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Not-For-Profit Network News
Training and Resources
There are many programs that recognise and award Volunteers and people in the community for their achievements and support in various areas. Here are details of some of those programs.
OZVPM have a website for the Australasian region that contains some excellent resources for managers of volunteers. The site also contains many valuable links to other volunteering web sites and other resources.
The National Volunteer Skills Centre (NVSC) is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and managed by Volunteering Australia.
The NVSC aims to support volunteer involving organisations throughout Australia by supporting them with volunteer training and skills development through the provision of various resources. These resources include:
· nationally recognised qualifications for volunteers
· free training materials and resources
· tips and advice
· database to help with the location of local training providers
· access to AVALON - Australian Volunteerings online resource catalogue
· E-forums
· a training calendar for workshops, conferences and seminars
Provision of these services will enhance the volunteer sector's ability to provide quality training within their own organisations, to ensure that volunteers receive the training they need and deserve.
www.volunteeringaustralia.org
(Skills and Training section)
The Federation Press publishes a variety of books specifically for, or about, non-profit organisations.
Volunteering Queensland have set up an e-learning site on volunteer management. The site is a free resource for developing and managing effective volunteer programs that can teach you to engage, manage and retain volunteers for community organisations.
www.volunteeringqueensland.org.au/involve
A Community Leadership web site, a partnership project between VQ and QUT, was launched in mid November, 2003. It includes a range of practical resources.
If your community group is in need of a business partner, there's a new Community Business Partnerships Brokerage Service available on the Our Community website.
Your group can register your details, areas of interest and what sort of assistance you require, or what partnership opportunities you can provide. The website also provides a downloadable booklet with all the information you need to get you started, practical help sheets, case studies, ideas and the community business partnerships matching service. This matching service is designed to assist groups and business to find each other.
www.ourcommunity.com.au/partnerships
The Australian Council for the Arts has a guide-book available for download from their website. Titled "How to Where to" (H2W2), it is designed to give young people information on developing an arts project and finding resources and support. It is a practical guide for showing young artists how to develop ideas and manage projects.
The Australian Council for the Arts' website also has other free resources for young artists.Westpac and Our Community have available a free Guide on the responsibilities for the financial management of a community group.
The Guide for Community Treasurers covers what you need to know when you first take the job, as well as practical information on setting budgets, keeping the books, establishing an asset register, tracking cash flow and tax and preparing Board Financial Reports.
These books are available for download at the website or Freecall 1300 660 953 for a hard copy.
www.ourcommunity.com.au/treasurer
The State Library of Queensland, with sponsorship from Telstra Country Wide, have developed Connecting Queensland, a website host offering free websites to Non-Profit, non-commercial organisations, community groups and individuals.
Connecting Queensland aims to assist community groups in establishing and maintaining a quality website. They do this in several ways. By offering free hosting, Connecting Queensland make websites available to groups that couldn't otherwise afford them. They also have an online 'wizard', a program which makes webpage creation and publishing quick and easy, so groups don't need to know all the ins and outs of webpages to have an online presence.
If you are a skilled professional looking to volunteer your services to a not-for-profit organisation, or a not-for-profit organisation in need of someone with professional skills, then ProBono Australia's Volunteer Match website may be able to help you.
The site endeavours to match professionally skilled volunteers with non-profit organisations in need of those specific skills.
The service is provided by ProBono Australia as part of their goal in assisting not-for-profit organisations with resources.
Nonprofit Cares is a website offering affordable Risk Management resources that have been developed specifically for Australian non-profit organisations.
One of the site's featured products is My Risk Evaluator, an online risk management tool that incorporates elements of the National Standards for Involving Volunteers.
The standard retail price for My Risk Evaluator is $275, however Volunteering Australia have been able to negotiate a $50 discount with Gallagher Solutions, the company behind Nonprofit Cares, for any organisation ordering My Risk Evaluator on their specially-designed order form. Organisations ordering My Risk Evaluator in this way will receive access to all ten modules in the program for $225 (GST inclusive).
An electronic version of the special order form is currently available from Volunteering North Queensland Inc. For a copy of the form, please email: vnq@volunteeringnthqld.org.au
OzVPM have a number of free E-Books on various aspects of Volunteer Management and other issues currently available for download from their website.
These books can be downloaded for free from the bookstore section of their website. To find them - look in the Electronic Books section or click the link below.
To assist Incorporated associations within Queensland to understand, comply with and operate under the 'Associations Incorporation Act 1981' and the 'Asociations Incorporation Regulation 1999', the Office of Fair Trading has produced the 'Incorporated Associations Good Business Guide'. A copy of the guide is sent to all new licensees, however it is also available for download from their website.
Have you ever spoken to someone at a business dinner or gathering and found yourself needing to explain your organisation's purpose in under a minute? Do you want to have something ready in case such an opportunity ever arises? Then this article will take you through the steps and explain how to write a 'lift' or 'elevator' speech.
This article comes courtesy of ourcommunity.com.
An online resource kit, EvaluateIT, is available for anyone wishing to make their community website, Internet training program or information technology (IT) projects more successful, without wasting time or resources.
OurCommunity, with Australia Post, have set up a resource centre to give community groups a way to get their message out - a one-stop shop to source the skills and practical tools to build greater public awareness and support.
The Marketing Media & Post Centre provides help at all levels - planning, implementation, budgeting to help your group. It has, among other things:
· Free stock pictures
· Mail and brochure templates
· A state-by-state listing of media contact addresses
· Help sheets on getting out everything from newsletters to web pages
· Heaps of stuff on successful mail outs and direct mail
· How-to-use-the-media guides
www.ourcommunity.com.au/marketingmediapostcentre
Volunteering Australia has produced a number of information sheets to provide volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations with up-to-date information on current volunteering issues.
They cover a wide range of topics, including Risk Management, National Standards, Volunteer Involvement, Police Checks, 100 Point Identification Checks and Corporate Volunteering. The information sheets are available for download from the Volunteering Australia website.
www.volunteeringaustralia.org
(Publications - Search our Publications - Best Practices)
Presently in Queensland all people working with young people have to apply for a "Working with Children Check - Blue Card".
From 17 January 2005, all volunteers (unless exempt) must have a Working with Children Check and hold a Blue Card before they start volunteering in any area of regulated employment, regardless of how often they come into contact with children and young people.
A Working with Children Check is free for volunteers.
There are several great resources that are available to assist community group committees through best practice principles and provide useful information.
"Developing your Organisation" was first published circa 1995 by the Queensland Government Department for Families for use by the Department's funded organisations and its resource officers. The Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) at the Queensland University of Technology was funded by the Department of Communities in 2005 to revise and expand the publication. Queensland Health funded them in 2006 to revise it for a third edition.
This excellent resource is available from the QUT website.
'Corporate Governance Manual for Queensland Clubs' is a new manual that is expected to enhance the club industry in Queensland by providing a range of information to inform board directors and committee members of their duties, responsibilities and obligations when operating clubs. The manual contains corporate governance guidelines and a wide range of information.
The manual can be downloaded from the Clubs Queensland website (Policy and Research section).
The Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian's have information on their website regarding risk management strategies for all organisations working with children and young people, as well as an information sheet and other resources.