthropy (23 November, Melbourne)
• Australia’s Welfare 2011 Conference (23-24 November, Canberra)
• Quality At Work Forum: Creating sustainable employment through social enterprise models (24 November, Melbourne)
• AEGN Annual General Meeting with presentation from Dr Sylvia Earle (24 November, Melbourne)
• PLuGIN, Philanthropy Leadership Group in the Inner North (24 November, Northcote VIC)
• 2011 Stegley Lecture: Professor Thomas Pogge - What are the resonsibilities of the affluent to address global poverty? (24 November, Melbourne)
• National Conference on Volunteering (28-30 November, Gold Coast QLD)
• Gala Dinner with Abigail Disney: Behind the famous surname lies a woman helping women fight for peace (29 November, Melbourne / 1 December, Sydney)
• National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector, Canada (29-30 November, Canada & online)
• Donor Morning Tea & Project Briefing: Victorian Women & Mental Health Network (30 November, Melbourne)
• Philanthropy MasterClass: “BOLD, BRAVE & BREAKING NEW GROUND” with Abigail Disney (30 November, Melbourne / 2 December, Sydney)
• 4th Annual Family Office Congress (30 November - 1 December, Sydney)
• Imagineering - Humanitarian Engineering Conference 2011 (30 November - 3 December, Melbourne)
• QUT Community Collection for Grant Seeker, Fundraisers and Philanthropists Library Tutorial (1 December, Brisbane)
• Global Grantmaking Institute (1-2 December, USA)

New & updated this week:

• National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector, Canada (29-30 November, Canada & online)
• QUT Community Collection for Grant Seeker, Fundraisers and Philanthropists Library Tutorial (1 December, Brisbane)
• Australian Centre for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Studies Course Information and Professional Development Evening (6 December, Brisbane)
• Council on Foundations Family Philanthropy Conference 2012 (13-15 February 2012, USA)
• Skoll World Forum (28-30 March 2012, UK)
• The positive and negative implications of social media in solving social challenges (16 May, Sydney / 30 May, 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.

POSITIONS VACANT

• Fundraising and Partnerships Manager, SecondBite. Melbourne. Applications close 19 November.
• Director of Alumni Relationships & Philanthropy, Australian National University. Canberra. Applications close 2 December.
• Manager, Institutional Donor Programs, Australian National University. Canberra. Applications close 2 December.
• General Manager, OzHarvest. Sydney, 12 month maternity cover. Applications close 2 December.
• Executive Officer, Mary Ward International Australia. Melbourne. Applications open until filled.

If you’d like to submit a job listing for the philanthropic sector or senior fundraising positions, please see our submissions page here.

National volunteering survey open; Volunteering increases employment opportunities

Volunteering Australia’s annual national volunteering survey is now open for feedback. The survey, gathering data from volunteers, organisations with volunteers, and businesses with employe volunteering programs, will help shape Volunteering Australia’s direction and priorities for 2012. The survey results are also important for the third sector as a whole to gain better understanding on how the voluntary sector is fairing in Australia.

This year’s survey emphasis is on  priorities of issues and how to improve the voluntary sector.

The survey is split into three parts for different audiences. We encourage anyone involved in volunteering to complete the survey.

If you are a company with an employee volunteering program: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NSVI_Companies

If you are a volunteer: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NSVI_Volunteers

If you are a not-for-profit or government organisation: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NSVI_VIOs

The survey closes on 6 November 2011. Results will be released on International Volunteers Day on 5 December 2011.

» Click here for more information on the Volunteering Australia website

Volunteering increases employment opportunities

According to new research conducted by professional network LinkedIn, volunteer work is considered equally valuable to paid work experience by hiring managers. Clifford Rosenberg, Managing Director, LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, says a majority of professionals in Australia have had volunteer experience but perceive it to be separate or irrelevant to their current profession. He says having additional skills from voluntary work can set a person apart. LinkedIn says the survey reinforces volunteer work is a key piece of a person’s professional identity.

The survey comes with the new LinkedIn feature allowing members to add a “Volunteer Experience and Causes” field to their profile.

» Click here to read the full news article on the Pro Bono Australia website

Are you on LinkedIn? Click here to follow Philanthropy Australia

Thankyou to our own volunteers

Philanthropy Australia would like to thank our own generous volunteers Martine Botha, Deborah Pugh, Patricia Burke and Richard Grant for their expertise, enthusiasm and immense help this year.