Artsupport Australia May 2008 newsletter

Queensland manager

Artsupport Australia is delighted to announce the appointment of Kathy Davis in the role of Queensland manager. This brings the total number of the Artsupport Australia team to six including director Louise Walsh and managers in Western Australia (Liesbeth Goedhart) and Northern Territory (Gillian Harrison) delivering ongoing services to arts organisations, philanthropists and foundations across Australia.

Kathy Davis commenced on 31 March.  Kathy comes with a strong record of fundraising for several not-for-profits, and is among the first graduates of Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Philanthropy and Non-Profit Studies, with whom she remains closely allied.

Kathy’s position is co-funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Queensland Government. She is based at the Arts Queensland office and can be contacted on k.davis@australiacouncil.gov.au or (Tel) 07 3235 4023.

Sector updates

Foster’s Community Grants Program

Foster’s has awarded a total of $2 million for 70 grants over the last two years to Australian and US charities. With a focus on wellness, culture and the environment, the next grant round closes on 23 May, with decisions made at the end of September.
More information here.

Good Giving Guide

This new Australian publication brings together information on fundraising, finance and philanthropy from credible sources about individual and business giving, with detailed case studies of over 100 Australian charities. Written by Lyn Amy and Mary Pearce for Penguin Group (Australia), it provides useful tips and strategies for how to give, and how to receive philanthropic support.  

The guide was launched at the Givewell Good Giving Guide Charity Awards on 30 April, which this year included Accessible Arts as a finalist for their Accessible Cinema project.

Givewell provides a comprehensive research service for informed giving (and was one of the sources of information for the Guide), researching the not for profit sector and new strategies for giving.
More information about the Good Giving Guide and Givewell can be found at www.givewell.com.au

AbaF has released its first Survey of Private Sector Support for the Arts, revealing the current state of business-arts sponsorships and donations. Sourced from 228 organisations nationally the survey provides a snapshot of the private funding landscape in Australia. The full survey will be released in June.
A summary of the findings is available here.

ShareGift Australia

This not for profit organisation facilitates the tax effective donation of small parcels of shares to eligible not-for-profit organisations (deductible gift recipients). Based on the successful UK institution of the same core name that has been running since 1996, ShareGift Australia now offers this clever initiative in Australia. It incurs no brokerage fees and helps not-for-profits manage this new donation stream. ShareGift Australia is a useful option that allows anyone cleaning up their share portfolios to nominate a beneficiary.
More information here.

Private Giving for the Public Good

A recent UK campaign known as the Private Giving for the Public Good was launched to encourage private giving in the cultural sector. Led by the National Museum Directors’ Conference, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and Arts Council England with support from Philanthropy UK, the campaign is designed to encourage new generations of philanthropists into the cultural space.
A detailed document outlining the aims of the campaign and suggested strategies is available here.

Board performance of mid-size non profits evaluated

The Urban Institute’s (US) national survey of nonprofit governance of 1,862 organisations reveals that a substantial percentage of CEOs are frustrated with their board’s performance in fundraising and 60% in self-assesment.
The 12-page report is here.  

The inaugural PricewaterhouseCoopers Transparency Awards

PricewaterhouseCoopers in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants recently announced the inaugural winner of their new Transparency Awards. The awards were established to encourage best-practice in reporting across the not-for-profit sector. This year’s winner was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for its clear and accessible reporting. The annual awards will be run again next year.
More information here.

Sector events and opportunities

Madison Down Under 2008

An annual intensive four day residential program for professional fundraisers will again be held at Sunset Cove Resort, South Australia on 9-12 August. Organised by the Fundraising Institute of Australia, attendees select one of six tracks as a focus (e.g. major gift and capital fundraising) and have the benefit of exposure to the other tracks and attendees throughout. Artsupport Australia’s coordinator, Ivana Jirasek attended last year and can be contacted on (tel) 02 9215 9315 for those wanting to find out more. Artsupport Australia's Queensland manager Kathy Davis will be attending this year.
More information on the program here.

Social Ventures Australia courses

Social Ventues Australia run regular courses for not for profit leaders and managers on topics such as financial management, funding strategy and board development (new) planning and evaluation (new) and organisation building and growth (new). Programs are held in selected capital cities, with the next being held in Melbourne at the end of May, Sydney in late July, and Brisbane in August.
More information here.

Karen Osborne – Asking Strategic Questions

US fundraising leader and international presenter, Karen Osborne, provides invaluable practical tips for not-for-profits in preparation for their philanthropic engagement. Karen is an internationally recognised major gift fundraising expert. Artsupport Australia director Louise Walsh has heard Karen speak on a few occasions.
More information can be found on Karen Osborne's website here.

Free Corporate Data Base

The NonProfit Times and US search engine nozasearch are providing a free corporate data base for Australian charities with information about what multinationals are giving away. This is a free service.
More information www.nozasearch.com

Donortec

Donortec is a partnership that aims to empower community organisations by offering information technology and hardware at heavily discounted rates with the support of Microsoft and Cisco. More than $17 million software was distributed to Australian not-for-profits in 2007, and more than 2000 eligible organisations are now registered with the program.
More information www.donortec.com.au

Artsupport Australia events

2008 Artsupport Australia annual masterclasses & seminars

This year’s topic is Effective Evaluation and we will confirm the final details for these events in July. The events will be held in November and as in previous years, will take place in Sydney and Melbourne.

Australian Business Arts Foundation events

Margaret Lawrence Bequest National Lectures - "A fresh perspective on arts philanthropy"

This free 2008 lecture hosted by the Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF) will next be presented by a much respected fundraising consultant, Frankie Airey in the following cities:

Darwin
Wednesday 2 July  6-7:30pm     National Australia Bank Boardroom, 71 Smith Street

Perth
Wednesday 23 July 6-7:30pm    Level 36, QV1 Building, 250 St Georges Terrace

Frankie mentors the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Dance Company for Artsupport Australia's major performing arts board philanthropy mentoring program.
More information here.

AbaF Board Development workshop

AbaF’s next all-day workshops for board members and senior managers will be held in Melbourne on 26 May, Brisbane 3 June and Hobart on 17 June.
More information here.

Australia Cultural Fund information session

AbaF’s next free session introducing the role that the Australian Cultural Fund can play for donors and arts organisations and artists that do not have deductible recipient status. 

Adelaide
Tuesday 27 May  9:30am - 11:30am  SA Writers Centre, Rundle Street.

Contacting Artsupport Australia

For any further information or ideas that you want to relay, please contact us;

Louise Walsh director

Ivana Jirasek coordinator

Gillian Harrison Northern Territory manager

Kathy Davis Queensland manager