The Our Community Channel

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The Our Community Channel
Rhonda Galbally CEO www.ourcommunity.com.au
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The community sector is the lifeblood of
Victoria
The new century needs community organisations,
programs and events for every stage of life.
Without this, societies will not be able to
bridge the enormous change and transitions in
society.
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The Values Base
Only Community-Control Works
Community management and consumer control are the
only approaches that work to promote the
wellbeing of people. top down and
information approaches simply dont
work. (Professor Len Syme, University of
California,Berkeley)
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The Values Base
Joining Community Organisations and Health
Harvard School of Public Health
1.Essential for the health and well being of
communities2. Essential for the health and
wellbeing of individuals3. Better for your
health to join a community group than giving up
smoking and eating less fat4. .and you should
also give up smoking and eat less fat and join a
community group
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Our CommunitySocial Investment for
Sustainability of Support to Community

• Investment recruits the commercial sector
• into ongoing support for community
• 2. The Investors engage in a realistic way- the
  return cross subsidises low prices and free
• products and services
• 3. The model is sustainable

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The Our Community Channel

• The Funding Centre grants, fundraising and
  donations online, assisting with reengineering
• The National Community Giving Centre
• The Membership CentreHow to find members
• The Management Centre How to operate effectively
• The Community Marketplace Good value supplies
• The Finance Centre Finances and Banking
• The Insurance Centre insurance
• Techcommunity Ecommerce applications
• The Learning Centre Impact Learning network
• The Advocacy CentreAdvocacy by Our Community and
  community groups

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Our Community Helping Community find funds
Grants 5000 dynamic grants
Grants provide community organisations of all
sizes with opportunities to be creative and
innovative ..as well as limp on
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Our Community places grant makingwithin a
fundraising context

• 75 of all funds raised comes
• from individuals donations
• and bequests and not from grants
• Few community-controlled groups have an
  integrated fundraising strategy

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Grant making needs to be part of an total
fundraising strategy
The Raising Funds Newsletter Strategy and
methods. Grants within the context
of individual donations and bequests events
fetes, festivals sponsorships and marketing
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ICT allows fundraising, including access to
grants, to be democratised
The Raising Funds newsletter

• Small community groups can now
• raise funds from individual donors
• Data base
• enewsletters
• Donations and bequests

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The Easy Grants Newsletter
Grant Making and Equitable Access

• Information, advice and training for grant
  seeking
• Comprehensive - every grant in Australia,
• In time,
• Backend template support,
• Online and offline training,
• AFFORDABLE

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Advocating for improvement in grant making
Grant making needs customers and customer service

• The biggest problem is to ensure
• That people administering grants treat
  applicants with respect
• 2. and provide quality support.
• Without applicants there are no granting
• programs.

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The Grant-makers Role
Feedback from non-profit groups on government
grant making process

• Be more explicit so that applicants
• dont waste time and energy applying
• for grants when there is no hope
• Explicit overview
• Explicit in average size/amount of grants
• Explicit examples of examples of previous grant
  winners

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The Grant-makers Role
Feedback from grant applicants/customers

• Advertise in time to give at least
• eight weeks for applications
• 2. Respond to all applications
• 3. Answer all phone and email inquiries
• 4. Ensure that call centre answers are
• of a high quality

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The Grant-makers Role
Feedback from grant applicants/customers

• Guidelines should be upfront -
• not hidden on a web page
• 2. User friendly web addresses -
• Online applications need to be backed
• up with paper for smaller community groups

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Grant making democratising access
The Grant-makers Role

• A common application form
• Simple and easy to apply
• 3. Online and offline until ICT usage
• is universal
• 4. Access to decision makers
• same access for all groups

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The Grant-makers Role
and more
No guidelines on web. No links to
guidelines.   The guidelines are on the web
but unless you know the exact address
..they can't be found
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The Grant-makers Role
Confusion which guidelines old or new???

• Old guidelines are left on the web
• very misleading, particularly when
• ..the new guidelines are at a different web
  address!!!!!!!

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The Grant-makers Role
Email, post or both???
Under and over reliant on email and the web. 
Can only send guidelines in mail
or Can
only send guidelines by email. 
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The Grant-makers Role
User unfriendly Web Addresses
An example of a less that user friendly web
address from the Innovation access program,
their web address is http//www.ausindustry.gov.a
u/ content/level3index.cfm? ObjectIDFF8B3D39-D9CF
-48C7- A66EB3C0671C8CA4L2 ParentE035FC85-BA61-4B
D9 -B63C55EB01839B8C
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The Grant-makers Role
No information in Guidelines About What the
Awards Are About
Students must be nominated for entry in the NSW
Training Awards. Their nominations will be
assessed on information submitted by both the
student and their nominator. Official nomination
forms outlining eligibility and detailed
selection criteria are available by post or
online. Students may only be nominated for one
Award. Students in all categories must be
undertaking or have completed an accredited
vocational program delivered by Registered
Training Organisations.
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The Grant-makers Role
Does one size of expectations for grant
acquittals fit all?

• Small sized grants require different expectations
  of
• Accountability
• Evaluation
• Recognition of granting body
• ( although research from HealthWay
• Says that small provide better value)

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The Grant-makers Role
.. and is there any feedback?
Applicant I didnt win the grant- how do I
improve next time? Grant maker, We dont
answer the phone so how can you expect us to
give you feedback?
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The Grant-makers Role
Fairness in grant making

• A common application form
• Simple and easy to apply
• 3. Online and offline until ICT usage
• is universal
• 4. Access to decision makers
• same access for all groups

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.. and after the grant has been given- so what?
Grant making and Learning

• Passing on strategic knowledge- what works, what
  doesnt and why
• Enlarging the impact of pilot grants
• Community organisations become learning centres

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Support for government grant- making from Our
Community

• Re engineering of grant making systems
• Backend administration, (from classification
• and research through to recommendation)
• Distribution and Marketing to broaden
  participation and impact
• Monitoring, impact and evaluation systems
• Learning networks between grant recipients

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Social investment for the Community

• Facilitate sustainable,(affordable and free)
  products, services and support.
• Attract new private funds to strengthen
• community organisations.
• 3. Rigorous and sustainable business model for
  overall sustainability.
• 4. Ongoing and expanding models without
  dependence on government funding

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Our Community A Social Investment Model for
Stronger Communities
Helping communities become viable,
sustainable .and reinvent themselves for the
twenty-first century