Update to Building Community Organisations
My book “Building Community Organisations” was published in January of 2021 and it’s time for a review of the content and updates where necessary. The intention is to revisit the book in its entirety and make everything as current as possible. What Do You Want Included? One of the best ways to improve the content, […]
How Much Money is in Your Community Organisation’s Bank Account?
Over the years, I have had the experience of watching many members of community organisations demonstrate great glee during meetings when the Treasurer’s report is given. The reason for their glee is the balance of the organisation’s bank account. The challenge here for community organisations is to reflect on their purpose as defined in their […]
How To Protect Your Facebook Business Page or Group
It is not unusual these days to hear stories of Facebook accounts being hacked or Facebook closing them down for one reason or another. On a number of occasions, the closure or banning of accounts is actually no fault of the user, but perhaps a hacker. When this happens, it can end up in the […]
Are Communities Starting to Engage?
The Federal Election on 21 May saw a groundswell of people repudiating the Coalition Government’s policies and disregard for community values. The policy platform on which the Coalition campaigned spoke very little of Climate Change and yet this was the most important issue according to the polls. It is interesting that the ABC Vote Compass […]
Belief and Conviction
In any community organisation, you are usually involved in inspiring, growing and transforming your community. You may have projects you are working on using grants or funding from the community itself. Whatever you are adopting as a project, you absolutely must have Belief and Conviction in its success. Community organisations are those initiators that plant […]
How To Write Successful Grant Proposals
Writing grant proposals seems to strike fear into the heart of many volunteers and community organisations. However, if you can overcome your fear and approach it as a system, you will probably find that it isn’t as scary as you thought. All grant proposals are based on simply filling out a form, so it’s not […]
Step 5 – Measure the Results
The famous management consultant Peter Drucker reputedly said that “You can’t manage what you can’t measure”. Although I would partially agree with the statement as a basis for discussion, it is a fact that you can’t necessarily measure everything. When it comes to implementing solutions in your organisation, you may not have the systems to […]
Step 4 – Implement the Solution
The next step in the problem solving process is to implement the solution. Implementation can be somewhat daunting as it will involve change. People resist change because the status quo is their self-identity. Change means that it is challenged and needs to be modified. For some, this is more difficult than others. However, it is […]
Step 3 – Pick the Best Solution
Any form of management, whether in a business or community organisation environment, is always about options. If you don’t have several options, you are stuck with one path. That may well end up being the path to hell and put you in a worse position than when you started. However, you are now in a […]
Step 2 – Identify Several Solutions
Now you have been through the process of analysing and identifying the actual problem or opportunity. As a result, you may well have identified several problems and not just the one you thought you had in the first place. Don’t be concerned if this is the case. It isn’t uncommon to unearth several problems due […]
Step 1 – Identify the Opportunity
So, you have a problem, I mean “opportunity” for your community organisation. The first step is actually to identify the challenge you need to resolve. This is not as easy as it may appear at face value. Members can often bring attention to a particular problem they believe is an issue, but it must be […]
Turning A Problem into a Opportunity
Turning a problem into an opportunity and then a solution is a skill that many organisations would welcome. However, like the business world, community organisations are not immune to facing problems from time to time. These can be anything from minor organisational issues to significant issues threatening the organisation’s future viability. Community Organisations, however, do […]
Are You Sure You Have A Quorum?
It’s the night of the meeting, but are you sure you have a quorum? When reviewing the content of my book on Community Organisations for updates, I recently came across a rather startling fact. It seems that the Victorian Model Rules are fascinating when it comes to a quorum for a General Meeting. The Victorian […]
Using Feedback to Improve Your Organisation
In this article, I will be discussing using feedback to improve your organisation. Unfortunately, feedback is an issue that is not always handled exceptionally well in the corporate world, let alone in community organisations amongst volunteers. I recently spoke with someone about a meeting they attended in their capacity as a member of a community […]
Institute of Community Directors Australia
The ICDA is a very worthwhile body to consider if you are in the volunteer area of community organisations. The other organisation that is well known in Australia is the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD). So what’s the difference you may ask. The ICDA is focused on people who are Directors of Not For […]
Why You Should Record Volunteer Hours
All Community Organisations should record volunteer hours. There are several very good reasons for doing this. One that is often overlooked is the value of time contributed by volunteers for the purposes of a grant. When making a grant application for a community project, get your members to record volunteer hours worked. These can then […]
International Women’s Day 2021
It’s International Women’s Day 2021 and we are again seeing the usual comments regarding women in every area. Community Organisations are just as relevant as the workplace. It’s ridiculous to think in this day and age that women are not competent enough to serve at all levels of a Community Organisation. On this International Women’s […]
Don’t Call Yourself a Non Profit
Every now and again one has one of those “aha” moments. Listening to this video about “Don’t Call Yourself a Non Profit” was one of those moments. Being a person who always tries to be aware of language and communication, this video telling us “Don’t Call Yourself a Non Profit”, states what is so obvious […]
Organising An Electronic Petition
Organising a petition is a great way of creating change within your community. Petitions can be made to businesses and various levels of government in order to initiate change. The value of a petition is that it demonstrates the feeling within a community regarding a particular issue. When organising a petition, you need to be […]
Reading Kindle Books
Reading Kindle books isn’t a challenge on any system. I was surprised the other day to find out that some people aren’t aware that they can read Kindle books on any device. Although there is certainly such a thing as a Kindle tablet reader, they aren’t necessary. There is software available for all operating systems […]
What’s In It For Me?
In life, “What’s In It For Me?”, or WIIFM as it is often known, is a constant questions. Salespeople are always looking for the solution their product will provide to their customer. Likewise, community organisations need to look at prospective members to determine what it is that the organisation can offer the person. Some prospective […]