The book was published on 20th January 2021 and is now available for purchase through Amazon.

The book covers the Building and running of Community Organisations from that time when an embryo of an idea is sparked in someone’s mind.  From there is builds to a few more and then a group of people.  Without a planned structure, any organisation, or business for that matter, is doomed to failure.  It may be a slow death, but a death nevertheless.

With the downturn in volunteering these days, according to census figures, it is even more important that Community Organisations are properly managed.  Once upon a time, people would start out in organisations like Scouts at a young age and progress to other groups where they learned the fundamentals of meeting procedure and running an organisation.  Nowadays, many people are coming to volunteering and Community Organisations later in life without these foundation skills.

IMPORTANT FACT

Any Community Organisation or business, without good leadership, good systems and procedures, combined with great communication, plus a dynamic vision for what it is setting out to do will over time lose members and die.

In this book, we cover:-

• PREFACE I
• COPYRIGHT II
• DISCLAIMER II
• RESOURCES III
• TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
• WHY COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS 1
• WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH VOLUNTEERING? 3
• SETTING UP 5
• ABN 5
• VISION STATEMENT 7
• YOUR MISSION STATEMENT 9
• YOUR PURPOSE STATEMENT 10
• YOUR RULES OR CONSTITUTION 12
  • Why Change the Rules? 12
• EXECUTIVE & COMMITTEE 14
  • The Committee 15
• AUSTRALIAN CHARITABLE & NOT FOR PROFITS COMMISSION (ACNC) 17
  • What Is a Charity? 18
• DEDUCTIBLE GIFT RECIPIENT (DGR) STATUS 19
  • Applying for DGR Status 20
• RECORDS 21
  • Safekeeping of Records 22
  • Software 22
  • Backup Options 23
• ACCOUNTING 25
  • Accounting for Larger Organisations 26
  • Accounting for Grants 27
• POSITIONS 31
  • President 32
  • Vice President 33
  • Secretary 33
  • Treasurer 34
  • Committee Positions 36
  • Co-opting Committee Members 37
  • Sub Committees 37
  • Other Committee Positions 38
  • Membership 38
  • Publicity/Public Relations Officer 39
  • Safety Officer 39
• MEMBERSHIP 41
  • What’s In It For Me? 42
  • Organisation Values 43
  • Implicit Values 46
  • Membership Inductions 47
  • Member Milestones 48
• MEETINGS 49
  • Meeting Types 49
• MEETING AGENDAS 55
• MEETING PROCEDURE 57
  • Speakers 58
  • Negative Motions 58
  • Process of Motion Discussion 58
  • Proxies 62
• MINUTES 63
• COMMUNICATIONS 64
  • Email 66
  • Setting Up Your Google Account 67
  • Forwarding Emails 67
  • Sending Emails 68
  • Websites and Social Media 71
• GRANTS 76
• SUMMARY 78
  • Setting Up 78
  • Operations 79
  • Meetings 80
  • Minutes 80
  • Communications 81
  • Grants 81
  • Conclusion 81
• RESOURCES 82
  • Software 82
  • Business & Organisation Name Search 83
• STATE AND TERRITORY GUIDES TO INCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS 84
• WORK WITH ME 86
  • What Can You Do? 86
  • What Can I Do? 86
• AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY – RIC RAFTIS 88
• DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS? 90

It’s a comprehensive look at every aspect of Community Organisations and provides a valuable ongoing reference.  Keep it on your iPad or phone for ease of use.

The book is available on Kindle.  You don’t need a Kindle to read the book. You can download the app to read Kindle books for any operating system be it desktop, tablet or phone.  Simply follow this link and select your operating system.