Heart and Soul Grants for Your Organisation

This clever competition will make you think.  It's exclusively open to NFP's and voluntary organisations in Australia and New Zealand.  It's a little different because it asks you to be creative with your entry.  In fact, it asks you to be poetic about your mission.  If you are clever enough, you will win a Heart and Soul grant.

So, its fun and rewarding.  I wish you luck.


CTK Foundation Heart and Soul Australia New Zealand Announcement from Community TechKnowledge on Vimeo.

Looking for exposure?

Cavill and Co have published an offer that might be of interest to not-for-profit organisations.

They are working with a leading FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) client that is seeking to establish a partnership and make a significant investment into an Australian charity and provide mass market exposure via promotion on its product.

Does this sound like something that would be of benefit to your organisation?

You can apply on site.  The process is broken down into simple steps, each with advice.  You have nothing to lose so why not have a go?

The closing date for submissions from potential NPO partners is Thursday 4 August at 5pm.

Interview With A Treasurer

We recently spoke to the treasurer of a community group about their role in the organisation and the challenges they face.

1. What do you love about the role of treasurer?

I know that people tend to think of small not-for-profit organisations as casual and with no real budget to worry about. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We are not-for-profit, yes, but we have a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars to manage. We have all the demands of a regular workplace – salaries, overheads, budget limitations and the lot. You can’t just leave it to anyone to manage the budget. You have to know what you are doing. That’s why I took on the role.

2. What has been the hardest part of your job?

Well, when I first took over this role there was a big mess that I had to clean up. The previous treasurer had done some account fiddling and there was money missing. I had to go back through our financial history and look for irregularities and make sure that we were still financially viable as an organisation.

It was very fiddly and detailed work and even worse, there were a lot of people in the organisation who were quite upset at being duped. They blamed themselves for not keeping an eye on the accounts, too. And they should have.

3. So should the treasurer be accountable to someone?

Of course. For the safety of the individual as much as the safety of the organisation, the finances should never be left to one person to manage. I report to a board of management but even so, they don’t quite understand the accounts fully. Part of my job is to teach them so that they get the whole picture and not just what the treasurer tells them.

4. What would you like to change?

I’d like to change the attitude to the role. Everyone thinks that treasurers have a boring job but really it’s dynamic and involving. It’s strategic, too, not just about counting the numbers. It’s about long term planning so that the organisation can stay in business.

Without good monetary control that goes beyond keeping track of your bills, no committee or organisation will be able to function.