Passion is not enough to keep the burgeoning number of non-profit organisations on track for success, a Canberra-raised global strategist says. Liana Downey, a New York strategic consultant and author who was once the Braddon Pizza Hut's first "delivery girl", said not-for-profits needed a clear focus and to do their homework to avoid failed models. "There is a lot of research which says the more goals you take on the less likely you are to achieve them," she said.

A former special strategic adviser to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ms Downey has returned to Australia to promote her new book Mission Control, in which she said measuring impacts, not just inputs, was crucial to avoiding well-intentioned agendas becoming ineffective or harmful. She pointed to a successful US government strategy to encourage people to shift to low-fat milk, based on a supposed correlation between whole-fat dairy consumption and heart disease. The change in behaviour was massive, but there was no lowering in heart disease rates, she said.

"The research suggested that we see more intensive heart disease where they have lower milk fats," she said. JBWere's recent Cause Report showed there were nearly 57,000 not-for-profits in Australia, twice as many as 20 years ago. Australian charities also faced significant donor funding challenges, with individual giving as a percentage of GDP at 0.23 per cent, compared to 1.44 per cent in the US, the report found. Ms Downey said pressures to deviate from a core focus, such as to attract research funding, were understandable but could slow achievement. But Australia had a proven track-record for delivering successful public awareness campaigns.

"Australia has really been seen as absolutely world leading – [on] skin cancer, cigarette abatement policies – and that's come from Canberra," she said. Ms Downey led international consulting firm McKinsey & Company's Australian government and social-sector practices before moving to the United States in 2011. Her work has included helping the New York City education department shift their measure of success from graduation rates to university and job readiness.

This article was originally sourced from The Canberra Times and written by Matthew Raggatt. 

Information for charities and the public about maintaining and spending reserves This fact sheet covers:

• What reserves are and where they come from
  
• Why it is important to have reserves
  
• Appropriate levels of reserves
  
• Who has responsibility for reserves
  

Reserves play an important role in the financial stability and long-term sustainability of a charity.  Managing reserves is an important aspect of the overall financial management of a charity – a crucial element of good charity governance. In line with good governance and proper risk management, a charity’s responsible persons (i.e., its board, committee, or governing body) should consider an appropriate level of reserves for its circumstances, as well as a strategy for building or spending its reserves in a way that is consistent with its purpose.

The purpose of this fact sheet is to provide general guidance on reserves for charities: what reserves are, why they might be needed, and how charities can determine an appropriate level of reserves.  This fact sheet is not relevant for grant-making charitable trusts and foundations that manage a corpus.

For full fact sheet, click here. 

In 2016 Women & Leadership Australia (WLA) is administering a multi-national initiative to support the development of female leaders throughout the not-for-profit sector. The initiative is providing women in the not-for-profit sector with grants for leadership development. More specifically, grant applications are open for women at three levels. Please click on the preferred program link for details. The deadline for expressing your interest for this funding in your sector ends on December 22nd.

1. Senior management and executive level women leaders can apply for $8,000 part-scholarships to undertake the Advanced Leadership Program

2. Mid-level female managers and leaders can apply for $4,000 part-scholarships to undertake the Executive Ready Program

3. Aspiring talent and emerging women managers can apply for $3,000 part-scholarships to undertake the Accelerated Leadership Performance Program.

Expressions of Interest

Register your interest by simply completing an Expression of Interest form.

Should you wish to discuss the initiative in more detail please contact Alistair Young at the office of the National Industry Scholarship Program, WLA on (03) 9270 9032 or via ayoung@wla.edu.au.

Fitness Australia has today announced the formation of the Australian Fitness Industry Standards Council – an entity that will help to advance and elevate Australia’s fitness industry.

The newly‐formed council will seek to – among other things – develop, manage, promote and review a suite of standards, codes, guidance materials and other documents to assist the fitness industry to manage safety and improve service quality.

Comprised of ten members appointed in October 2016, the council boasts a unique and diverse range of experts who will contribute to the future positive direction of the fitness industry.

Three of the council members represent academia, with experience in the fitness industry and in a relevant discipline (sports or exercise science, business, law), while another three are experienced industry practitioners. There is an additional three external members, including a representative of consumers, a representative of education providers, and a person with experience in accreditation systems.

The members of the Australian Fitness Industry Standards Council are:

Professor Patrick Keyzer(Chairman), Law Academic

Professor Kevin Norton, Exercise Science Academic

Professor Elisabeth Wilson‐Evered, Business Academic

Mr Max Martin, Experienced Industry Practitioner

Mr Michael Cunico, Experienced Industry Practitioner

Mr Gavin Aquilina, Experienced Industry Practitioner

Ms Maxine Cooper, Consumer Representative

Dr Melissa Arkinstall, Education Representative

Associate Professor Michael Greco, Accreditation Expert

Mr Craig Knox, Executive Officer & Secretary

The objectives of the Council are to:

• Develop, manage, promote and review a suite of standards, codes, guidance materials and
  
• other documents to assist the fitness industry to manage safety and improve service quality;
  
• Develop, manage, promote and review a suite of standards, codes, guidance materials and
  
• other documents to assist the fitness industry to support Fitness Australia’s registration and
  
• accreditation programs;
  
• Develop a risk management model and a program of total quality management for the
  
• Australian fitness industry that is based on data and other inputs that will help drive safety
  
• improvements by guiding prioritisation of standards development and regulatory activity;
  
• Provide independent technical advice to Fitness Australia staff, the Board and the public; and
• Undertake initiatives to support Fitness Australia’s role as the peak body in the self regulatory
  
• model of fitness service provision in Australia.
  

Fitness Australia CEO, Bill Moore is excited by the opportunities to affect positive change and direction in the industry with the guidance of the newly‐formed council.

“This is an exciting time for our industry, and when you can attract the quality of members that we now have on The Council, it’s cause for even more excitement,” said Moore.

“This is an initiative designed not just to provide standards, as the name might suggest, it’s really a chance for some of the brightest minds in the industry and in a number of different specialist fields to get together, discuss, plan and project on where the industry is headed.

“We’re part of an ever‐evolving industry and the formation of this council is a step towards reflecting that even further.”

Stay tuned to fitness.org.au for updates from the newly‐formed Standards Council as they come to hand.

For more contact:

Angela Palogiannidis, PR and Communications Manager, Fitness Australia

D: 02 8036 0608 M: 0405 106 360 angela@fitness.org.au

About Fitness Australia:

Fitness Australia is the peak health and fitness industry association, providing a range of support services and solutions to almost 30,000 registered exercise professionals, fitness service providers and industry suppliers Australia‐wide

AuSAE has welcomed new members from the following organisations this month.

Is your organisation on this list? If your organisation is on this list as an AuSAE organisational member but you are unsure if you are part of the membership bundle, please contact the friendly AuSAE team at info@ausae.org.au.

Not on this list? To join AuSAE today please visit our membership information page here.

How did you first become involved with Audiology Australia and can you tell us a bit about Audiology Australia and the goals they strive to achieve?

Audiology Australia is the peak body representing over 95% of audiologists in Australia. Audiologists work with clients to help them to preserve, manage and improve their hearing, their ability to process and understand sounds, and their balance.

Audiologists help clients of all ages - from infants to older adults - and clients with complex needs improve their ability to communicate and interact in all situations.

I started with Audiology Australia in June 2016 as their Marketing and Events Manager. This newly created role was established to ensure the association fulfils its objectives outlined in its 2015-2018 strategic plan.

The strategic plan is built around four pillars;

• Education
• Engagement
• Advocacy and
• Professionalism

A major focus of my role is managing the delivery of initiatives under the two pillars education and engagement.

What do you personally feel has been the biggest challenge that Audiology Australia has overcome in your time with the organisation?

Like many national associations, Audiology Australia’s membership is spread across Australia but a majority in New South Wales and Victoria. A membership survey conducted in early 2016 highlighted the need for more varied CPD activities with a focus on online initiatives to support our regional members.

In the last six months, we have managed to launch a Member Value Webinar Series, exclusively and complimentary for members of Audiology Australia. This has been very well received with webinars selling out within 72 hours.

Just 10 days ago, we tested a hybrid event, where we live streamed select sessions from our WA Chapter Conference. Feedback being positive from this experiment now has given us the momentum to look at other hybrid events in the future.

How does the future look for Audiology Australia and what exciting projects are underway at Audiology Australia?

The next 12 months are going to be extremely exciting for us at Audiology Australia.

We are looking to implement a new integrated association management system. We have conducted a detailed review of all internal process with a view to identify business areas which are resource intensive and how we could improve the overall experience for members when interacting with us.

Due to the diverse and complex nature of Audiology Australia’s business requirements, finding a single solution that can meet all our requirements has been challenging. While no final direction or decision has been made on a technology solution, one of the areas of this project I am enjoying is evaluating how mainstream CRM used by commercial organisations can be tweaked to work for an association. Also, we are examining the viability of using “best-of-breed” technology solutions for different business areas (dedicated events software for events, dedicated marketing automation software for marketing and communication etc.) while ensuring these systems all connect with our key membership database so we have a centralised single source of truth for all our stakeholders.

Simultaneously, another key area we are working on at Audiology Australia is regulation of Audiology in Australia. There are currently two types of regulation of health professions that are recognised by the Australian Government:

1. Regulation under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) through registration with an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Board.

2. Regulation through clinical certification by a professional body that implements a “self-regulatory” model (i.e. non-Government regulated).

Audiology Australia does not meet the necessary requirements to be registered by AHPRA. Therefore, we are striving towards meeting the rigorous standards required for membership in the National Alliance of Self-Regulating Health Professions (NASRHP) and aims to meet the requirements by June 2017.

What would you say to someone starting out in the not-for-profit sector with a view to become a future leader?

Being an association professional was never a strategically planned career path I envisioned during my university days or in the early stages of my professional life. From having accepted a “job” 6 years ago, I now feel excited and proud to say I am an association professional.

Reflecting on my early years in the sector, I think one of the biggest learning curves which anyone new to the not-for-profit sector would face is working with volunteer members. Understanding the motivators of a range of individual members and learning how to channel this to ensure that the overall organisational goals are met would be one of the key factors to facilitate long term success in this industry.

Savio D’sa

Audiology Australia

www.audiology.asn.au

Kuching! Ever heard of it? It’s in Borneo, Malaysia and is one of only two places in the world where Orangutans hang out. It also recently hosted the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) World Congress.

I was honoured to be invited as one of 20 Association Executives to attend the congress this year. It was the first time Associations had been purposefully integrated into the event and program so I was keen to understand more about ICCA and their motivation for having us there.

Most membership organisations run meetings, conferences and/or exhibitions. The attendees at the ICCA World Congress are essentially suppliers to the conference and events industry (e.g. convention bureaus, conference facilities and conference organisers). So, getting both parties (Associations and suppliers) into the room resulted in some great discussions and debates. 

“Associations on Fire” was the title of the session I was a panel member for. Our panel of Association Executives received challenging questions from attendees, some of which had clearly had a bad experience with an Association. The key take out from this session was there needs to be better communication between Associations and the event industry to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes. We need to understand their drivers and outcomes, just as much as they need to better understand our challenges, motivations and success factors. It was the start of what I am sure will be an ongoing and beneficial dialogue. Watch a short video here. 

As the Association for conference and congress professionals, you’d think ICCA would know a thing or two about running a good one. They did. And I came away with plenty of insights, ideas and connections which will be infused into our future events. Let me know if you want specifics.

One of the best things about being in Kuching was actually hanging out with Orangutans and getting my hands dirty cleaning cages, preparing food and hand feeding them as part of the Heart to Heart program. It was simply amazing.

Finally, my sincere thanks to everyone who has renewed AuSAE membership for 2017. Your ongoing/support is very much appreciated and every day the AuSAE team strive to deliver value and benefits to our community. Watch out for more great things to come in 2017 as AuSAE goes from strength to strength.

Brendon Ward

Chief Executive Officer

Australasian Society of Association Executives

The Auckland Kindergarten Association has applauded the Government’s decision to consult on its update of the early childhood education curriculum, ‘Te Whariki’.

Association CEO Tanya Harvey said today (04 November) there was ‘deep affection’ for the existing curriculum. And she and others in the early childhood education sector ‘appreciate and applaud’ the Minister’s decision to consult more widely on how it was to be changed.

Ms Harvey said the curriculum update had been undertaken so far by seven government-appointed ‘writers’, and was set to modify the way children were taught in early childhood education services throughout New Zealand.

She said it was ‘a tricky job’ to refresh the 20-year-old curriculum for a new generation whilst retaining the ‘spirit and essence’ of the old document, and it was ‘a very good idea to ask those working in the early childhood education sector to help achieve this’.

Ms Harvey said government was seeking to update educational content, review learning outcomes and how they were assessed, create links between the early childhood and primary school curricula, and strengthen advice on curriculum implementation.

The review seemed to be ‘on track to produce something that would work well for everyone’, but it was likely that input from the sector would make it even better, Ms Harvey said.

The Auckland Kindergarten Association was founded in 1908, and is the largest kindergarten association in New Zealand. It runs 107 kindergartens, four KiNZ early learning daycare centres (with a fifth set to open in Orewa), and five play groups. It cares for more than 8500 children a year.

This press release was originally sourced from Scoop.

Representatives from the Restaurant Association of New Zealand, the leading industry organisation for restaurants, cafes and other members of the hospitality sector have travelled to Kaikoura today to offer support to local businesses through a pop-up advisory office in the region.

The Association is offering ongoing help and advice to members and the wider hospitality community covering what they need to be thinking about in the aftermath of last week’s earthquakes and how they can work through any challenges that may lay ahead.

CEO Marisa Bidois says the Restaurant Association wants to help wherever it can.

“Our members have banded together to assist their fellow hospitality professionals and so many have come forward to offer their support to those in need. We want the industry to know that the Association is here to assist. Our knowledge of the industry and learnings from the Christchurch earthquakes can provide valuable insights for restaurateurs and café owners in Kaikoura.”

Christchurch restaurateur and member of the Association, Michael Turner joined the trip to Kaikoura. He has first-hand experience of rebuilding a business after an earthquake.

Michael Turner says, “Having rebuilt my business after the Christchurch earthquakes I know how helpful it is to hear from people who have had a similar experience.”

Restaurant Association Canterbury Branch President Sam Crofsky will also travel to Kaikoura alongside Turner and Bidois.

The Association was approached by the Marlborough Food and Health Board to make the journey to Kaikoura.

This Media Release was originally sourced from Scoop. 

The AFL has cautiously entered into a new one-year deal with the AFL Coaches' Association with a view to the industry body becoming less financially reliant on the league in future.

With the AFL and the players still significantly apart in their pay dispute, football boss Mark Evans and AFLCA chief Mark Brayshaw on Tuesday agreed on a short-term agreement for 2017, which is worth about $900,000.

The previous deal struck between Andrew Demetriou and Brayshaw's predecessor, Danny Frawley, ran for five years.

The AFL grant – the same amount as 2016 – has come with new conditions from Evans who has called upon the coaches to reshape their so-called "growing the game appearances" to work more closely with the AFL's game development strategies.

Brayshaw said the coaches had embraced the new agreement.

"Our members have said they'd like to do more for game development," he said.

"We've already moved our Sydney-based coaches into school programs and we're looking to do more in terms of multicultural development, working with academies, pathway coaches and mentoring programs."

Under the AFL grant the 18 senior coaches each receive $3750 annually for professional development while about 160 assistant coaches are granted about $1000.

The AFL deal also funds Brayshaw and his team to mentor coaches, help develop the recently introduced level four program and oversee their rules discussions and agreements with broadcasters and AFL Media.

The coaches association underwent a facelift in 2014 when Alastair Clarkson orchestrated something of a coup installing Brayshaw and reshaping the AFLCA board.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has worked to improve the coaches' relationship with head office and include the coaches in semi-regular discussions and debates over rules and game style.

The senior coaches and club chief executives will dine together in Sydney on Thursday night on the eve of the 2016 national draft with the coaches coming together the following day to discuss any potential amendments to the laws of the game.

This article was originally sourced from SMH.