The Little Library – Page 3 – Fish Community Solutions Fundraising Consultancy and Social Enterprise

Effective Board Meetings

by The Fish ChickAugust 15, 2016August 15, 2016

“An effective board should not necessarily be a comfortable place. Challenge, as well as teamwork, is an essential feature.”

This is the advice from the UK’s Financial Reporting Council. An article in the Harvard Business Review recently addressed this comment and talked about how to have productive discussions in board meetings.

The article identifies three key actions that need to happen if you want to improve boardroom discussions. This brief but useful piece is something you should definitely consider circulating with your Directors.

Have a read here.

Get Strategic Online

by The Fish ChickJuly 17, 2016August 2, 2016

Over 90% of Australians now access and use the internet, most of them on a regular basis. This is why it is important for non-profit organisations to not only have an online presence, but to be undertaking some level of fundraising online.

Non-profit software provider, Abila, knows a thing or two about online fundraising and they’ve recently published a guide to help your charity get more strategic in that area. The Ultimate Guide to Online Fundraising focuses on six key steps to successful fundraising online; targeting, appeals, websites, donation forms, thank-yous and follow-up communication. The Guide is packed full of articles, real-life examples and worksheets to help improve your organisation’s online fundraising.

For more information about the Guide please visit Abila website here.

Our $103b Charity Sector

by The Fish ChickFebruary 11, 2016July 11, 2016

ACNC Released by the Australian Charities ad Not-for-profits Commisison (ACNC) just before Christmas, The Australian Charities Report 2014 is the first in-depth look at the financial significance of the sector.

Our country’s charity sector has a combined income of $103 billion, with nearly $7 billion coming from donations and bequests.

Most charities appear to be operating a balanced budget, as during that same period, $95 billion was spent by charities, and the remaining $8 billion ear-marked for future charitable investment.

The Australian Charities Report 2014 was produced in collaboration with the Centre for Social Impact and the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Australia.

It is hoped the report will act as a resource to help donors, governments, researchers and the community better understand charities, and their financial status and sustainability.

Download a copy at the ACNC website.

A Changing Sector

by The Fish ChickFebruary 11, 2016July 11, 2016

The Australian charity sector has evolved over the past twenty years, and a report release last month by private wealth management business, JBWere, highlights some of these changes.

The Cause Report, as it is known, is an in-depth report that investigates the role of the sector in Australian society. It compares the our sector here to those in the USA, Canada, UK and a few other countries and provides some predictions for the future. The report also explores the different types of organisations in the sector such as health, environment, education and social services.

Additionally, as indicated in the Executive Summary, The Cause Report covers:

the scale, scope and significance of the charitable and not-for-profit sector;
the long term trends across the sector;
the headwinds in relation to sustainability and volunteerism; and
a breakdown of data at a sector level.

The report identifies the charity sector as “the glue which holds much of Australian society together and allows it to function and prosper” and while it is a lengthy report it is certainly well worth the read.

For more information about the report or to download it, please visit the JBWere website here.

Who are the Workplace Givers?

by The Fish ChickFebruary 9, 2016July 9, 2016

Often workplace giving can be seen as a bit of a mysterious creature in the world of fundraising, but a recent report is shedding some light on the topic.

Non-profit organisation, Good2Give, (formerly known as Charities Aid Foundation) works to connect businesses and their employees as donors with charities.

Their recent report, thought to be the biggest on workplace giving in Australia, provides insights into almost 1,000 donors in Australian workplaces highlighting their preferences, behaviour and motivations.

The report also indicated that Aussie charities are potentially missing out on millions of dollars from workplace giving initiatives.

Good2Give CEO, Lisa Grinham, said “Workplace givers who were recognised by their employer and who received thanks from their charity invariably made higher donations. Almost half were also willing to increase their donations if they were just asked.”

“Charities need to take the training wheels off when it comes to engaging workplace givers and extend communications to grow their relationship with these passionate supporters,” Grinham said.

For more information and to download the report, please visit the Good2Give website here.

Review of Aussie NFP Sector

by The Fish ChickJanuary 11, 2016July 11, 2016

The Koda Capital Non-Profit Sector Review is a comprehensive document that everyone working in the non profit industry should take the time to read.

Calling for more collaboration between the community and government sectors to get the job done, the document looks into issues such as the industry’s growth and input to Australia’s national GDP, verses the insignificant salary growth of employees within the sector.

There is a strong suggestion that although Australia is already a leader in volunteering, non profits should be looking even more so to take advantage of our highly trained and skilled workforce to build a network of people willing to offer their talents and their time.

The 2015 Koda Capital Non-Profit Sector Review