Celebrating Your Volunteers In Your Blog

As every manager of a NFP organisation knows only too well, the burning out of volunteers is one of the main problems in the sector. It is important to know that along with the other reasons why volunteers cease to be interested in volunteering, a strong factor is the lack of attention to their efforts. If you want to keep your volunteers happy and motivated, you will have to make them feel special and what better way to do so than acknowledging the difference they make. In this sense, using your blog to celebrate the volunteers at your NFP is a great idea with a lot of potential.

Devoting a section in your blog to your volunteers is a solution that can help in more than one way. To start with, your volunteers will be pleased to know that you are interested in what they have to say and will be happy to share their opinion, views, feedback or memories. Bearing in mind that most of them may be too shy or modest to share that they volunteer, celebrating them in your blog will do that on their behalf and may turn very useful if a prospective employer makes the effort to google them for more information. And finally, you will have fresh and unique content for your blog, which will contribute to your search engine optimisation and will have a positive effect on the online image of your NFP.

As to what volunteer-related content you can publish in your blog, that’s the easiest part of the process. Your volunteers have special events in their lives, some of them related to the organisation. If an elderly volunteer celebrates an important anniversary (like a 70^th birthday or 10 years at the organisation), you can celebrate them in a blog post – a short interview and a nice photo will do. Otherwise, you can start a rubric of the ‘Ask a volunteer’ and ‘Our volunteers’ feedback’; every week a different person can share their organisation-related thoughts. Or you can ask around the company for interesting or funny stories from the volunteers’ experience and share them with your blog readers.

An example of an organisation that makes the effort to celebrate their volunteers in their blog is Oxfam Australia. Navigating in their website, you can easily reach the section of the blog devoted to the volunteers and there you can see posts similar to the proposed above: Volunteer Spotlight which focusses on a person and their story; a message from one volunteer to another; commemorating the retirement of a long-term volunteer, etc. As already mentioned, this can only bring benefits to your organisation and your blog, and it will be a precious little act of attention for your volunteers.

Having said all this, if you think it is high time you did something special for your volunteers, try celebrating them in your blog post. Making them feel special is sure to invigorate them and make them even more passionate for your NFP’s activities. And besides this, your prospective volunteers will read positive stories of current people working with you, which is a great plus for your recruitment strategy. All in all, blogging about your volunteers is a win-win, so make sure you try it soon!

Online Learning For Volunteer Treasurers

Although it is a voluntary position, being a treasurer for a not-for-profit organisation may be a challenging experience, especially if you are not prepared. There are many activities a volunteer treasurer (VT) needs to participate in, and even more processes they should monitor and control. Therefore, if you are or want to be a volunteer treasurer, it is worth taking the effort to train yourself for the job. Similarly, if you are about to take on board a treasurer for your NFP organisation, you should make sure that they are ready for this responsibility.

Fortunately, nowadays it is not too hard to find appropriate resources and train on your own – the Internet is full of materials that can help volunteer treasurers with their undertakings. A good place to start is Davidson Institute, a financial education institution part of the Westpac network. The Institute provides a lot of resources that will prove helpful for VTs. Once you get on their website, you can either visit the Learning Centre, which is divided into categories for Business, Personal, Not-for-Profit and Corporate visitors, or you can check out the courses page and browse through similar categories.

At present, there is one active short course appropriate for Not-for-Profit VTs, with more undoubtedly to follow. Meanwhile, you can take the 1-day Financial Management 101 for Not-for-Profit & Community Organisations, which will help you understand the financial management tools you will need in order to be successful in your position of treasurer and improve the NFP’s financial performance. You can check out the course details here.

In the learning centre, you can find many free resources that will improve your financial knowledge and prepare you for the role of the treasurer. There is a separate section Managing Money for Not-for-Profits, where you can read articles on different topics by experienced treasurers and financial managers or participate in the free webinars. There are also other resources that you can check out, like the Cause and Effect Newsletter.

All these resources provided by Davidson Institute can help volunteer treasurers find new sources of funding for their NFP organisations, increase the financial stability and processes and implement good financial practices. If you are anxious about your financial literacy, you could find help with the interpretation of financial statements, the building of cash flow budget and the planning and managing of seasonality. You can also learn how to understand the financial impact of growth, diagnose financial problems and deal with them, and many more. In other words, the resources on this website are a real treasure for treasurers – make sure you check them out and improve yourself!

3 Bookkeeping Mistakes Your Club Or NFP Might Be Making

The end of the financial year is a great time to take a look at your bookkeeping processes to see what is working and what is not.  The systems which once worked for you may no longer be appropriate, especially if you have seen a growth in membership.

Here are 3 key bookkeeping mistakes made by many clubs and not for profit organisations.  Are you making any of these?

1.  Keeping paper based records.

This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make.  Keeping paper based records is a security risk.  Anyone can access them and – even worse – alter them without you even realising.  (And I hate to ask it, but where are your backup records?)

2.  Using the wrong financial record keeping software.

Sometimes your accountant will advise you to use accounting systems which, although excellent at what it does, is too advanced for you or your treasurer to use.  If yours is a smaller NFP you don’t need an accounting system full of bells and whistles.  Often it can be hard to imagine that errors are made purely by accident. Choose club software such as Admin Bandit software which gives you everything you need to accurately manage your accounts without giving you a headache.

3.  Not checking your records with the bank.

This is a basic mistake but it happens more often than you would think possible.  Sometimes it is an oversight and sometimes it’s a confusion over who is responsible for the task.  Other times it is because one person actively prevents it happening, and that’s when they know there is something to cover up. You can’t be confident in your records, especially if they are paper based, without confirming the details with your bank.

Now is the time to check the systems you are using to see whether or not they are working for you, and if there is a better, more secure way to manage your bookkeeping and club finances.

Your Password Is Weaker Than You Think

With so much of our lives and information contained in that little box on your desk or lap, it’s important that we protect it as much as we can. The most basic form of security is the password and that’s where many of us are going wrong.

How secure is your information? It depends on how strong your password is.

Earlier this year Splashdata released a list of the worst passwords of 2013 which was compiled from files containing millions of stolen passwords posted online during the previous year. What they found is that most of us are so worried about forgetting our passwords that we choose ones which are easy to remember. The problem with that is that if we can work them out, so can some hacker who wants his wicked way with your data.

One good sign which shows we are becoming more aware of our security is that “password” as a password has finally lost its number one spot on the list.

But guess what its replacement is? Yep. It’s 123456.

Here is the list of the top 25 worst passwords of 2013.

1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. 123456789
7. 111111
8. 1234567
9. iloveyou
10. adobe123
11. 123123
12. sunshine
13. 1234567890
14. letmein
15. photoshop
16. 1234
17. monkey
18. shadow
19. sunshine
20. 12345
21. password1
22. princess
23. azerty
24. trustno1
25. 000000

Your password is what keeps your data safe so it’s worth creating a strong one and memorising it.

The best passwords, according to Splashdata and most security experts, will have eight characters or more, combining letters, numbers, and symbols. It is recommended that you don’t use the same password for everything, and that you have an even stronger password to keep your financial information safe.

Go and check your own passwords now. If you recognise it from this list, take immediate action to change it.

You’re In The Deep End!

Your treasurer has quit. No one else wants the job. Somehow you find yourself volunteering for the role.

Now what? Numbers aren’t your thing.

How soon till the panic sets in?

Oh heavens, where did you put the calculator?

Like a modern day Robin Hood, you will have to rob the rich to pay the poor – but where do you find the money? 

Don’t worry. It’s not going to be a nightmare. Just use Admin Bandit software which has been specifically designed to help volunteer treasurers and their committees to manage their accounts without going crazy.

Make yourself look professional by taking advantage of the built in features.  Customise Admin Bandit to match your organisation and present a professional image to the committee and the world:

·         import your own logo to appear on all reports, receipts, invoices and member notices.

·         customise terms to match your activities, e.g. Members to Players, Groups to Teams.

·         consistent brand across all correspondence and reports generated for your club or society.

·         consistent clear reports give you confidence in the job you do as a treasurer

In our busy, competitive world, give your organisation the edge by having a good handle on the finances.

A well run organisation is attractive to people when they are deciding which association or club they will commit their time and resources to assist.

Find out more in our video which explains the whys, wheres and hows for you.

Have You Applied For The 2014 Westpac Community Grants?

Is your NFP working to improve the lives of disadvantaged Australians?

Could you do with a boost to your funding?

The 2014 Westpac Community Grants might be just what you need.  The grants have been designed for specific purposes.  This is an extract from the Westpac page.

What we do fund:

• Projects that build on a community organisation’s core work
• Running costs, including salaries, to ensure that community organisations can maintain and develop their core work and services.

What we do not fund:

Organisations that do not have a Deductible Gift Recipient Item 1 status with the ATO, or are not auspiced

• Charities that mainly work overseas
• Hospitals, hospices or medical centres
• Medical research, funding for medical equipment or medical treatments
• Rescue services
• Schools, colleges and universities
• Sponsorship or funding towards a marketing appeal or fundraising activities
• Capital projects, appeals and refurbishments
• Projects that support animals or to promote animal welfare
• Programs promoting religion.

The Westpac Foundation has already provided over one million dollars of funding for community grants. These grants have helped over 113 Not for Profits to expand their operations.  That is a very impressive record.

This year there is a total of $530,000 in grant money available to groups who can meet the funding requirements.

If you have never applied for a grant before, take the time to read the documentation on how to apply and check the selection criteria.  Both are found on the information page.

Applications are open until March 31^st and grant recipients will be announced in June. Please visit the Westpac Foundation to discover more about the grants and to make your application.

What We Can Learn From Australia’s Top Reputable Charities

To be named Australia’s most reputable not for profit organisation is an honour; to be named most reputable 3 years in a row is definitely a great achievement indeed.  Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service has been given this honour ranking highest again in the 2013 AMR Charity Reputation Index.

The AMR survey measures across many facets of a non-profit organisation including innovation, workplace, citizenship, governance, leadership and cost management.

AMR’s Managing Director Oliver Freedman said that the Royal Flying Doctors had in particular built a strong reputation across this broad base. 

Freedman commented, “The research demonstrates that for a charity to have a strong reputation, it is not enough simply to be supporting a good cause.  These organisations also need to be innovative, strong community leaders, demonstrate appropriate cost management, be transparent in their governance and provide a good workplace for employees.  The Royal Flying Doctors came up well in all these dimensions, and their overall reputation ranking reflects this community view.”

Coming in a very notable second is the McGrath Foundation which managed to rise a whole eight places from last year to achieve this astounding result.

The Foundation communicates clearly about what it is raising money for, and where it will go,” Freedman said.  “This has contributed to its overall reputation in the eyes of Australians because they understand what the charity stands for and can see the work it is undertaking out in the community.”

These two charities are certainly a great act for all not for profits to follow and it just goes to show how much transparency, innovation and reputation play a part in an organisation's success.

To learn more about the charities and the AMR Charity Reputation Index visit the original article.