Leadership for the Not for Profit Sector

A one week course is being run by the University of Queensland in July. It has been designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of senior professionals in the not-for-profit sector. Here's the information:-

Course Overview
The Not For Profit sector makes important contributions to the Australian society and economy – impacts of which are often overlooked and neglected. This five day course is designed to enhance the leadership capabilities of senior professionals in the Not for Profit sector.

Participants will explore how strong leaders build culture and align it with strategy to effectively transform organisations. They will learn how to enhance partnerships and build networks across the Not for Profit and Profit sectors. This engaging course will equip participants with the necessary skills to be able to sucessfully respond to the leadership challenges faced in this hugely competitive sector.

Key benefits
Through attending this course, participants will be able to:
=>Build and sustain effective partnerships in the Not for Profit and Profit sectors
=>Successfully manage stakeholder relationships to the long term benefit of their organisation;
=>Respond to the national need to develop as leaders inareas such as strategic and organisational leadership,team leadership and change leadership across the Not for Profit sector;
=>Explore as leaders how they can transform and align the development of individuals in their organisation to the needs of the business culture;
=>Formulate practical ideas, models and tools of leadership and strategy applicable to the Not for Profit sector.

Who should attend
All current and potential leaders in the Not for Profit sector and partners of these organisations.

Where and when
Central Plaza1, Level 19, 345 Queen Street, Brisbane, 6th July – 10th July 2009.

Investment
$2,200* Fee includes tuition, course materials, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea each day and a formal dinner on Thursday evening. * Please note, this fee is heavily discounted, no further discounts apply. Also, GST does not apply to Corporate Education courses.

As part of our commitment to the sector, we are subsidizing the cost of this course for all non-profit organizations by 50%. Unmatched in Australia, this annual week-long executive level program is now $2,200 and is regularly $4,400 As space is strictly limited book now to avoid disappointment.

Further information
Register online or download the Registration Form from the UQBS Corporate Education website: www.business.uq.edu.au/corporate-education

For further information contact UQBS Corporate Education, telephone (07) 3346 7111 or email corped@business.uq.edu.au

Talking Finances

I recently came across a booklet of ‘101 top tips’ from successful Australian entrepreneurs offering reflections of what they’ve learned on their journey.

A recurring theme amongst the entrepreneurs was the co‐existence of three key principles – high‐quality delivery,great people, and strong financial management – three pillars that are a valuable blueprint for organisations of any size.

One of the first pieces of advice a banker will provide to any organisation is that the key to strong financial management is to never take your eyes off the cash flow.

To do this successfully you need an effective accounting system, plus simple to follow processes that make it easy for your staff or treasurer to record the everyday transactions of your organisation.

Here are a few ideas that will help to ensure your books stay in good shape:
􀂾 Everything has to add up: adopt a methodical and reliable accounting system. Make the most of its software and processes to record all transactions relating to monies coming in and going out.
􀂾 Time savers: if needed, investigate additional products such as tools to manage invoicing, superannuation and payroll. Your banker can help here.
􀂾 Sound administration: keep a separate file for each project, make sure your internet banking forms clearly identify their purpose, and keep a hard copy of receipts and budget spreadsheets as a back‐up.
􀂾 Never let your accounting processes slide: no matter if you’re a larger organisation with auditing requirements or a smaller group (auditing requirements vary from state to state), you’ll need to keep accurate and up‐to‐date records for taxation reasons.

Setting up a full and documented accounting system and easy to follow processes will also reduce the potential for fraud or simple mistakes like miscalculations which can be damaging to your organisation.

Also, your Treasurer may change overnight through accident, retirement or new election, and the newcomer will quickly need to extract everything they need from your organisation’s records.

Effective accounting is not only the foundation of a sustainable organisation, but ultimately a time saver that will free‐up your time so you can focus on providing your services where they’re needed most.

Article by Vanessa Nolan-Woods, Head of Community Markets at Westpac. Reproduced from the Our Community newsletter.

$250,000 in fuel vouchers to volunteers

As we all reel from the shock of calamities from bushfires to floods to droughts to global economic turmoil, community organisations are becoming more important than ever, providing a safety net, giving people a place to heal, providing help, support, hope, empathy and light relief.
The volunteers that sustain these great community groups need support.

With this in mind, Volunteer Treasurer Network would like to make you aware of a great initiative by BP Australia, "Vouchers for Volunteers" - which opened on Monday, April 27. Through this scheme BP will be providing $250,000 in fuel vouchers to volunteers assisting not-for-profit organisations.

For further information on this offer, please go to http:/www.talkstoppedlongago.com.au/v4v_home.html

Sponsorship is NOT fundraising

As is often said, "money doesn't grow on trees" and sometimes the stress of being a volunteer treasurer comes from not having enough funds to achieve the goals of the organisation. Sponsorship can be the answer.

Sponsorship is not about donations. If you are looking for a donation - ask for it. If you are looking for sponsorship then it is important to understand that successful sponsorships are about understanding and delivering on your sponsors requirements. In most cases they do not share your passion for your cause. Instead they are looking for the commercial outcome resulting from their spend with you - their Return On Investment. 

Therefore, when approaching a sponsor don’t talk in terms of the outcomes their money will have for your organisation. Instead talk about how sponsoring your organisation will help them to achieve their organisational goals. When someone asks the question “Why should we sponsor your organisation?” you need to be able to respond “Because we can help you become more successful/profitable by …”. When communicating with your sponsor always keep in the forefront of your mind “how will this benefit them!!” By making it about them you will be much more successful!

This article was written by Julian Moore and reproduced from the Strategic Membership Solutions free email bulletin. SMS assists associations, charities and other nonprofits to be as successful as possible in generating income, developing and maintaining income streams and managing membership growth. They provide workshops and training and have great resources on their website. Now that you know the difference between a donation and a sponsorship, check our Julian's article on "Tips for approaching prospective sponsors".

Tips for new volunteer treasurers

Petrified or pleased — you’ve just been voted in as a volunteer treasurer at your organisation’s annual general meeting. Whatever you’re feeling, this is your first time and you’re probably wondering, “Now what?”

Well, a little “housekeeping” is your first task. The following three activities are easy, so will help you settle into your new role and build your confidence at the same time.


Arrange a Handover
Schedule coffee with the outgoing treasurer to swap important documents and chat about your role. This includes:

1. Handing over the accounts, cheque books, receipt books, invoices/receipts for purchases, bank statements, budgets, reports and any other relevant documents.
   
2. If your organisation uses accounting software, get a tutorial on how to use it, including passwords.
   
3. Handing over a treasurer’s or financial procedures manual, if your organisation has one. If not, you can create one when you’re more familiar with your role — this will add value to your organisation and future treasurers will breathe a sigh of relief!
   
4. Discuss any unfinished business, such as due bills or income, and any spending commitments or expected income that isn’t in the latest budget.
   
5. Ask questions! This is your chance to discuss any worries, have accounting concepts explained or get trouble-shooting advice. Grab the outgoing treasurer’s contact details for future reference.

Change Bank Signatories
Your organisation probably has a rule that two or three committee members, including yourself as treasurer, must sign, and thus authorise, cheques and bank withdrawal slips. These are called “signatories” and, chances are, you won’t be the only new one — other committee roles probably also changed hands when you were voted in at your annual general meeting. So you need to update your bank’s records of who these people are, which is as simple as picking up a form from any branch and then filling it in. The signatories will probably need to go to the bank with the form and show 100 points of identification too (if they are not already customers of the same bank).

While you’re at the bank, make sure your bank statements are issued monthly and cover the entire month. It sounds strange, but some banks start statements from the date an account was opened, not the beginning of the month. Setting up your statements as we’ve suggested will make doing reconciliations so much easier.

Get Organised
Start as you plan to continue — getting organised now will give you a clear picture of what you’re doing and set the tone for your tenure as treasurer. It will also save many hours of late night hair-tearing and rummaging through a mess of paperwork. Hopefully your predecessor was just as diligent as you’re going to be, which means you can leisurely go through the accounts, checking everything is filed correctly and familiarising yourself with what’s required at the same time. If not … well, hopefully you like filing because you’ve got a bit of work to do!

These tips were extracted from the Volunteer Treasurer Survival Guide and are provided with permission from Admin Bandit.

Meeting your objectives through successful fundraising

Volunteer treasurers are an important part of any committee and if there are insufficient funds to meet the goals of the organisation it can make the job more stressful. This can be overcome by the organisation running successful fundraisers through goal setting.

S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting

Like all successful endeavours, a fundraiser should start by clearly setting its goals. There is nothing like a good goal to help your team focus on the job at hand, and keep the big picture in mind. The most common method for arriving at a goal is to use the SMART technique. That is, a goal should be:

Specific – well defined and clear
Measurable – activity or production should be quantifiable in terms of progress toward the goal
Agreed – all key stakeholders have agreed to the goal, and have some stake in its achievement
Realistic – based on real world estimates and information, and not over-ambitious
Timely – should have a time frame built in.

A well put together goal might read something like:

‘Kindergarten Centre aims to raise $5 000 by 30 June for the construction of new playground equipment’
Or
‘All funds raised from the Club Trivia Night will go toward purchase of new team uniforms’

Without clear goals there could be a lack of understanding among your team as to what you are trying to achieve – which means valuable energy and resources may not be being employed in the most productive way. You will find that your team will also be more cohesive, and experience a greater sense of achievement when your goals are achieved.

This article has been supplied by The Fundraising Directory who provide an A-Z guide to Fundraising Products and Services in Australia.

Budget is not a dirty word

Many of us go about our lives not really having a grip on our finances through drafting a budget and sticking to it. Whilst this isn't the ideal for our personal finances it is not a luxury we can afford when managing the finances of a community organisation. It is not our own money to squander. As a result, it is important to prepare a budget and track the finances of the organisation to it.

We invited Michelle House from Secretbudget to give us the lowdown on the benefits of preparing a budget and how to do it. Here is what she had to say:-

The top 3 benefits for a community organisation to do a budget are...

• You have direction and focus.
• You can apply for grants and other kinds of funding.
• You’re being good stewards of the money from the community in the form of membership fees or hard earned fund raising dollars.

What is a Budget?
A budget is a plan, a goal. It’s a monitoring tool for your finances. Most budgets cover a 12 month period and are broken down into income and expenses. Some software programs have a budget section built in, some use a spreadsheet. When it comes to the end of the first month of operating, have a look at your budget and do a comparison. Determine what was over and what was under or if using a percentage, where the budget is tracking based on when the expenses and income are come in during the year.

Why do a Budget? - My three P’s; Planning – Preparation – Prosperity!!
The idea of doing a budget is so you can see more clearly and plan for the year ahead, it’s a way of thinking ahead, financially. You need to predict your income and expenses for the year to ensure that you are staying above the line and finishing with a profit (or surplus) for your community organisation! It is also a great tool to have on hand for any financial assistance you may need to apply for. It demonstrates that you’re serious and that you have a plan/goal in mind!

When do you do a Budget?
Prepare the budget to present at the first or second meeting you take over as treasurer or the first meeting in the new financial year.

Who prepares the Budget?
I have run businesses since I was 22 and I find that it’s always a great idea to have one person who is accountable for the budget. The treasurer would hold this responsibility but I would base it on discussions with all members of your committee about plans for the year.

How do you do a Budget?

• The first place to start is with your expenses. Gather the previous 12 months bills/invoices.
• Predict income. Use last year’s income and discuss how this will improve.
• Alternatively, use the Statement of Receipts and Exenditure from the previous financial year to give you an idea of how thing ran in the previous year.

With these figures in mind, amend the amounts based on the committee’s plans. Eg. Is there some equipment your club or association needs to purchase? What fund raising are you planning to do?

My best tip – Reduce expenses by 10%, increase income by 10% and you’ll be up 20%!!

Michelle House is bringing up a young family and manages the finances of a family business in property maintenance. She has also become well known as a budgeting expert, thanks to the creation of her practical budgeting tool called the ‘Personal Budget Organiser’, or PBO. The PBO works as a portable filing system within a wallet – perfect for organising money, receipts, or anything that will help you budget. Teaming her product with a useful website, http://www.secretbudget.net/, Michelle hopes to inspire Australians to ‘get back to basics’ with their understanding of expenditure and money.