ADAPE is pleased to announce a new corporate partnership with Dakin Mayers & Associates.

Dakin Mayers & Associates Pty Ltd has a reputation for specialist expertise, knowledge and alignment with the Education, Philanthropy and Community Sectors.   For almost 20 years, the firm has been fulfilling its motto of ‘making your people our priority’.  Dakin Mayers' well-tested methodologies for both Advertised Recruitment and Executive Search has found and placed quality candidates for clients over many years in Advancement, Development, Fundraising, Alumni, External Relations, Communications and Marketing.   

ADAPE values the opportunity to partner with professionals of such high integrity and to build on the range of services available to ADAPE members.

For further information about Dakin Mayers services please visit www.dakinmayers.com.au or contact Philip Mayers or Michelle Varcoe on 1800 241 243.

THE Coalition has angered university leaders, principals and teacher unions by announcing plans to cut a further $1.5 billion from education, including programs to help the poorest students to succeed at school and enter university.

The planned savings - contained in a document released late on Wednesday - come on top of more than $3 billion of other cuts to education programs, including trades training centres and computers in schools, which the Coalition announced in May.

The Coalition says it will cut $330 million from a program to improve results in the poorest schools, and $227 million from funding to help universities enrol students from poor backgrounds.

It will also reduce funding for apprenticeship programs by $954 million.

University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis told The Age: ''I think the whole sector has been disappointed at this suggestion … at a time when we really are trying to get more Australians into universities,'' he said. ''I would hope that if elected, an Abbott government would look again at the equity provisions and see that there's benefit in helping people.''

Victoria University vice-chancellor Elizabeth Harman said she was also concerned at the scrapping of programs that assisted students from areas such as Melbourne's west. ''VU supports these programs on the grounds of social equity and social justice. Australia is in need of greater skills in the labour force and everybody deserves the chance of a good education and a good job,'' she said.

The Coalition also proposes to take more than $1 billion from the Education Investment Fund - set up to fund buildings for universities and TAFE colleges - to pay for technical colleges, internet services and changes to youth allowance.

The Australian Technology Network of universities, which includes RMIT, said this was a ''retrograde step'' and that the fund should not be regarded as ''a slush fund to be raided at the whim of a political party in an election campaign''.

Australian Primary Principals Association president Leonie Trimper said principals would be ''totally opposed''to the proposed cuts to support for poor schools. ''If the Coalition aims to find some savings, they're now looking in the wrong place,'' she said.

Australian Education Union federal president Angelo Gavrielatos condemned the cuts. ''It is abundantly clear that an Abbott government would result in less funding and less opportunity,'' he said.

''These cutbacks would impact disproportionately on government schools, and the government schools serving the poorest communities.''

Also yesterday, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced a plan to allow university students to reduce their HECS debts by doing voluntary work. Under the scheme students can earn credits of $10 an hour up to a total of $2000 a year.

Mr Abbott's education spokesman Christopher Pyne last year described such a concept as ''deeply flawed'' and ''middle class welfare'', saying only students who lived with their parents would have time to volunteer.

The volunteering plan was backed by Swinburne vice-chancellor Ian Young and Monash University deputy vice-chancellor Adam Shoemaker.

But National Union of Students president Carla Drakeford said it would further disadvantage students from poorer backgrounds.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/coalition-to-cut-funds-for-poor-students-20100819-12s1z.html

Source: The Age

On Wed 11 Aug, the team from Channel 7s Sunrise program took a lead from the story about Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to look at philanthropy in Australia, interviewing Mark Moran of the Moran Trust. It makes very interesting viewing, giving an insight into the motivations of those who give http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/

It's great to see the discussion moving along so openly, the more our philanthropists talk about giving, the better!

Gates, Buffett lead campaign to persuade America's wealthiest to donate their fortunes 

A little over a year after Bill Gates and Warren Buffett began hatching a plan over dinner to persuade America's wealthiest people to give most of their fortunes to charity, more than three-dozen individuals and families have agreed to take part, campaign organizers announced Wednesday. In addition to Buffett and Gates — America's two wealthiest individuals, with a combined net worth of $90 billion, according to Forbes — 38 other billionaires have signed The Giving Pledge.

They include New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, entertainment executive Barry Diller, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, media mogul Ted Turner, David Rockefeller, film director George Lucas and investor Ronald Perelman.

"We're off to a terrific start," Buffett, co-founder and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said in a conference call also attended by Bloomberg and San Francisco hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer and his wife Kat Taylor, founder of OneCalifornia Bank.

Buffett said he and Gates, the Microsoft co-founder, and Gates' wife Melinda made calls to fellow billionaires on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans — in many cases, people they had never met — to try to persuade them to join the giving pledge.

"We contacted between 70 and 80 people to get the 40. A few were unavailable. We don’t give up on them. Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. We’ll keep on working," Buffett said.

Bloomberg, who made the bulk of his estimated $17.5 billion fortune from financial news and information services company Bloomberg L.P., said it didn't make sense to leave everything to his children and have them go through life as members of "the lucky sperm club."

"You don’t want to leave them so much money that it ruins their lives," Bloomberg said. "You want kids who can look back and say, 'Yeah my family helped me but I did something on my own.'"

Added Steyer: "We need to support each other. I look at this as replanting your garden so that future generations will have a full bounty of crops."

The United States has roughly 400 billionaires — about 40 percent of the world's total — with a combined net worth of $1.2 trillion, according to Forbes. If they all took the pledge, that would amount to at least $600 billion for charity.

The 40 names that have pledged to date have a combined net worth surpassing $230 billion, according to Forbes. Several of them have said they plan to give away much more than 50 percent of their wealth. Buffett has promised to donate more than 99 percent of his wealth.

The pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting one cause or organization. It's up to each person who signs the pledge how to divvy up their wealth.

In letters on the givingpledge.org website, the 40 billionaires explain what motivated them to follow in the footsteps of Gates and Buffett.

"I’m particularly thankful for my father’s advice to set goals so high that they can’t possibly be achieved during a lifetime and to give help where help is needed most," CNN founder Ted Turner said. "That inspiration keeps me energized and eager to keep working hard every day on giving back and making the world a better place for generations to come.”

“My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages," filmmaker George Lucas said. "I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education.”

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has confirmed she will assuage the powerful private school lobby by extending the existing Federal Government schools funding agreement until the end of 2013. The move will alienate the public school lobby which will see it as a backdown on Ms Gillard's promise to overhaul the system for deciding how much funding goes to different types of schools. One source, who did not want to be named, said any extension to the agreement would be a "cave-in" to the private school lobby

- comparable to the Rudd-Gillard government's decision to defer an emissions trading system until after 2013. "It will mean the school funding system we said in Opposition had to be reviewed, will be retained - or at least stay in place - for six years or longer," the source said.

Asked about the reports on the campaign trail, Ms Gillard confirmed the delay. ‘‘What the government will do with school funding is we will lock it in so schools have certainty for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013,’’ she said in Cairns today. ‘‘I want every parent who votes in this election to know what funding they will get for their local school with me as Prime Minister.’’ Ms Gillard said the outcome of the review of school funding arrangements would be known before the election due in 2013 even though the existing funding deal would be locked in until the end of that year. In April, when she was education minister, Ms Gillard announced a major review of the school funding system to improve the distribution of resources to schools where they are needed the most. At the time, she promised that the review would not cut funding to private schools. She said it would be completed next year so that any changes to funding arrangements could come into effect when the existing four-year schools funding agreement expired at the end of 2012.

But the delay announced today means the overhaul won't be effective until

2014 - two elections into the future. The move is designed to neutralise political pressure on Labor in the lead up to the August 21 election. Ms Gillard had already promised that the review would not take a single dollar away from private schools. But private school organisations have argued that Labor has not promised to continue indexing their existing funding levels once the current funding agreement expires at the end of 2012.

The move to extend the funding deal until the end of 2013 will lock in the existing indexation arrangements for private school funding for another year.

The Australian Education Union, which represents teachers in government schools, said it was bitterly disappointed with the decision.

The AEU’s national president, Angelo Gavrielatos said: ‘‘The decision to delay until 2014 the start of a new funding system means Labor will not have changed in almost seven years a system which they have repeatedly acknowledged is flawed and failing to deliver for all children.’’

‘‘This funding system, introduced by the Howard government, delivers only one third of federal funding to public schools which teach two thirds of students. ‘‘It is now clear that neither Labor nor the Coalition will change this funding system before the 2013 election.’’

Congratulations to Terry Kitchen of Ivanhoe Grammar, Vic who was randomly picked by the computer at QUT from those who completed the ADAPE Benchmarking Survey. Terry wins a $200 dinner voucher.Many thanks to all those who participated and the results will be unveiled at ADAPE 2010 Conference.

ADAPE recognises exceptional practitioners, their professionalism and leadership; and outstanding achievements and excellence in practice in a number of ways. Every 2 years at the International Conference awards are presented for:

• The exemplary practitioner – the Trevor Wigney Award is ADAPE’s most prestigious award for an individual
• Superior practice, programs and materials – the ADAPE Awards for Excellence
• Outstanding effort of an individual volunteer such as Board members, on parent groups or an ‘institutional friends’ who provide time, guidance, expertise, energy, leadership and even financial support for an organisation – the ADAPE Award for Volunteer Leadership.

The aim of the ADAPE awards program is to:

• Recognise excellence as a means of encouraging members to achieve high standards in their professional roles and responsibilities
• Recognise and encourage individual achievement
• Encourage newcomers to the profession to strive to achieve the highest possible standards of professionalism

2010 Awards are now Open 

Our comprehensive Awards information booklet contains all the information you need to know. Please note the new entry requirements. Download the Information booklet here.

Download the Awards Submission form here

Download the Fellow Nomination form here

Your Participation is Vital!

We need your assistance to help make the findings of the study fully reflect the sector, emerging trends and areas requiring further attention.

ADAPE has again commissioned the Australian Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) at QUT to conduct this benchmarking study of advancement professionals in education.

This is the third study since 2005 that ADAPE has commissioned with a view to providing an overview of the state of play of the sector based on significant trends.

The benchmarking study will enable ADAPE to advocate on behalf of the sector, help practitioners to measure and continuously improve their organisation’s performance and provide members with overall trends and comparisons. 

Salary study findings will be the most comprehensive collated data for the sector, and will assist in setting parameters for the various levels of professionals when employers or employees are looking for reference points based on roles and experience. You are all urged to complete this section, for the validity of the data relies on wide participation.

Overall findings will be presented at the ADAPE 2010 Conference in September and a report summarising the results will be made available on the ADAPE website.

All individual data will be confidential and non-identifiable. ADAPE will only receive combined data.

Full details of the project and how your confidentiality is protected are available in the Participant Information Sheet.

This latest survey includes extra questions recommended by previous participants. It is available for a limited time only, from now until Friday 9 July. Please fill it in immediately if you have time today.

PROCEED TO SURVEY

In recognition of your participation, you will go into a draw to win a $200 voucher towards dinner at your favourite restaurant.

Any questions or comments are welcome. Please contact Dr Wendy Scaife or Katie McDonald on (07) 3138 1939 or at katie.mcdonald@qut.edu.au.

If you have concerns about the ethical conduct of the project, you can contact QUT’s Research Ethics Officer on 07 3138 2340 or ethicscontact@qut.edu.au.

Again – thank you for taking the time to participate. The more participants, the better the results for the educational advancement sector.

Your participation is vital to the success of the project.

Regards

Michele

Michele Dunn, CEO

A Chinese business leader, Dr Chau Chak Wing, will donate $25 million to support the new faculty of business building, UTS has announced. It is the the largest philanthropic gift in history by an individual for a university building in Australia. The building will be designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry.

Senate Inquiries calling for submissions

Tax Laws Amendment (Public Benefit Test) Bill 2010 is a Private Member’s Bill, presented by Senator Nick Xenophon. The Bill’s purpose is to amend the tax laws to require that religious and charitable institutions meet a public benefit test to justify their exemption from taxation. The proposed test would involve measurement of ‘benefit’ offset against any ‘detriment’ to the community. To pass the proposed test, an organisation would have to provide the benefit to at least a large section of the public, as opposed to people significantly or intimately connected with the organisation.  The Senate Economics Committee is holding an inquiry, and invites submissions. Due date for submissions is 18 June; the Committee will report 31st August 2010. For more information go to www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/inquiries/index.htm.

Congratulations to the following recipients of the Scholarship for support for 2010 Conference, each will receive $500 towards their attendance at the Conference:

Brenda Perry – Epsom Girls Grammar, NZ

Peter Carey – Fraser Coast Anglican College, Qld

Nicole Crook – Trinity College, University of Melbourne, Vic/Tas

Julia MacDonald & Melinda Lawrence, Joint application – Moreton Bay College, Qld

Lin Smith – Glasshouse Country Christian College, Qld

The ADAPE Board wishes to congratulate Ann Badger, Director College Advancement, Ormond College, University of Melbourne on her appointment as the Chair of ADAPE 2012 Conference to be held in Sydney.

Ann brings a wealth of experience to the role, being and ADAPE Fellow, Trevor Wigney winner, past President of ADAPE Vic/Tas Chapter, and Chair of Faculty for CASE Asia Pacific Spring Institute 2010.

The QUT Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA) has been formally approved by all Australian Governments for implementation by 1 July 2010.

The 19-20 April 2010 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Canberra made the following decision:

"COAG also agreed to additional reforms for the not-for-profit sector, including an implementation plan and governance structure to develop a nationally consistent approach to fundraising regulation, and the adoption of a standard chart of accounts where possible by 1 July 2010. This will further reduce the regulatory burden and improve public confidence in the not-for-profit sector. " (page 14)

The full document is here http://www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2010-04-19/docs/Communique_20_April_2010.pdf

A full set of resources for the SCOA is available here https://wiki.qut.edu.au/display/CPNS/Standard+Chart+of+Accounts

Guy Healy, From: The Australian , May 19, 2010 12:00AM

CITY-based university students were accessing university at more than twice the rate of their regional counterparts, a government report has found.

The gap between regional and metropolitan students' access to university also widened significantly over the decade to 2006, a major government report released Tuesday found.

University participation of 19 to 21 year-olds in regional areas increased by just three percentage points from 18 to 21 per cent over the decade to 2006, according to the federal education department's "Regional Participation" report.

However, metropolitan participation rates increased by seven percentage points from 28 to 35 per cent, it found.
"Consequently, regional students under-representation increased over the period as the gap between regional and metropolitan participation rates widened from around 10 to 14 percentage points."

The study confirmed the results of earlier research which showed that participation in outer metropolitan areas is relatively low, and similar to participation in regional areas.
While proximity to campus matters, access to university appeared to have less influence on university participation than other factors such as socio-economic status. Measures of education and occupation made a significant difference in the participation of students from outer and inner metropolitian areas, it found.
The report comes ahead of the release Wednesday of new guidelines to govern allocation of $433 million in federal funds to help university outreach into rural, regional and remote areas.

Education minister Julia Gillard will say that the funds will help universities recruit low socioeconomic students and support them over the course of their studies.

The program underpins the Rudd Government's goal to see 20 per cent of all university enrolments filled by low SES students by 2020, Ms Gillard will say.

More than $56 million will be allocated under the program in 2010. This will increase to more than $168 million in 2013, she said in a statement Tuesday.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/city-students-slicker-to-uni/story-e6frgcjx-1225868347576

psnews.com 19 May 2010

Financial support for Australia’s higher education system is to be indexed to ensure funding certainty and long-term sustainability for universities.
   Minister for Education, Julia Gillard and Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr said the Higher Education Support Amendment (Indexation) Bill 2010 would apply to all grants under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) from 2012.
   The Ministers said the new, more generous indexation rate would deliver more than $2.6 billion to universities over five years, helping them to meet the cost of quality teaching and research.
   This amount would be on top of what the sector would have received under the previous indexation arrangements and includes conditional funding of around $94 million a year from next year for universities signing on to the Government’s new performance indicators.
   The Ministers said from 2012, the revised indexation arrangements would apply to all amounts subject to indexation under Part 5-6 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003.
   Ms Gillard said while other countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, were cutting higher education funding, the Federal Government believed Australian universities had a critical role in boosting the nation’s long-term productivity.
   She said under the new legislation, a Professional, Scientific and Technical Services labour price index would replace the Safety Net Adjustment, which makes up 75 per cent of the new index. The remaining 25 per cent of the index would continue to be the Consumer Price Index.
   The new index applies to maximum student contribution amounts, the Os Help loan amount, and the Fee-Help limit from 2011.
   Ms Gillard said this index was considered to reflect wage price increases better in the higher education sector.
   “The new indexation arrangement will also help the Rudd Government meet its objectives of ensuring that 40 per cent of Australians aged between 25 and 34 years have bachelor level qualifications by 2025,” Ms Gillard said.
   She said when passed, it would also fulfil the Government’s goal to improve indexation for the higher education sector included in the response to the Bradley Review.

http://www.psnews.com.au/Page_psn21712.html

By Hannah Forsyth, newmatilda.com

Around budget time, every sector wheels out whatever weapons they think will bludgeon the Treasury into sending the odd scrap of cash their way. Higher education put a lot of resources into that effort this year, once again it was to little or no avail.

For a while now, university leaders have tried to speak the Treasury’s lingo, attempting to show that funding universities is in the Treasury’s self-interest. Giving the universities money will actually increase your own reserves, they argue. One day this approach might yield more than the scraps it has produced for the last 20-odd years. But even if it does, it won’t help higher education as much as leaders of the sector hope it will.

Not surprisingly, Universities Australia published a report that was able to show that investment in higher education would have substantial economic benefits. Their media release even argued that higher education would reduce health costs since obesity and smoking are rarer among educated people. All in the hope that the Government will say, "Well, we do want to grow the economy, and we want to fight obesity too. Okay, let’s invest in higher education". But it clearly doesn’t work that way.

One problem is that this information is not exactly new. While they might not have had exact figures before, the Government knows about the link between higher education investment and economic growth. A few years ago the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council warned the (Howard) government, that, based on its research, failure to invest in higher education would mean Australia would be rapidly overtaken economically by the countries that do (pdf). The smallest of the consequences of current levels of international investment, especially throughout Asia, would obviously be the loss in Australia of the international student market, as their own local universities gain strength.

Read more...http://newmatilda.com/2010/05/18/why-unis-shouldnt-play-economics-card

Media Release 30 April, 2010

Universities Australia today released the findings of a research report that confirms that the substantial impact of funding higher education is spread throughout Australia, across all states and territories.

“The Australian economy needs additional sources of growth beyond mining to underpin a healthy, diverse and sustainable national economy. The Government can avoid a ‘two-speed’ economy through delivering on the Higher Education Revolution by funding in this Budget the recommendations of its own Bradley Review of Higher Education,” said Dr Glenn Withers, CEO of Universities Australia.

The report, Economic Modelling of Improved Funding and Reform Arrangements for Universities, was commissioned by Universities Australia from consulting firm KPMG Econtech. It shows that increasing public funding by $5 billion over three years, which is broadly consistent with the Bradley Review recommendations, and enhancing that to the OECD average for the longer term, as well as undertaking structural reform, would increase national GDP by 6.4 %, ($163 billion) by 2040. These GDP increases would commence four years after the funding injection and steadily increase thereafter, commencing with a $13 billion increase in 2014.

“Forward Estimates from last year’s Budget instead showed a decline in share of GDP funding for higher education over the next three years. Unless this is turned around commencing with the May Budget then the national pay-offs will be that much weaker for Australia going into the future,” said Dr Withers.

The KPMG Econtech Study finds an overall 14.1% rate of return on funding higher education which means it is an investment, not a budget haemorrhage. The report suggests that full and ongoing implementation of the increase in public funding and structural reform into the future will increase productivity by 5.6%, labour force by 0.8% and living standards (household consumption) by 5.8% by 2040.

“Universities can help to restore a budget surplus quickly since university graduates expand the work-force, pay high taxes and begin repaying their HECS after graduation. Many also work and pay tax during their studies,” Dr Withers said.

“The Report concludes that the increase in living standards for each state and territory vary only a little from the national average of 5.8%, ranging across 5.7% to 6.0%. This shows how geographically equitable is the spread of economic benefit from Commonwealth investment in higher education. It also represents increased participation in university education by Australians of all backgrounds,” Dr Withers said.

“These are the economic and social benefits of tertiary education funding. But universities also benefit environmental improvement, cultural understanding, international integration and the community’s health. Studies included in the Report show that higher education substantially reduces the incidence of problems such as obesity and smoking. Educational attainment demonstrably increases the number of people who attend to and act on public health information, a key source of reducing health costs as well,” Dr Withers said.

-ENDS-

Key Facts

http://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/content.asp?page=/news/media_releases/2010/uniaus_media_07_10.htm

NATALIE CRAIG , The Age, April 25, 2010

TOP Melbourne private schools fear a new Rudd government funding model could force them to make sharp increases in school fees, jeopardising enrolments.

Education Minister Julia Gillard has pledged that private schools will not lose funding, in terms of dollars per student, when a new model is introduced in 2013. But principals fear funding could be effectively ''frozen'', with no new money to cover inflation and soaring education costs. That would push up fees faster than usual, and push out ''aspirational'' parents.

''It could mean that going to an independent school is no longer an option for some families,'' said Anne Bright, principal at Lauriston Girls' School in Armadale, where tuition costs up to $22,960 a year. The school's federal grant is estimated to be about $2000 a student. ''Ms Gillard says no school will be worse off but given the government's track record on consultation … one tends to be a little suspicious,'' Ms Bright said.

Independent Schools Victoria says school costs are rising by about 5 per cent a year.

Melbourne private schools increased fees by about the same amount this year, according to an Age survey. But if government funding stagnates after 2013, parents could face fee increases well in excess of 5 per cent a year.

''We're already at the pointy end of the stick with parents,'' Ms Bright said. ''Education costs go up exponentially and both parents are working to give their children the education they think they deserve. We don't want a new system to price them out of the market.''

A spokesman for Ms Gillard said the review would look at how private and public schools are funded and ''was not about taking money away from schools''.

Some less well-off private schools could end up being entitled to more money when the formula was introduced.

Ms Gillard said schools that were technically entitled to less money would still receive the same amount as they had before 2013 until indexation made their new allocation worth more than their entitlement under the current model.

Carey Baptist Grammar principal Philip Grutzner said schools needed funding indexed to inflation. ''The argument should be about how to make the cake bigger, not how to slice the cake.''

Anne Sarros, principal at Firbank Grammar in Brighton, said public schools would suffer if private schools were not supported to meet rising costs. ''If funding comes out of this sector and it pushes fees up, it will rebound on to the public sector, which I doubt would cope [with the influx of students],'' she said.

Principals said increased teacher wages and performance-based pay were a ''welcome cost'', but schools were also hiring extra administrative staff to deal with burgeoning state and federal government regulations.

About 40 per cent of Australian secondary students attend non-government schools. Of those, about half attend Catholic schools. Total government spending averages about $12,000 for each state school student and $6000 for private students. But while the federal government provides the bulk of private school funding, state and territory governments provide the bulk of public school funding.

Federal funding to private schools is allocated according to the socio-economic status of its students, determined by the census collection district in which they live. However, more than half of all private schools are receiving more than they are entitled to because of a ''no losers'' guarantee, introduced by the Howard government, which ruled schools would retain their funding if their socio-economic status entitlement was lower.

A report by the Australia Education Union estimated the overfunding would cost taxpayers $3.5 billion in the five years to 2013. But Julie Novak, education researcher at the Institute of Public Affairs, said the system was fundamentally fair because unlike previous models that penalised schools with more money in the bank, it worked to encourage investment in education.

''You have to really admire parents who actually send their kids to private schools - they're paying for their own kids, but they're paying for everyone else's as well, so there's a fiscal double-up,'' Ms Novak said.

But public education advocate Trevor Cobbold, head of Save Our Schools, said the ''tax entitlement'' argument was used to defend ''upper-class welfare''.

''The purpose of taxation in our society is not necessarily to return taxation to the people who pay; it's to redistribute resources and provide public infrastructure such as schooling,'' he said.

Dr Ben Jensen, education researcher at the Grattan Institute, said a new funding model should assess the wealth and background of families, rather than census districts.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/private-school-fees-set-to-jump-under-gillard-review-20100424-tklh.html

By Robin Fisk

(April 20, 2010) When implementing fundraising software and a donor management system, nonprofits face two possible results--success or failure. How can they avoid the latter? This list reveals 10 common mistakes made when it comes to fundraising technology, to help organizations better select the right database and more effectively manage it.

1.  When you start the search for a new fundraising system, you resist the temptation to define the parameters of your selection. Unfortunately, this does not increase your chances of success. Each department in your organization should instead discuss two or three items that are most important to them, to help determine the best technology fit.

2.  You don't involve your users in the selection process. Wrong! Although there will be obstacles, including staff buy-in, with purchases, the people within your organization know its operations better than anyone else-and fully understand their fundraising technology needs. Assign a department champion to refine the strategic vision; this will help them feel more involved and accept responsibility for their pieces of the project.

3.  You choose a solution primarily for how it looks-not what it does. This is not enough. When evaluating software options, look at the strengths of the vendors, their support capabilities, relevant experience and references, product functionality, implementation track record and technology price. Have you also considered asking for customer references?

4.  You go for the latest trends in technology. Don't take the risk on ‘bleeding-edge' software. Ask potential vendors for customer references, so that you can determine the proven, reliable technology and make sure it can support your organization's future needs.

5.  When you have chosen a new system, you set extremely high expectations and make these publicly known. An ambitious, ‘go live' date announced will certainly get everyone's attention. Although it might be good for morale and earn you respect from your peers in the short term, you are putting your project at even greater risk for failure.

6.  You exceed the budget in mind during the fundraising technology selection process. Don't have champagne taste with beer money. It's important to build a strategic plan with adequate financials in place that suggests the scope of the software you really need to support your operational objectives.

7.  One word: assume. Predictability in IT projects is far from overrated. Invite vendors to conduct a "Discovery Session" to learn how your organization does things. Make sure all project deliverables fit your needs, so that you do not achieve failure with your implementation.

8.  Make sure you change project personnel at your end on a regular basis. Nothing succeeds like continuity, although you want to make sure you have the same staff in place throughout the entire selection and implementation process.

9.  Never trust your supplier; always be suspicious of them. Engage with your selected vendor, to continuously determine fit and feasibility of the product and the competence of the people behind it. It will provide an opportunity to refine business practices-rather than ensuring that they run out of patience, further improving your chances of failure.

10.  Keep the project away from senior management. Right from the start, they will ask awkward questions like "Why?", "When?" and "How much?". Obtain the board's and senior management's support by being transparent about the software selection process.

Robin Fisk is senior charity technology specialist at Advanced Solutions International (ASI).

http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=4429

Draft guidelines for universities moving to a new student-focused funding system have been released for public consultation.

Minister for Education, Julia Gillard said the Structural Adjustment Fund aimed to improve the quality of the higher education system and encourage collaboration between universities that choose to consolidate with other institutions, such as TAFEs, for sustainable partnerships.

Ms Gillard said the Fund was a response to the Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education, and would assist universities prepare for the new operational requirements of a demand-driven funding system. 

She said universities making significant structural changes necessary to refocus their activities, including through the creation of new models of higher education institutions and collaborations will be eligible for funding. 

Ms Gillard said while all higher education providers would be eligible for funding, the new system would focus on outer metropolitan and regional providers, and on those which needed to make substantial changes to succeed and deliver quality.

Half the $400 million fund is to be spent on building and upgrading infrastructure. 

Under the draft guidelines, universities seeking support will need to demonstrate that their proposal entails substantial structural adjustment, the extent to which it is needed for the institution to thrive in a student demand-driven system, and how it will improve the quality of teaching and learning. 

The likelihood of project being successfully implemented will also have to be demonstrated, along with the institution’s financial stability.

Ms Gillard said following the consultation process, a competitive round would open later in the year. 

She encouraged all higher education stakeholders to comment on the guidelines, which are open for consultation until 30 April. 

For more information, go to www.deewr.gov.au/structuraladjustmentfund

http://www.psnews.com.au/Page_psn2135.html

ANNA PATTY EDUCATION EDITOR, SMH,  April 21, 2010

PRIVATE schools that are ''overfunded'' under the government's funding model could take up to five years to return to correct levels under expected changes to the funding system.

The federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard, said last week that her review of federal funding for schools would at least freeze present levels of funding for schools. She said ''no school will lose a dollar of funding in the sense that their school budget per student will not reduce in dollar terms''.

Estimates show that schools such as Masada College in St Ives would receive its strict share of funding under the federal government formula by 2018 if its funding was frozen from next year.

Calculations by the NSW Greens using federal government figures show that Masada will receive $925,850 next year in Commonwealth funding.

However, under the funding formula that measures the socio-economic status of families based on census data, the school should receive $579,176.

The Howard government made a policy decision ensuring that no private school would lose money even if their socio-economic status improved over time as measured by the private school funding formula. Wenona School, for example, will receive $1.8 million in Commonwealth funding next year, but under the SES formula, it should receive an estimated $1.4 million.

A Greens NSW MP, John Kaye, said that by locking in year 2012 subsidies as a minimum level of funding for another four years, the Rudd government had prolonged a Howard government $2.7 billion funding ''rort''.

An internal review by the federal Department of Education confirmed that the Howard government's arrangements to maintain historic levels of funding for schools, even if they qualified for less under the formula, would amount to $2.7 billion in overpayments over the current four-year funding cycle.

The federal government decided to maintain those arrangements fearing a backlash from the private school lobby.

Dr Kaye said that under a guarantee to fund all non-government schools at existing levels of funding from 2013 to 2016, based on the 2012 dollar value, schools would take up to five years to return to their correct funding levels.

''Instead of solving the $2.7 billion problem … the federal Education Minister has given many very wealthy private schools a holiday from being exposed to even the very generous SES funding regime or whatever replaces it,'' Dr Kaye said.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/private-schools-will-continue-to-be-overfunded-20100420-srtw.html

Patricia Karvelas, Political correspondent, From: The Australian, April 16, 2010

JULIA Gillard has signalled a massive education overhaul that will review the funding for every public and private school in the country.

The Deputy Prime Minister unveiled her plan last night in a speech to the Sydney Institute, in which she said she would launch the review at the end of this month, with a discussion paper setting out key issues she wanted addressed.

Ms Gillard sought to avoid a repeat of the divisive 2004 election campaign debate about private school funding that destroyed Mark Latham's leadership, with an assurance that "this is not about taking money away from schools".

She said all schools would maintain their funding until 2012.

Even if their student numbers dropped, they would continue to receive that level of funding until their numbers picked up. That would allow for fluctuations in enrolments.

Ms Gillard said she did not want the review conducted in "an atmosphere of fear".

The government has promised to review schools funding before 2013, when the current model, implemented by the Howard government, expires.

There has been widespread criticism that the existing model favours elite schools over public schools. But Ms Gillard said there was no suggestion that non-government schools would lose funding.

She said she expected Tony Abbott to try to persuade voters that some schools would lose money under any new regime.

The review, which will encompass private and public schools, was necessary partly because of Australia's changing demographics, Ms Gillard said.

Any new model would take into account the location of individual schools, the needs of its children and the amount of indigenous children it had.

"So I say today, this is not about taking money away from schools," the Education Minister said.

"While enrolments will always change and students will move in and out of schools, no school will lose a dollar of funding in the sense that their school budget per student will not reduce in dollar terms.

"Today, I make a commitment that, following the conclusions of this funding review, the same funding guarantee will apply to any school."

Ms Gillard said the review would be open and transparent and would be carried out by eminent Australians with a range of expertise and capacity and be informed by data and evidence.

It would look at different funding models used overseas and how they were linked to the quality of their respective education systems.

Information from the My School website would be used to assess the relationship between resources and outcomes for similar students.

Ms Gillard's approach is consistent with Mr Rudd's firm view that he wants to improve all schools and not continue with the old politics of the public-private school divide.

The socioeconomic status, or SES, index is the basis for federal funding of private schools.

It links students' residential addresses to census data to obtain a profile of the school community and its ability to financially support the private school.

Public schools are currently funded through state governments on a per-student basis with little reference to levels of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Coalition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said Ms Gillard had "form on the SES funding model".

"We know she doesn't support it. Non-government schools should be very wary of where the government intends to take their funding formula," Mr Pyne said.

"She was right behind the Latham private schools hit list. Only the Coalition has a record of even-handed support for non-government and government schools. This announcement tonight is about clearing the decks . . . before an election."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/julia-gillard-planning-overhaul-of-schools-funding/story-e6frgczf-1225854305253

Kevin Donnolly, ABC - The Drum Unleashed

Is there a federal election in the air? Judged by the Minister for Education, Julia Gillard's recent actions in announcing a review of school funding and setting up a task force to evaluate the Building the Education Revolution program, it's obvious that the ALP Government is clearing the decks for an early election.

It's also the case, similar to the lead up to the 2007 federal election, the Rudd Government is seeking to nullify education as an electoral disadvantage by presenting itself as conservative educationally - in the best tradition of the previous Howard government.

Past Howard education ministers introduced national testing, a back to basics approach to the curriculum and guaranteed funding to non-government schools. Rudd and Gillard occcupy the same ground, evidenced by the current Prime Minister's statement that parents should vote with their feet if unhappy with the local school and his refusal to bow to the Australian Education Union.

Sounding even more right-of-centre than previous conservative ministers, Gillard argues that Australia was not invaded, that schools are accountable for results, English must involve correct spelling, punctuation, grammar and phonics and that Catholic and independent schools must be properly funded.

The rhetoric sounds appealing but, can the ALP Government be trusted and how successful has its education revolution been?

In terms of success, looking at the Government's record over the last two years, it's obvious that the education revolution is more spin than substance and that the Government has an appalling record in relation to implementation.

The back flip over holding an inquiry into the financial scandal and mismanagement surrounding the Building the Education Revolution program is simply the most recent example of Minister Gillard's inability to manage education, given her multiple portfolios.

Add the failure of the school computer program, where the budget has blown out by millions and schools lack necessary resources and infrastructure, the evidence that the NAPLAN tests, associated with the MySchool website, are invalid, unreliable and prone to error and the Minister's boast about world's best practice is looking thin.

Additional evidence of Gillard's failure as Education Minister is the left-of-centre, ideological nature of the proposed national curriculum. A curriculum that will force all schools, government and non-government, to teach every subject from year 1 to year 12 through a politically correct filter involving Aboriginal, Asian and environmental perspectives.

Ignored is the fact that Australia, while geographically part of Asia, is a European country. Our political and legal institutions, mainstream religions, the nation's language and education system, our history and culture are derived from our Judeo-Christian heritage and steeped in the Western tradition.

Whether the ALP's conversion to respecting the autonomy of non-government schools, supporting parents' right to choose and to properly fund Catholic or independent schools can be believed, there are also concerns. It's no secret that Prime Minister Rudd is a centralist and a bureaucrat at heart. Speaking Mandarin is not the only thing that Kevin Rudd learned during his years in China.

Under the Rudd ALP Government, all roads lead to Canberra and non-government schools are drowning, and will continue to drown, under a raft of national policies and programs that rob them of their autonomy and flexibility to best meet the needs and aspirations of their local communities.

As a result of the Rudd/Gillard education revolution, all schools, as a condition of funding, must implement the Government's agenda in areas like curriculum and assessment, school reporting, teacher certification and registration and social justice and equity policies like ending discrimination in relation to employment and enrolment practices.

Faith-based schools currently have the right to decide who the employ and who they enrol. Based on events in England, from where the ALP's education revolution is copied, the likelihood is that such freedom will be lost.

After refusing to clarify earlier this year whether non-government schools would be financially worse off as a result of the impending funding review, Minister Gillard in her recent speech to the Sydney Institute assured the sector that Catholic and independent schools will be protected.

"So I say today, this is not about taking money away from schools. While enrolments will always change and students will move in and out of schools, no school will lose a dollar of funding in the sense that their school budget per student will not reduce in dollar terms," the Minister said.

Taken at face value, the Minister's assurance that the review is "not about taking money away from schools" is reassuring. On reading her speech more closely, a number of doubts arise.

Julia Gillard is Minister for Social Inclusion and there is no secret about her desire to overcome what she sees as educational disadvantage caused by class, gender and ethnicity. As a member of Victoria's socialist-left faction and supporter of the Fabian Society, it is understandable why the Minister sees the main task of schools as overcoming what the left defines as disadvantage.

Ignored is that Australia, as a result of the nation's schools, has one of the highest rates of social mobility amongst OECD nations and that our education system, based on OECD research, is 'high equity'.

Based on her Sydney Institute speech, clearly the Minister's intention is to use the review to argue that funding should be re-directed from so-called privileged non-government schools to those, mainly government schools, that are defined as disadvantaged.

Under the current socio-economic (SES) funding system, introduced under the Howard government, private fees and income are not included when the federal government measures the amount available to a school in terms of overall income.

The justification is that governments have a moral responsibility to invest in every student's education and non-government schools and their communities should not be penalised as a result of monies raised privately.

Minister Gillard's intention is to identify all sources of funding for non-government schools, private and public, and to post such information on the MySchool webpage. It will only be a short step to then conclude that non-government schools, as they charge fees, should have their funding from governments, state and federal, cut back or removed.

While it might be unintentional there is also the concern, when the Minister states "this is not about taking money from schools", that government funding to non-government school will not be indexed from year to year, as it currently is.

It also needs to be clear that a strong case can be put, instead of simply guaranteeing existing levels of funding, that the ALP Government should increase its share of investment to non-government schools.

Productivity Commission figures show that even though 34 per cent of students attend Catholic and independent schools across Australia, such schools only receive 21 per cent of government funding available to school education. The 66 per cent of students at government schools receive the remaining 79 per cent.

Put another way, based on 2007-2008 Productivity figures, average government expenditure on each state school student is $12,639, the equivalent figure for a non-government school student is $6,607. Clearly, a case can be put that any funding review needs to remedy the imbalance.

As to whether the proposed funding review will reach the same conclusion, non-government school parents will have to wait for the answer until next year - some months after the next federal election and when Rudd and Gillard hope they are safely ensconced for another three years.

Dr Kevin Donnelly is director of on Education Standards Institute and author of Australia's Education Revolution: How Kevin Rudd Won and Lost the Education Wars (Connor Court Publishing).

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2876271.htm

Radio Australia, Updated April 15, 2010 10:35:46

It's estimated around three-million people worldwide study outside their home country. In Australia, the number of foreign students has risen from around one-hundred-thousand to half a million, over a ten year period. Now, a new Australian report has found disturbing evidence that overseas students' human rights are routinely neglected. The study was prepared at a recent workshop called "Racism and the Student Experience", co-sponsored by the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speakers: Graeme Innes, Australian Human Rights Commissioner

• Listen: Windows Media

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/201004/s2873471.htm

ADAPE invites advancement professionals working in higher education to participate in a short survey to enable us to plan professional development and social activities that specifically cater for the sector.

Complete the survey here

Many thanks

by Adele Horin, SMH,  Date: February 24 2010

Australia's dozen or so billionaires fail to rate as serious philanthropists but 20 rich individuals together donated $40 million to a Sydney medical research institute, with one person contributing $25 million, a forum was told yesterday.

Bill Ferris, the chairman of CHAMP Private Equity and a companion of the Order of Australia for services to the community, said the future of philanthropy lay with rich individuals not corporations.

''Just as Bill Gates, not Microsoft, and Warren Buffet, not Berkshire Hathaway, have continued the North American private wealth-driven model of philanthropy, we need to see a similar model develop here over time,'' he said.

Mr Ferris is the chairman of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, which in addition to the $40 million, raised $500,000 from several hundred other donors, $70 million from government, and less than $50,000 from corporations to build a new cancer research centre.

He was speaking at the launch of a report by the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Commonwealth Bank that showed high numbers of company directors served on boards in the non-profit sector.

The Directors Social Impact Study, based on 1200 company directors in NSW and Victoria, revealed three out of five served on the board of a not-for-profit organisation and almost a third held more than one directorship.

Directors most commonly spent between six and 20 hours a month on board work, about double the time spent by the average volunteer. Three-quarters of directors did not receive director fees.

John Colvin, the institute's chief executive, said that a ''noblesse oblige'' among people with high levels of education and legal, governance or financial skills prompted many to give back to the community.

Passion for the cause and an invitation from the chairman were the main reasons the directors joined non-profit boards.

''Most directors say it's the hardest work they do but probably the most fulfilling,'' he said.

Mr Ferris said ''none of Australia's dozen or more billionaires have yet seriously stepped up to the Australian philanthropic plate''. It was important when asking rich people for donations ''not to ask for too little … ask for one million, not $10,000,'' and ensure appropriate recognition.

He said it was ''politically correct'' to support the idea of corporate social responsibility.

But while companies should encourage director involvement in the not-for-profit sector, there was not a strong case for companies to give away large amounts of money.

''I'm not calling on corporates to do less,'' he told the Herald, ''but I don't think they're likely to give more than 1 per cent of net profits. Shareholders would jump up and down, and even some customers if they saw prices being forced up. There's a far more compelling case for directors themselves to do more.''

He believed a reasonable benchmark for annual giving for executives aged under 40 was 2.5 per cent to 10 per cent of pre-tax annual income; and 7.5 per cent to 15 per cent for executives aged over 40.

The philanthropist and businesswoman Janet Holmes a Court said corporate sponsorship was critical to arts organisations, such as the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, with which she is involved.

''But I have often wondered whether very highly paid chief executives of the companies which are so generous with their giving, give themselves,'' Mrs Holmes a Court said.

The entrepreneur and philanthropist Dick Smith said he gave away $1 million a year ''in order to feel good''.

If rich people were less secretive about their donations, capitalism may have a better name, he said.

DONATIONS

Average tax deductible gift - all Australians: $440

Average tax deductible gift - company directors: $1439

Average tax deductible gift - managing directors: $1884

Average tax deductible gift - millionaires: $48,548

Gifts as proportion of millionaires' taxable income: 1.37 per cent

SOURCE: CENTRE OF PHILANTHROPY, QUT

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/australias-richest-not-big-givers-to-charity-20100223-p0pd.html?skin=text-only

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/international-students-are-a-discerning-bunch/story-e6frgcjx-1225833590913

Kevin Donnelly, Courier Mail

February 16, 2010 11:00pm

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26732636-27197,00.html

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/we-need-to-use-this-crisis-to-do-more-for-overseas-students-20100211-nuzw.html

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/residency-lures-foreign-students-20100214-nzks.html

Probono Australia reports: http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2010/02/corporate-philanthropy-remains-strong-despite-global-slowdown

Australia's major companies have continued to support and invest in communities despite the tough economic conditions faced in 2009, according to a report released by the Australian Government.

Minister for Community Services, Jenny Macklin and Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, Ursula Stephens, released the report, Impact of the Economic Downturn on Corporate Community Investment, at the Social Inclusion Conference in Melbourne where corporate representatives and academics discussed the role business can play in social inclusion.

The report found that despite the economic downturn, large companies are continuing their trend towards strategic long-term community investment, with the majority surveyed sustaining their multi-year commitments.

Sixty-eight per cent of respondents expected an increase in corporate volunteer support in 2009-10, while 52 per cent expected an increase in workplace giving and payroll deductions.

Minister Macklin said corporate community philanthropy is essential, as more individuals and families are now seeking help from charities in times of need.

Senator Stephens said that the conference panel discussion – Let’s do business: corporate social responsibility – emphasised the valuable perspectives, talents and resources that corporate Australia can bring to addressing the multifaceted problems of social exclusion.

She said the complex causes of deep disadvantage cannot be resolved by government alone or by the Not for Profit and corporate sectors working in isolation.

She said it is only by working in partnership with all three sectors and bringing its respective strengths to tackling the complexity of exclusion to be able to make a difference.

The Australian Government commissioned the Centre for Corporate Public Affairs to undertake this research, which included surveying 150 leading Australian listed companies and focus groups with public affairs and corporate affairs practitioners responsible for corporate community investment strategies.

It found that despite many companies experiencing significant pressure on budgets: 

• 41 per cent of respondents indicated that their overall community investment budget had increased since the previous year
• 35 per cent reported no change

It also found:

• 69 per cent of companies kept their multi-year commitments
• 12 per cent reported their commitments had been reviewed downwards
• 12 per cent said their commitments had been postponed or abandoned

Impact of the Economic Downturn on Corporate Community Investment can be found at www.fahcsia.gov.au

(PDF download: http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/communities/pubs/eco_impact_on_corp_comm_invest/Documents/impact_economic_downturn_cci.PDF)

By Xie Yu (China Daily)

A ranking of Chinese tycoons' donations to their alma maters has been released, following the controversy over an entrepreneur who gave a record $8,888,888 to Yale University in the US.

An independent Chinese website focusing on alumni affairs, www.cuaa.net, carried out research on tycoons listed in five rich lists such as Hurun and Forbes from 1999 to 2009 and found alumni from Zhejiang University "the most generous".

Duan Yongping, 49, a tycoon involved in the electronic appliance business, came out first in the list for donating 248 million yuan ($37 million) to Zhejiang University. Duan, who was an undergraduate in Zhejiang University from 1977 to 1982, ranked 71st on the Forbes rich list in 2003 and 340th with a fortune of 3 billion yuan on last year's Hurun rich list.

Four graduates from Tsinghua University took second place by making a joint donation of 220 million yuan to the school in 2008.

Huang Nubo, 54, a real estate tycoon, came in third by donating landed property worth 100 million yuan to Peking University (PKU). Huang, who studied in PKU from 1976 to 1981, ranked 130th with a fortune of 6.7 billion yuan on the Hurun rich list.

The latest ranking included more than 50 tycoons, with total donations surpassing 1 billion yuan.

Zhao Deguo, editor-in-chief of cuaa.net, said the researchers mainly drew their data from public information, which would have left out anonymous donors.

Zhao said they only counted donations from people on rich lists, "which could not fully reflect all the donations a university received".

However, Zhao said the findings could provide some perspective for universities in their alumni work.

Yang Jie, an official from the Zhejiang University alumni group, said it is educational quality and teachers that helped Zhejiang University win "loyal and caring alumni".

But I do not think the amount of money is everything. The alumni can contribute to their alma maters in many other ways besides donating money, for example, their social influence and their networks," he said.

The latest ranking saw some active discussion within the online community.

More people should learn from the generous donations," a netizen from Zhejiang's Ningbo city said on Sohu BBS.

Donations are part of personal choice and there is no need to compare one to another," another netizen from Anhui province said.

Earlier this month, Zhang Lei, the founder and managing partner of Beijing-based Hillhouse Capital Management, gave a record donation to Yale's management school.

Zhang, who received a postgraduate education in Yale, said he decided to make the donation because Yale's educational system had "changed his life".

However, he donated nothing to Beijing-based Renmin University of China, where he received an undergraduate education.

Zhang's decision angered many Chinese citizens, some of whom said it was impossible for him to go to Yale without the 20 years' education he received in China. Others argued that Chinese schools needed donations more badly than US schools.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/26/content_9374921.htm

AAP January 13, 2010, 7:24 am

ADAPE Members are invited to apply for a new ADAPE scholarship designed to support you in pursuing professional development in 2010. Perhaps you need some assistance to attend the 2010 ADAPE International Conference in Adelaide 8-10 September?

The O’Keefe and Partners Scholarship is a biennial award fully supported by O’Keefe & Partners open to current financial members of ADAPE Australasia.

The Award confers one scholarship to a successful candidate in each ADAPE Chapter, to the value of $500.00, to be used in the following way:

>         to support the applicant’s professional development in furtherance of innovation and/or attaining industry best practice

>         to support an ADAPE member individually, so thus to be used for services to further personal professional learning, not investment in technology or equipment

The Award is required to be utilised within 12 months of the award being announced.

Applications for the O'Keefe's Scholarship Award close on Friday 5 February 2010 and the awardees will be announced by email on Friday 19 February 2010.

Download more details and an application form.

As the year rushes towards its inevitable conclusion, it is perhaps an opportunity to pause and reflect upon the many challenges we have faced, and the successes and triumphs which have buoyed us through the year. It will be hard for any of us to forget the tragedies of fire and flood at the start of the year, but perhaps we can take some comfort from the resilience of so many people who were so awfully affected, and by the genuine outpouring of emotion and support from around the world, let alone Australia. It is also important that we remember those members who have faced illness, difficulties and losses in their own lives and offer support where we can, and as it is needed.

I hope that you can reflect upon your own year and feel satisfied with all you have achieved. I hope too that you are planning for an exciting 2010, which will include the brilliant ADAPE Conference to be held in Adelaide in September. A third hope is that you will join with me in recognising the wonderful and unceasing hard work of our CEO, Michele Dunn, and her team of administrators who have delivered more and better support to all members as we have moved to our new status as a Company Limited by Guarantee. As a brand new Company, we will face new challenges next year, but we are well placed, confident and, indeed, optimistic, about our future. 

Alan Watkinson

by Duncan Bridgeman, Monday December 7 2009 - 03:05pm, The National Business Review 

Philanthropic funds and supporting foundations often form the centrepiece of a tax-wise charitable plan for investors. However, the concept of giving is not always so popular during uncertain economic times.

But that hasn’t stopped the University of Canterbury, which recently launched this country's first philanthropic bond issue, offering a range of different options for investors.

The bond offer was fully subscribed, raising $50 million, and the securities were today listed on the NZX debt market.

The university plans to use the proceeds to accelerate its 10-year capital works programme and advance plans to spruce up its engineering and science precinct, including building new learning space and IT infrastructure.

The bonds have a 10-year maturity and have been priced at 7.25% for the first five years and then reset at 175 basis points over the swap rate for the second five-year term.

Investors can choose to put the interest rate back to zero on some or all of the bonds they acquire, effectively providing a gift to the university foundation by reducing the burden of interest.

Bondholders can then chose to re-fix back to the market rate at any time during six-month interest periods.

They can also choose to gift some or all of the bond principal to the foundation, which will act as a guardian to ensure the funds are administered for the right purposes.

Investors will continue to be paid interest on the full face value of the investment, even if they give back the principal.

Read more

by Heather Gilmore, HIGHER EDUCATION, The Brisbane Times

Take a look at all the new speakers who have been added to the program for ADAPE 2010 Conference here.

Registration pages coming soon.

by Joe Garecht

While fundraising over the Internet is one of the hottest modern trends for non-profit organizations of all sizes, many groups that have enthusiastically embraced the web have been wary of raising money through e-mail.  If you don’t add fundraising e-mail to your Internet mix, you are missing out on truly maximizing your online giving program.  Today, we present some important do’s and don’ts when sending out fundraising e-mail:

1.  DO Keep it Short!

While the common wisdom for regular (snail-mail) fundraising letters is that they should be relatively long, the same is not true for fundraising e-mails.  People don’t like reading long wordy e-mails.  Keep your e-mail solicitations short and to the point.  Include enough information for people to make a decision, then provide links for them to either make a donation or get more information from your website.

2.  DON’T Ask for Large Gifts

Very few large gifts are given in response to a fundraising e-mail (at least not without further follow-up).  Use e-mail solicitations to ask for small or mid-level gifts from your list.

3.  DO Tie it to Something Tangible

One of the best tactics for getting people to donate online through an e-mail letter is to tie your ask to something tangible.  People like to know where their money is going, and this is doubly true on an impersonal medium like e-mail.  Tying your ask to something tangible is a great way to let people know how their money will be spent.  For example, you might ask for $25 to buy school supplies for one student (with the option to sponsor ten students for $250) or for $32 to pay for 20 hot meals for the homeless.  You get the idea…

4.  DON’T Spam

You’re only sending fundraising e-mail out to your own list… right?  Never send out unsolicited (spam) e-mails.  They don’t work, and only make people mad.  Start a list of all of your supporters and donors.  Send them regular e-mail updates and newsletters.  Then, from time to time, throw in an ask.

5.  DO Include Offline Contact Information

Some people from your list may want to contact you directly for more information, or to make a larger gift.  Make sure they have a way to get in touch with you.  Include a link to your website and your organization’s phone number in every fundraising e-mail you send out.

There you have it – five quick ways to make sure your fundraising-emails are used to maximum effect.  Remember that e-mail solicitations should not be the only e-mail contact you have with your donors.  Keep them informed and up-to-date, stay in touch with them, and when you need their help (or money), ask for it.

http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com/internet-fundraising/fundraising-e-mail/

By Katherine Gustafson| Monday, November 23, 2009 2:17 PM ET

A Minnesota nonprofit fundraising campaign, GiveMN, raised a remarkable $14 million via the Internet with its 24-hour "Give to the Max Day" event on November 17. The money, donated by 39,000 people, will support 3,400 Minnesota nonprofits, reports the Foundation Center.

The wild success of the campaign amazed some in the philanthropic community. Beth Kanter, a blogger on nonprofit and social media topics and a visiting scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, told the Minneapolis-St.Paul Star-Tribune that she was amazed by the donation numbers. "I'm sitting here with my jaw dropping," she said. "You had a critical mass, a good strategy ... and a very charitable state. You've set the bar."

Some 50 of the nonprofits raised over $40,000, and 350 others pulled in over $10,000. Raising the most funds was Second Harvest Heartland, a St. Paul organization focusing on hunger relief, which drummed up $183,291 in gifts from individuals and $7,226 in matching funds, as well as a prize of $5,000 from GiveMN.org for beating out the competition. Other top organizations were St. Joseph's College of Saint Benedict, (more than $114,000 in donations/matching funds and a $2,500 prize) and Twin Cities Public Television and the Minneapolis-based Animal Humane Society (around $70,000 in donations/matching funds and a $1,000 prize for each).

http://www.tonic.com/article/minnesota-online-fundraising-campaign-amazes/

How common is this story in fundraising circles? - ed

• Bell's companies involved but not man himself
• 'They haven't approached me,' he says

by Matt Scott, The Guardian, Tuesday 24 November 2009

Tim Bell's businesses are involved with London 2012, but the well-connected businessman has not been asked to help with fundraising.

How curious that Tim Bell has not demanded to play a central role in Team 2012's fund-raising drive to find high net worth individuals to help cover the government's £50m black hole in elite-sport funding. After all, several of Lord Bell's Chime Communications subsidiaries have been finding London 2012 and the British Olympic sports a significant growth area.

Alan Pascoe hinted at that potential when he sold his Fast Track company to Bell two years after the 2005 decision to award London the Olympics. Fast Track has since been involved in drawing up Medal Hopes, the sponsorship strategy for filling Team 2012's £50m shortfall.

Bell conceded to Digger that London 2012 has not been prejudicial to Chime's commercial interests. Indeed, Fast Track handed over the Team 2012 brief to The Sports Business, another Chime company, to concentrate on sponsors such as Holiday Inn and BT.

Lord Bell is one of London's best‑connected businessmen. So can he help Team 2012 find high net worth individuals? "Most of my friends are dead," said Bell. "[Team 2012] haven't approached me. I am not a fund raiser, although I have given advice over the years. We had an arrangement through Fast Track but I'm not entirely sure where it ended up." Well, so far the fund raising has been left by Bell's companies to the BOA and its ambassadors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/24/digger-tim-bell

From: The Australian, Rebecca Urban, November 07, 2009 12:00AM ,

IT'S an impressive roll-call: BHP Billiton and Foster's director David Crawford, seasoned investment banker Craig Drummond, former politician David Kemp, retired National Australia Bank executive Bob Prowse, legal eagle Brian Bayston and Michael Sim, who is well-known in stockbroking circles.

Yet, when these gentlemen meet about seven times a year, it's not to discuss the affairs of some blue-chip company. And the conversation probably won't be taking place around a custom-made board table inside a Collins Street or Martin Place ivory tower.

From: The Australian, by Bernard Lane October 21, 2009 12:00AM

read more 

See the Top 200 World Universities, as announced in October 2009 under this ranking scheme here.

Griffith University has a useful discussion of university ranking schemes and methods here.

For the full article click here

Click here for the blog and to add your comments

In June 2008, seven out of ten (72% ) of children aged 3-6 years who were not attending school were usually attending a preschool or a preschool program in long day care, according to new findings from the ABS Childhood Education and Care Survey (CEaCS). CEaCS also found that 82% of school children aged 4-8 years had attended a preschool program in the year before commencing school.

CEaCS is the first national survey to measure attendance in preschool programs in both preschools and long day care centres.

Of all children aged 3-6 years who usually attended a preschool, 23% attended for the 'benchmark' 15 hours or more per week, although children attending for 10 to 14 hours per week was more common (47%).

CEaCS also found that 43% (1.5 million) of all children aged 0-12 years attended child care - with 22% of these children attending formal care, and 29% using informal care.

In 2008 grandparents were caring for 19% of the children aged 0-12 years who were usually in some type of child care arrangement, with the next most common type of care being long day care (12%).

Parents of 75% of children aged 0-12 years who usually attended formal care reported work related reasons for their children's attendance in formal care, with 29% believing that this care was beneficial for the child. Parents of 58% of children aged 0-12 years using informal care reported work related reasons, followed by personal reasons (31%), which included giving parents a break, time alone, or time to care for other relatives; as well as allowing parents to study or undertake sport and other recreational activities.

Parents of 126,000 children reported that they either wanted to place their children in child care or preschool, or access additional or different types of care or preschool to current arrangements. Of these parents, 32% applied for new or additional care or preschool enrolment.

Attendance in formal child care has risen from 17% of children aged 0-11 years in 1999 to 22% in 2008, while usage of informal care fell from 37% to 34% over the same period.

In June 2008 41% of employed male parents reported that they used a range of work arrangements to facilitate caring for their children aged 0-11 years, up from 27% in 1999. The most common type of work arrangement used by either parent to facilitate caring for their children was flexible working hours, with 30% of employed fathers utilising flexible working hours, and 42% of employed mothers. Part-time work was the most common arrangement (42%) used by employed mothers to care for their children compared to 5% of employed fathers working part time for this purpose. Overall, 74% of employed female parents used some form of work arrangement to facilitate care for their children.

Further information is available in Childhood Education and Care, Australia, June 2008, (cat. no. 4402.0).

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4402.0?OpenDocument

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today (29 July 2009) reveal 5.5 million migrants from over 200 countries living in Australia were born overseas, as at June 2008.

People born in the United Kingdom remained the largest group with 1.2 million calling Australia home, followed by those from New Zealand (495,000 people), China (314,000), India (239,000) and Italy (222,000).

However, over the last 10 years those born in the UK declined from 6.1% of Australia's population in 1998 to 5.4% in 2008. Likewise the Italian-born declined from 1.3% to 1.0%. In contrast, increases were recorded for people born in New Zealand (from 1.8% to 2.3%), China (from 0.7% to 1.5%) and India (from 0.5% to 1.1%).

During 2007–08, travellers contributing to Australia's net overseas migration figure were born in over 200 countries and added 213,700 people to Australia's population. This represented 59% of the nation's population growth for the year.

In 2007–08, net overseas migration added to the populations of every state and territory. The highest figures were recorded in NSW (61,300 people) followed by Victoria (58,100) and Queensland (41,200). The lowest was in the Northern Territory adding 960 people to the population.

For more information on overseas, interstate and local migration see Migration, Australia 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) available for free from the ABS website on www.abs.gov.au

Follow the link to see the full list of schools that have received funds in round 2 of the Federal Government's Building the Education Revolution grants program:

http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Documents/Rd2P21Results/NSWP21Rd2schools.pdf

Nationally comparable data about school performances should be reported to the public, but should not be used to create league tables, according to a new paper from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).  

The paper, Reporting and Comparing School Performances, has been prepared for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs to provide advice on national schools data collection and reporting for school evaluation, accountability and resource allocation.

Comparable data should be collected about schools’ student backgrounds, student outcomes, numbers and qualifications of teachers, sources of funding, and amounts of fees paid by parents.

Education authorities and governments should use this data to monitor school performances and to identify schools that are performing unusually well or unusually poorly given their circumstances.

The data should also be reported publicly, so that parents and the public can make informed judgements about, and meaningful comparisons of, schools.  

Parents need a wide range of detailed information about schools’ outcomes so they can choose the right school for their children – but schools work to promote many different kinds of outcomes for their students.  

Simplified comparisons of schools, such as league tables, ignore this broader context by restricting the range of information that can be provided.  League tables also encourage ‘rank order’ interpretations that have been damaging to schools and students in the past, and focus attention on some aspects of schooling at the expense of other outcomes that are as important but not as easily measurable.

It is popular in some parts of the world to adjust data to fit ‘measures’ of school performance and to report these measures publicly in league tables – but there are very sound technical and educational reasons why school measures of this kind should not be used for public reporting and school comparisons.

Instead, ACER proposes provision of information in the form of school profiles or comparisons of ‘like’ schools.  

School profiles allow an almost limitless range of information to be presented, while still allowing schools to be sorted by factors such as geographic location, school fee structure or religious affiliation.

If schools are to be compared, a ‘like-schools’ methodologies allow parents, the public and education systems to compare outcomes for schools in similar circumstances. 

Comparing only like schools would also allow measures of school performance to be reported without adjustment: factual data about a school, and not the results of secondary analyses and interpretations that are open to debate.

Vigilance is required to ensure that the public reporting of data does not have negative and unintended consequences for schools, such as from the reporting of the socio-economic backgrounds of students in a school, or of the financial circumstances of struggling, small schools.

Overall, however, if information is presented in a way that does not encourage ranking or identification of individuals, almost all school data could be reported publicly.

The full report, Reporting and Comparing School Performances, by ACER researchers Geoff Masters, Glenn Rowley, John Ainley and Siek Toon Khoo, is available for download from ACER's research repository

A third of Australian and New Zealand tertiary students seriously consider leaving their institutions before graduation, according to results from a new study of student engagement conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and released on 24 April.

A representative sample of more than 25,000 students from 29 Australian and New Zealand universities participated in the latest cycle of the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE), conducted in 2008 – the largest and most advanced survey of its kind.

Results show that, on average, 33 per cent of tertiary students consider leaving their institutions before graduation. Further, according to the AUSSE report, this figure is an underestimate, as it excludes students who have already discontinued their study.

Universities have been very successful in engaging students into study. The findings underline the challenges that institutions face in engaging students through to graduation.

Field of education has a significant effect on students’ ‘early departure’ intentions. Science and agriculture students are the most likely to remain engaged through to graduation. Architecture, education and creative arts students report being most likely to depart prior to degree completion.

Students from remote backgrounds, students with disabilities, international students, and Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Maori and Pasifik Islander students all report higher than average intentions of leaving study before completion.

Students are significantly more likely to consider leaving for practical or financial reasons rather than due to the quality of education.

Engaging students in the overall educational experience, providing effective individual support, and setting high expectations, however, may induce students to complete their education.

The AUSSE report reveals that university staff members underestimate the extent of the problem. In 2008, while about one out of every three Australasian students seriously considered departing their institution before graduation, staff saw the number as closer to one in 10.

The AUSSE report reveals that university staff members underestimate the extent of the problem. In 2008, while about one out of every three Australasian students seriously considered departing their institution before graduation, staff saw the number as closer to one in 10.

According to the AUSSE Director, ACER Principal Research Fellow Dr Hamish Coates, managing student engagement effectively is vital to enhancing student retention.

“The early departure rate varies from 22.0 per cent at one institution to 44.9 per cent at another. Clearly, these figures are serious, and carry relevance for students and institutions, for the professions and for the economy as a whole,” he says.

“The results as a whole, however, suggest that by monitoring students’ satisfaction, support and learning outcomes, higher education institutions can reduce early departure and set conditions that enhance educational success,” Dr Coates said.

The full report, Engaging Students for Success is available on the AUSSE web page.

(April 28, 2009) Aside from a few standouts, the Causes application on the social networking website Facebook has shown little success for charities as a fundraising tool, as many of the organizations using it have received no donations through the site.

An April 22 article in The Washington Post points to the fact that for the 179,000 total Causes profiles created on Facebook, the median gift is just $25 and “only a tiny fraction have brought in even $1,000.” Fewer than 50 groups have raised $10,000 and just two have raised $100,000 or more, the Post reports.

The article says that Causes “has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions.”

It goes on to say that despite the high hopes of nonprofits that they could replicate the online fundraising success of Barack Obama in his campaign for the presidency, nonprofits have found online fundraising to be less fruitful due to the greater level of outreach needed to gain visibility.

But not everyone agrees that Facebook’s Causes application is a failure. Some point to the non-monetary benefits of the application as well as the newness of fundraising on social networking websites.

Read more from Assoc of Fundraising Professionals: http://www.afpnet.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=24890&folder_id=2545

Adape has pleasure in providing the Adape Branding Guidelines developed by Billy Blue Creative as part of the rebranding of Adape that took place in early 2009.

This is an excellent resource for members to use as a guide for your own branding. The document contains the rationale for change, mandatory elements, describes correct usage, approved colour palettes and give examples of appropriate usages well as usage that is not allowed.

The Branding Guidelines is an invaluable backgound tool for any institution looking at undertaking a rebranding exercise.

The Branding Guide can be downloaded in the Resources>Library area of the website.

This publication is a service for Adape Members only.

Adape is please to announce the development of a checklist to assist development professionals achieve industry best practice.
This checklist will help fundraising and development offices self assess their practices, reflect on progress towards goals and indentify issues to assist with successfully attaining these goals. The checklist was developed by a committee of Adape professionals, chaired by David Day of Redlands School, Sydney and our great thanks go to David and his committee.

This publication is a service for Adape Members only, go to the Resources>Library area of the website

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Fundraising Institute Australia and the Centre for Social Impact are working together to run the first comprehensive research to assess the effect of the economic downturn on Australian charities and nonprofit organisations.
 
The "Managing the Downturn" survey will assess the projected increases and decreases in fundraising and other income streams resulting from the economic downturn to help policy makers and charities make informed decisions in response to the economic downturn if income streams soften and the demand for services rises. In Australia, early indications are that charities are anticipating a drop in their donations and have begun to reduce the number of services offered.

To participate in the survey, click here or go to www.fia.org.au. Each participant will receive copies of the report to be released in mid-June. The survey closes on Monday 4 May 2009.

For more information, please contact Marianne Ramsay on mramsay@fia.org.au .

A mystery is unfolding in the world of college fundraising: During the past few weeks, at least nine universities have received gifts totaling more than $45 million, and the schools had to promise not to try to find out the giver's identity.

One school went so far as to check with the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security just to make sure a $1.5 million gift didn't come from illegal sources.

"In my last 28 years in fundraising ... this is the first time I've dealt with a gift that the institution didn't know who the donor is," said Phillip D. Adams, vice president for university advancement at Norfolk State University, which received $3.5 million.

The gifts ranged from $8 million at Purdue to $1.5 million donated to the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The University of Iowa received $7 million; the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the University of Maryland University College got $6 million each; the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs was given $5.5 million; and Penn State-Harrisburg received $3 million.

It's not clear whether the gifts came from an individual, an organization or a group of people with similar interests. In every case, the donor or donors dealt with the universities through lawyers or other middlemen. Some of the money came in cashier's checks, while other schools received checks from a law firm or another representative.

All the schools had to agree not to investigate the identity of the giver. Some were required to make such a promise in writing.

"Our chancellor was called to a Denver law office and had to sign a confidentiality agreement that she would not try to find out," said Tom Hutton, spokesman at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "Once the chancellor signed it, she was emphatic that we don't try to find out."

Each was delivered since March 1 and came with the same stipulation: Most of the money must be used for student scholarships, and the remainder can be spent on various costs such as research, equipment, strategic goals and operating support.

"We have no idea who this generous individual is, but we're extremely grateful," said Lynette Marshall, president and chief executive of the University of Iowa foundation. "This is the first time in my 25-year career that something of this magnitude has happened."

Usually when schools receive anonymous donations, the school knows the identity of the benefactor but agrees to keep it secret. Not knowing who is giving the money can raise thorny problems.

William Massey, vice chancellor for alumni and development at UNC-Asheville, said the school contacted the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS to make sure the money was legal before accepting it.

"There may be an ethical problem if you knowingly accept funds from ill-gotten gains," said Colorado Springs' Hutton. University officials "do due diligence and ask the appropriate questions and receive satisfactory answers."

The $6 million donated to the University of Southern Mississippi was the largest single gift ever bestowed to the school.

"It was a remarkable gift particularly during these economic times," said David Wolf, vice president of advancement.

"I think somebody is out there, or potentially a group of people, that has a great respect for the value of a college education and the power that it brings," Wolf said. "Gosh, if it's the same person or the same collective group of people, it's an amazing story."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h__Lb-zV0-GM5i9ZxKr5YwrgxHjAD97JS7J80

Facebook Group Seeks to Oust Notre Dame President After Obama Invite

A Web site launched Thursday 16 April asks Notre Dame alumni and financial supporters to join a Facebook group and to sign a petition pledging to withhold contributions until the university's president is replaced "with someone who will be more loyal to the teaching of the Catholic Church."

Read more

An overwhelming majority (88%) of marketers in a recent survey say they are now using some form of social media to market their business, though 72% of those using it say they have only been at it a few months or less, according to a social media study by Michael Stelzner, sponsored by the upcoming Social Media Success Summit 2009.

The study, which set out to understand how and why marketers are using social media to grow and promote their businesses, found that Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook - in that order - are the top four social media tools used by marketers.

Read more here

On 5 April 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard MP, announced that 5,965 Australian Schools will receive $828.16 million in funding for minor infrastructure and refurbishment projects under Round One of the National School Pride (NSP) program.

The $1.3 billion NSP program will deliver much needed funding for minor infrastructure and school refurbishment projects and immediate support for local jobs, with many of the NSP projects beginning in April 2009.

Further details and lists of successful schools can be found here

SMH March 24, 2009

Heath Gilmore Higher Education Reporter

UNIVERSITIES must stop treating TAFE colleges as "poor cousins" if Federal Government higher education reforms are to succeed, TAFE directors believe.

They describe the outlook of universities as akin to "master and servant relationship" with "academic snobbery alive and well". In a speech to the Higher Education Congress in Sydney today, the director of TAFE's Sydney Institute, Pam Christie, will support closer ties between universities and vocational education and training institutions and a more seamless movement of students between them.

However, Ms Christie said a big impediment to a meaningful and productive partnership was the "poor cousin" outlook.

The speech by Ms Christie is seen as a significant indicator of the vocational sector's views.

Read the full story

• Tasmania and South Australia recorded the highest median ages in June 2008 at 39.4 and 39.0 years respectively.
  
• The Northern Territory recorded the lowest median age at 31.1 years, followed by the Australian Capital Territory at 34.7 years.

Australia's sex ratio (the number of males per 100 females in the population) at 30 June 2008 was 98.9 males per 100 females.


The ABS animated population pyramids for all states, territories and Australia have been updated on the ABS website 20 March 2009.

More details available in Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories, June 2008 (cat. no. 3201.0). Summary

Population by age and sex, state by state, downloads available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3201.0Jun%202008?OpenDocument

NZ PM, John Key opened the Phlanthopy NZ Annual Conference on 18 March, 2009.

The Government is looking at ways to encourage giving to charities using tax rebates as a sweetener.

Prime Minister John Key told the Philanthropy New Zealand conference that the Government was keen to foster a culture of generosity and giving, especially as the country entered tougher economic times.

Individuals can already claim a third of their donations to registered charities as a rebate but the Government is looking at extending that to donations of goods and services, and enabling employees to immediately receive a tax rebate on gifts if they made it through the payroll system.

It was also exploring ways that people could give back the tax rebate they received to the organisation they originally gave to, and possible refunds of imputation credits for the charitable sector.

Read the full speech

The NZ Herald 20 March reports that Revenue Minister, Peter Dunne said officials were working on providing a similar rebate for "gifts in kind" rather than money.

One example was items such as artwork given to charity auctions.

The issue of whether a rebate could be claimed for time given to a charity was more complex. One possibility was distinguishing gifts of professional services from general volunteer work.

"Gift aid" is likely to be included at the same time - a process allowing people to ask for their rebates to be directed straight to a charity, rather than back to themselves.

Mr Dunne's work on the measures began under the previous Government and Mr Key committed National to continue with it in his speech to Philanthropy NZ.

As well as removing the cap for rebates on donations in 2007, legislation to allow workers to give directly from their payroll system - and simultaneously get the rebate paid - is before a select committee and expected to pass this year.

WA recorded the second biggest shift towards private schools in Australia over the past decade, new figures reveal. 

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures examining school, student, teacher, participation and retention figures from 1998 to 2008, showed WA non-government schools increased their share of the student market by more than 6 percentage points since 1998 to 34 per cent.

The ACT recorded the biggest increase.

The number of WA private school students soared by more than 35 per cent over the decade to 118,710 pupils last year. Only Queensland had a bigger rise. There were 3733 more private school students last year than in 2007, while the number of students enrolled in WA government schools — 230,947 in 2008 — has remained fairly consistent since 1998.

WA is well above the national trend of a 22 per cent increase in the number of private school students over the past 10 years.

See the full article

The number of Indigenous school students enrolled in Year 12 has doubled since 1999, according to detailed statistical data from the National Schools Census released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

In 2008, there were 4,779 Indigenous school students enrolled in Year 12, compared with 2,206 enrolled in 1999. Overall in 2008, 151,669 school students were identified as Indigenous, a 42% increase on the 1999 total of 106,628 students.

The apparent retention rate of Indigenous male students from Years 7/8 to Year 12 increased from 30% in 1998 to 43% in 2008, and for Indigenous females it increased from 35% to 50%. In contrast, for non-Indigenous male students the increase was from 67% to 70%, and from 79% to 82% among females.

See more

SMH, Anna Patty, 17 March, 2009

INDEPENDENT schools in NSW have reported an overall increase in enrolments this year, despite having bled some students to the public school system.

The Association of Independent Schools of NSW said yesterday it had collected data in February from more than 340 private schools. It said there had been a 1.4 per cent increase in enrolments - almost 2000 students overall - since August.

Read the full article

The Age, Dan Harrison, Canberra, March 17, 2009

THE Federal Government has launched a multimillion-dollar push to defend Australia's share of the international student market against the economic slowdown.

The Government will spend $3.5 million on the push in the next nine months, which will target Australia's best sources of students, including China, India, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

The push will include speeches by world-renowned Australian educators at major international events, greater strategic advice for Australian universities and colleges, better training for education agents and improved welfare and support services for international students in Australia.

Education Minister Julia Gillard told a gathering of international educators: "Our 2009 enrolments are holding up, but the challenge is maintaining our position in a tough financial climate."

Ms Gillard said that in an increasingly competitive international marketplace, more work was needed to improve students' experiences on and off campus.

"International students tell us that word of mouth is one of the most common ways they make their study in Australia choice," she said.

Education is Australia's third-largest export after coal and iron ore, supporting about 80,000 Australian jobs and contributing $14.2 billion to the economy last financial year.

The nation's international student numbers grew by 21 per cent last year, the largest increase since 2002. The first enrolment data for the year is expected to be released this week, but anecdotally, universities report steady demand.

Read the full article

The Sunday Age Michelle Hamer, March 14, 2009

VICTORIA'S small independent schools face serious financial challenges and possible closure with enrolments dropping and school fee debts mounting.

Financial and liquidation experts say many private schools are under strain as the economic crisis bites and parents default on the payment of school fees. They warn that small independent schools, which flourished under the Howard government, are especially vulnerable as the economy falters, but that even some of Melbourne's established schools are finding it tough.

Anticipating a looming crisis for many families, an insurance company says that this week, for the first time in Australia, it will begin offering parents school fee insurance to cover an inability to pay fees.

"There's a lot of pain out there," said a finance expert who has spent the past few months working closely with the business managers of several private schools.

"They have to be very, very vigilant with their cash flow issues. The schools I deal with tell me they're seeing significant reductions in enrolments.

"It's a different world for independent schools now, and it seems things will only get worse," said the expert, who declined to be named.

Most private schools were unwilling to speak on the record about their financial position although many conceded they were worried. Outstanding school fees now run into the millions of dollars.

Read the full article

Read the New York Times Money Feature: Round table on Philanthropy: Wealth and Affluence - Education and Schools

The New York Times Magazine invited five interested parties to lunch to discuss the new world of educational philanthropy. Read an edited transcript of the conversation here.

Many years ago in 1987 a small group of professionals involved in school development decided to meet on a regular basis to share experiences. By September 1990 the formally constituted national association, ADAPE was formed with a common professional interest – advancing education.

Over time the ADAPE brand name has grown and today ADAPE has around 800 members across Australia and NZ and we have become a leading voice in educational development.

Naturally, the organisation has changed and developed over the years and we are set for some more exciting changes this year in line with the formation of a single constitutional entity, but our brand identity has remained the same. It is time that our brand reflected the organisation’s new direction and ethos as it stands today.

With strategic direction from one of our sponsors, leading brand consultancy Billy Blue Creative, ADAPE proudly unveils the new brand that will guide the organisation through the transition to a single constitution in 2009 and well beyond.

Launching a new brand identity in such a changing economic climate signals our intention to remain strong and focussed on our core mission. We are boldly embracing change and we believe that if we show flexibility, strength and stay true to our purpose, we may help to inspire our members to do the same.

Times may be in a state of flux, but being seen to evolve your brand, reposition your core values, even expand or concentrate your market offering, is a sign of an active, focussed and thriving business well positioned in the marketplace.

We must thank the team from Billy Blue Creative for their outstanding direction in our rebranding, you will see all our new materials rolled out in the next few months. We will also be featuring a story on our rebranding process in the upcoming hard copy Face2Face magazine.

If you would like further information on rebranding please contact Andrew Usher, Strategic Development Manager at Billy Blue Creative at ausher@billybluecreative.com.au

We trust you like our new look, which we believe is strong, modern, fresh and speaks very clearly about our core business.

Read the full transcript of the first of three speeches presented by Julia Gillard at the Universities Australia Conference on 4 March 2009, addressing the Bradley Report and the Rudd Government's approach for reform of Universities here.

Read all the latest media reports here

The Rudd Government's review of Higher Education (some points from the Executive Summary) read the Exec Summary here, see more including the full report here:

The review was established to address the question of whether this critical sector of education is structured, organised and financed to position Australia to compete effectively in the new globalised economy. The panel has concluded that, while the system has great strengths, it faces significant, emerging threats which require decisive action. To address these, major reforms are recommended to the financing and regulatory frameworks for higher education.

Briefly, the panel recommends a package of reforms which if adopted will achieve the following outcomes:

Targets

• national targets for attainment of degree qualifications and for participation of low socio-economic status students will be set and institution-specific targets for participation and performance established and monitored;
• targets will be set to enable national benchmarking against other OECD countries to track system quality and performance;

Students

• all qualified students will receive an entitlement for a Commonwealth subsidised higher education place;
• students will have a choice of where to study at recognised institutions;
• funding will follow the student;
• institutions will have freedom to enrol as many students as they wish; 
• funding for teaching will be increased; 
• funding for low socio-economic status students will be significantly increased; 
• funding for provision in regional and rural areas will be increased;
• levels of student financial support will be increased and eligibility made fairer based on need

Institutions

• all higher education institutions, including universities, will be accredited;
  
• criteria for the title of university and for the right to offer research degrees will be tightened;
  
• a proportion of the funds allocated to institutions will be allocated on the basis of performance against specific targets for teaching and equity; 
  
• funds for research will be increased to more fairly reflect costs; 
• funds will be made available to assist institutions to make structural changes;

The national framework

• accountability will be simplified and streamlined to allow each institution to play to its strengths; 
• the Australian Government will assume the primary funding and overall regulatory responsibility for tertiary education; 
• the Australian Government will establish an independent national tertiary education regulatory body;
• and the Australian Government will progressively extend the tertiary entitlement to the vocational education and training (VET) sector commencing with higher level VET qualifications.

The guidelines for applying for funding from the Building and Education Revolution are now available: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Documents/09-099%20BER%20guidelines_APPROVED.pdf

The guidelines provide details on how to access the $14.7 billion in funding available for school capital works over the next three years. There is certainly funding available for non-government schools and mention of the specific criteria for this is made in the PDF outlined above.

The purpose of the BER Guidelines (the Guidelines) is to assist states, territories, Block Grant Authorities (BGAs) and schools to submit project proposals for funding under BER.

Further information about BER and the application process can be found:

• by calling the DEEWR Call Centre—1300 363 079;
• at the BER website: www.buildingtheeducationrevolution.gov.au; or
• by sending an email to BER@deewr.gov.au
  

Schools should contact their state, territory or BGA coordinator for further information—the list of these is at: www.buildingtheeducationrevolution.gov.au

On behalf of the Council and all ADAPE members, we would like to express our deepest sympathy to our friends in Victoria who have suffered so badly in the devastating bushfires.

Schools and universities form the central spoke for many communities and the impact on the students and staff as well as parents, relatives and friends sends ripples across the nation.

Please be assured that we are on hand and ready should there be anything, in anyway that we can assist with.

Donations can be made to help the victims in a number of ways:

The Salvation Army online at https://salvos.org.au/donate/secure-online-donations/?appeal=drvicfires or by calling 13 Salvos (137 258)

The Red Cross online at http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm or by calling 1800 811 700

To donate to the NAB’s bushfire relief fund, phone 136 NAB (136 622)

Myer will match dollar-for-dollar any donations to the appeal made to the Red Cross through their stores. To donate through Myer, visit the service centre at a Myer store.

In summary the relevant parts for the communique with regard to the Building the Education Revolution are: 

The Commonwealth will provide $14.7 billion over three years for major and minor infrastructure projects for Australia’s 9,540 schools.  This will fund schools to build and upgrade facilities which will be available for broader community use.  These include 21st Century libraries, multi-purpose halls, secondary school science laboratories and language learning centres.  This funding will help to stimulate economies in local communities through the scale and pace of construction work undertaken.  Building the Education Revolution includes:

• $12.4 billion for Primary Schools for the 21st Century;
  
• $1 billion for Science and Language Centres for the 21st Century Secondary Schools;
  
• $1.3 billion for National School Pride program; and
  

• bringing forward up to an additional $110 million to fund quality proposals in Round Two of the Trade Training Centres in Schools Program, building on the $277 million currently available.

COAG agreed that bilateral agreements will be entered into by 13 February 2009 with each State and Block Grant Authority (BGA) that specify the conditions, commitments, timeframes, consequences of non-compliance and reporting arrangements to enable rapid delivery of this major investment in Australia’s schools.

In recognition of the need to deliver the financial stimulus from Building the Education Revolution as quickly as possible, COAG agreed:

• under Primary Schools for the 21st Century, States and BGAs to prioritise schools into three funding rounds for Commonwealth approval:
  
  Round One construction must start no later than June 2009; 
  
  Round Two construction must start by July-August 2009 and 
  
  Round Three construction must start by 1 December 2009
  
  All projects are to be completed by 30 June 2011;
  
• under Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools, schools will be funded on a competitive basis where schools can demonstrate need, readiness and capacity to complete construction by 30 June 2010;
  
• under the National School Pride program, for Commonwealth approval State education authorities and BGAs to assess applications in each round, with 60 per cent of projects to commence in 2008-09, and the remaining 40 per cent in 2009-10.

Further implementation details that are agreed by Leaders are contained in Attachment A reproduced below. 

ATTACHMENT A

TIMELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VARIOUS NATION BUILDING AND JOBS PLAN INITIATIVES INVOLVING THE STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Primary Schools for the 21st Century

Round 1: 20 per cent of schools

• 4-6 February 2009 – the Department of Education, Employment, Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to convene briefing sessions for government education authorities and Block Grant Authorities (BGAs)
  
• February–April 2009 – States and territories (the States) and BGAs assess proposals incorporating views of Parents and Friends and Parents and Citizens groups as appropriate, and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval
  
• No later than June 2009 – Projects commence
  
        o This will be on the basis of a set of design templates that must be used by each project to be submitted by the States to the Commonwealth no later than 16 February 2009, unless a school has a pre-approved design available, or can demonstrate within a specified timeframe that non-use of the template is reasonable, appropriate and that the building process can still be expedited and achieved in the prescribed timeframes
  
• No later than December 2010 – Projects completed

Round 2: 40 per cent of schools

• April–May 2009 – the States and BGAs assess proposals and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval
  
• No later than July-August 2009 – Projects commence
  
        o This will be on the basis of a set of design templates that must be used by each project, unless a school has a pre-approved design available, or can demonstrate within a specified timeframe that non-use of the template is reasonable, appropriate and that the building process can still be expedited and achieved in the prescribed timeframes
  
• No later than January 2011 – Projects completed

Round 3: 40 per cent of schools

• June–July 2009 – the States and BGAs assess proposals and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval
  
• No later than 1 December 2009 – Projects commence 
  
        o  This will be on the basis of a set of design templates that must be used by each project, unless a school has a pre-approved design available, or can demonstrate within a specified timeframe that non-use of the template is reasonable, appropriate and that the building process can still be expedited and achieved in the prescribed timeframes
  
• No later than March 2011 – Projects complete

Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Schools

• Secondary schools will be funded on a competitive basis where schools can demonstrate need, readiness and capacity to complete construction by 30 June 2010 
  
• 4-6 February 2009 – DEEWR to convene briefing sessions for government education authorities and BGAs
  
• March–June 2009 – the States and BGAs assess proposals and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval by June 2009 at the latest 
  
           o   This will be on the basis of a set of design templates that must be used by each project to be submitted by the States to the Commonwealth no later than 16 February 2009, unless a school has a pre-approved design available, or can demonstrate within a specified timeframe that non-use of the template is reasonable, appropriate and that the building process can still be expedited and achieved in the prescribed timeframes
  
• July 2009 – Projects commence 
  
• June 2010 – Projects completed

National School Pride Program

Round 1: 60 per cent of schools

• 4-9 February 2009 – DEEWR to convene briefing sessions for government education authorities and BGAs 
  
  February-March 2009 – the States and BGAs to assess proposals and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval by 30 March 2009 at the latest
  
• April-May 2009 – Projects commence
  
• 31 December 2009 – Projects completed

Round 2: 40 per cent of schools

• April-May 2009 – the States and BGAs to assess proposals and submit lists to the Commonwealth for approval by 30 May 2009 at the latest
  
• Late July 2009 – Projects commence
  
• February 2010 – Projects completed

For information on how to apply for capital funding, non government schools should contact the relevant Block Grant Authority (BGA) in their state or territory see: http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/programmes_funding/general_funding/capital_grants/cgp/non_gov/BGA_contact.htm

Joint Media Release with

The Prime Minister &

Deputy Prime Minister

Building the Education Revolution – New and Upgraded Building in Every Australian School

To boost jobs and invest in Australia’s long term future the Rudd Government will build or upgrade buildings in every one of Australia’s 9,540 schools.

Building the Education Revolution is a $14.7 billion long term investment to improve the quality of facilities, like gymnasiums, libraries and science labs in Australian schools.

Building the Education Revolution will commence in 2008-09 and will:

• Build or upgrade large scale infrastructure, such as libraries and multipurpose halls in every primary school, special school, and K-12 school in Australia.

• Build around 500 new science laboratories and language learning centres in high schools with a demonstrated need for upgraded facilities.

• Provide up to $200,000 to every Australian school for maintenance and renewal of school buildings and minor building works.

This historic nation building investment by the Rudd Government will not only support jobs – it is also a down payment on the long term strength of the Australian economy.

By improving the quality of education received by every Australian child, this program will help deliver the stimulus of today and underwrite higher productivity tomorrow.

Building the Education Revolution is a key element of the Government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan to support up to 90,000 Australian jobs over the next two years.

http://www.treasurer.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2009/011.htm&pageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType=

The full details can be found in: MID-YEAR ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK 2008-09 http://www.budget.gov.au/2008-09/content/myefo/html/index.htm

See Table A.3: Estimated payments to support state education services, by year and State on pages 90 – 92

Education

In 2008-09, the States will receive $11.2 billion to support state education services. Of this, $6.3 billion is allocated to non-government schools and $3.4 billion is allocated to government schools. From 1 January 2009, the Commonwealth will provide a financial contribution to support state and non-government school services under the new National Education Agreement and a financial contribution to support vocational education and training under the National Skills and Workforce Agreement.

For fact sheets on levels of funding available, see http://www.deewr.gov.au/Schooling/BuildingTheEducationRevolution/Pages/default.aspx

The NSW education system will be significantly improved under a plan to keep all students at school or vocational training until they are 17, Premier Nathan Rees says.

The minimum leaving age of 15 will increase from the start of the school year in 2010, with students having to remain in some form of formal education for two more years.

Mr Rees said the move would have long-term benefits and would bring NSW in line with other states, all of which have a leaving age of at least 16.

see the full report: http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/minimum-school-leaving-age-jumps-to-17-20090128-7r4d.html

SMH, January 25, 2009

Caroline Marcus


ALMOST half of Australian families would rather go on holiday than spend on private schooling for their children, research has shown.

However, parents of private school students still reported greater satisfaction about their children's education than those at public schools, according to a poll of 469 respondents conducted this month by BankWest.

The survey found that almost one in two Australians said they would not be willing to send their children to private and Catholic schools if it meant giving up their annual holidays.

The research also found 28 per cent of respondents would rather renovate their house than use their savings on a private school, 18 per cent would prefer to spend on fashion, 13 per cent would rather buy a flat-screen television and one in 25 would use the money on cosmetic surgery or beauty treatments.

The bank's group external communications manager, Adrian Bradley, said the results supported anecdotal reports of public schools becoming overcrowded with "private school refugees".

"Australians put a higher priority on maintaining their lifestyle than investing in their children's private school education," he said.

"Many families feel the education their children will receive from government schools is more than satisfactory and, as a result, are channelling their finances towards other priorities."

However, the research appears to fly in the face of an improved satisfaction rating for private schools, which has risen during the past 12 months while dipping for government schools. More than 85 per cent of parents said they were satisfied with the education their children received at private schools, a rise from 81 per cent last year.

Catholic schools also showed a marginal increase in satisfaction ratings, increasing from 84 per cent to 84.4 per cent in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, the number of satisfied public school parents dropped from 73 per cent to 67 per cent in the same period.

Almost 15 per cent of Australians said that for financial reasons they were considering moving their children into public schools, leading many private schools to freeze fee increases to stop the exodus, Mr Bradley said.

Research showed most private and Catholic school parents used their income (81 per cent) to pay for education, 16 per cent used savings, and the rest relied on annual bonuses, inheritance, extra jobs and borrowed money.

Reasons for choosing a private school included the standard of education, discipline, a better academic record and resources. Others were a greater focus on social values, networking opportunities for their children, religious education and social opportunities for parents.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/holidays-come-top-of-the-class/2009/01/24/1232471656535.html

All new ADAPE members will receive a 1 year subscription to Fundraising & Philanthropy Magazine for free (value $77 for 4 editions).

CEO Online reports that Australia is one of only 12 countries positive about the financial outlook for 2009, according to new research.

Almost half (46%) of privately held businesses in Australia have declared themselves optimistic about the domestic economy, remaining buoyant about the future despite the impact of the global financial crisis.

This resilience places Australia tenth in the Grant Thornton International optimism/pessimism barometer - ranking behind entrepreneurs in emerging economies India and Brazil, but well ahead of competitors in the traditional powerhouse markets like the United States, Japan and the UK.

The 2009 Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) tracks market sentiment amongst more than 7,200 business owners from 36 different economies. Based on the data, analysts create a global league table, which records whether each of the respondent nations has a net optimistic/pessimistic outlook for the year ahead*.

According to the latest data, optimism around the world has slumped by 56% in the last 12 months. Australia is one of just ten countries with a double digit optimism rating, registering a score of net score of + 11% against a global average of -16%.

Australian respondents also had generally more positive expectations about specific business trends than their global counterparts:

• 80% expect their turnover in 2009 to increase or remain the same
  
• Two thirds believe their profitability will hold steady or rise
  
• Two fifths (39%) are planning to increase their investment in plants and machinery

Read more: http://www.ceoonline.com/pages/id28007.aspx

*The ‘balance of optimism/pessimism' is calculated by subtracting the percentage of those who made a negative forecast about the year, from the numbers who were positive about prospects for 2009. The difference between the two figures becomes the net positive or negative score for that country.

Fundraising has again been ranked among the best careers by U.S. News and World Report, receiving a grade of “A” in all categories including prestige and job market outlook.

The report also gave fundraising an “A” in job satisfaction and training difficulty. Click here to read the U.S. News and World Report story on the job of fundraising.

Source: http://www.afpnet.org/ka/ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=24778&folder_id=2545

CEO Online's article for CEO's and busines owners has some useful tips on relationships, marketing, communications and advertising that can equally be applied to the educational institution setting.

Read the article on line: http://www.ceoonline.com/pages/id28002.aspx

Social background plays only a small role in accounting for differences in occupational status and earnings at age 24, indicating that education is enhancing social mobility, a recent Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) study found.

The study, released today, found that, in general, post-school education and training leads to higher status occupations and higher earnings, compared to not doing any further study or training.

View entire media release

Download media release (PDF: 248KB)

The Occupations and Earnings of Young Australians: The role of education and training

(LSAY Research Report No 55), November 2008 Gary N. Marks

Part of our arrangement with CASE, ADAPE members can download all the presentations from the recent CASE Asia-Pacific Conference.

Bob Burdenski’s presentation on post Obama annual giving is highly recommended:

For all presentations go to http://www.case.org/conferences/hk08/speaker_notes.cfm.

Be sure to mention that you are a member of ADAPE to be able to register at the Menbers' rate at the FIA Conference.

Fundraising and Philanthropy Magazine (F&P) archives contain almost every article ever published in the magazine and their monthly e-bulletin.

Search for case studies, interviews, strategy pieces, best practice examples, trends stories and much more.

You can search the archives either by doing a key word search, or by browsing a specific edition of F&P, click the link http://www.fpmagazine.com.au/s9_archive.html

The Australian Tax Office has reminded endorsed charities of the need to undertake

regular self-reviews of their endorsement status and to keep a record of their reviews.

This follows the findings from a recent ATO sample review of endorsed charities to make sure that charities are aware of their obligations especially as some charities will experience a change of office bearers.

In a recent exercise, the ATO contacted a sample of endorsed charities to make sure they were aware of their ongoing obligation to self-review and they were also asked to advise the ATO of the steps they had taken to meet this obligation.

Charities were also asked to explain in writing if they were no longer entitled to be endorsed.

Findings from the exercise included:

Imagine someone who leaves money to charitable organisations in their will, and you would probably think of someone with lots of cash and no family to share it with, but this is far from reality, new research has revealed.

The results of the Keeping Giving Going study, which were revealed in Brisbane on 7 November, have shown that that many bequestors did not meet the stereotype of the lone, wealthy individual.

Dr Kym Madden, senior research fellow at Queensland University of Technology's Centre of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, said the study found a substantial proportion of those naming a charity in their will were Baby Boomers, commonly on a modest income and who had a family.

"Our study shows that charitable bequestors do not need to be wealthy, and many are not," Dr Madden said.

"From more than 1000 Australian donors surveyed, with the sample split almost evenly between those who have left a bequest and those who have not, it is clear that people are shying away from this giving option because of misperceptions.

"There is a myth that a bequest to charity has to involve a large amount of money and, if you have family, you don't do it. This study's findings indicate that this is not true anymore, if this once was.

"Today's bequest pledger commonly believes that a bequest can be given because family members will be well provided for."

Co-researcher Dr Wendy Scaife said the study showed that the decision to leave a bequest was driven by an individual's values and a strong belief in the causes that were supported.

"Bequestors want to make an impact," Dr Scaife said.

"They see a bequest as a way to express what they believe in, and because a bequest is probably the largest monetary gift that most people will ever give, it is not a decision made lightly.

"Those who name a charity in their will are particularly drawn to charities that have excellent reputations, good management and a focused mission. They want to know that their donations will achieve results."

Dr Scaife said that the single greatest factor that triggered people into leaving bequests was making or re-making an out-of-date will, however, only 58 per cent of adult Australians had a will and many of these have wills that are not current with their circumstances.

She said the study highlighted that those who had not left a charitable bequest were not firmly against the idea, just unsure about the merits of doing so or how to go about it, say the researchers.

"Charities that show that a bequest is an affordable option, with real benefits, are speaking the language of today's supporter," she said.

Keeping Giving Going is the largest study of bequest pledgers in Australia to date and has been undertaken with the support of two private trusts managed by Perpetual Trustee Company Ltd.

Fact box:

• Individuals with an annual household income of under $52,000 per annum were significantly more likely to have included a charity in their will than those on higher incomes.
• While 87 per cent of Australians give to a charity at least once a year, fewer than eight per cent actually leave a charitable bequest.
  
• 45 per cent of those who have not left a charitable bequest in their will were open to the idea of doing so.
  
• Having to decide how to distribute their money and possessions was a barrier to making a will for 26 per cent of people.

see the full report click here

A Senate Inquiry is now underway into the disclosure regimes and models of regulation for charities and not-for-profit organisations. Dr Ted Flack attended a Roundtable discussion with members of the Senate Standing Committee on Economics charged with reporting on the issue before the end of the year. Ted has prepared the following report for ADAPE.

On 18 June 2008, Senator Allison (Democrats) moved that the Senate note the report by CHOICE on charities, published online in March 2008, that highlights the wide variability and inconsistency in the way that charities disclose information to the public. The Senate agreed to an inquiry which will examine:

1.      the relevance and appropriateness of current disclosure regimes for charities and all other not-for-profit organisations;

2.      models of regulation and legal forms that would improve governance and management of charities and not-for-profit organisations and cater for emerging social enterprises, and;

3.      other measures that can be taken by government and the not-for-profit sector to assist the sector to improve governance, standards, accountability and transparency in its use of public and government funds.

The debate during the Roundtable was largely between those who favour compulsory migration of all medium and large non profit organisations to a new form of national regulation and those that prefer voluntary transfer of only those organisations that are incorporated as Associations under State and Territory laws to a new national form of incorporated association.

Those who argue that all nonprofits should come under a new national regulator, like the Charity Commission in England and Wales, argue that having a single regulator for incorporation, fundraising legislation and tax status, suggest that this radical reform is necessary because the present systems of regulation are complex and inefficient and do not provide the public with transparency and accountability.

Those that argue for more modest reform, assert that most of the undoubted benefits of having a single national regulator can be achieved without the very considerable cost of forced migration to a single national regulator, through a combination of a new national associations incorporation Act and the harmonising of fundraising laws.

For most ADAPE members, what can be learned from the inquiry so far, is that

§          there is a growing dissatisfaction among the “commentariat” with the present system of taxation concessions for charities and other nonprofits;

§          that there is likely to be a growing public demand for greater levels of disclosure about the affairs of independent and catholic schools, and

§          this is likely to be the first of a series of inquiries into various aspects of charities and other nonprofits in the year ahead.

Billy Blue Creative's latest newsletter has tips about how to adjust your marketing and advertising to the latest economic conditions. To read all the inside hints, go to the Library page (Members Only)

The Australian Tax Office has released a new version of its guide Fundraising (NAT 13095-09.2008) for non-profit organisations. The new version replaces the one issued issued in March 2005.

The guide explains the tax treatment of various fundraising activities and the concessions available. It also outlines state, territory and local government requirements in relation to fundraising.

The new version incorporates changes to the tax law since the last issue of the guide.

These include:

• new tax deductions for gifts and contributions of shares
• new deductible gift recipient (DGR) categories for the relief of victims of disasters
• changes to the gift fund requirements for DGRs
• changes to the limits for tax deductible contributions
• changes to the goods and services tax (GST) registration turnover and cash accounting thresholds, and
• changes to the fringe benefits tax minor benefits threshold.

The Guide can be downloaded from the Library page of this website.

Following the first Benchmarking Survey of Educational Development in Australasia undertaken by ADAPE in 2005, a new survey has just been completed.

The survey aimed to profile and compare Australasian educational development offices, in both schools and the tertiary sector in quantitative terms; pinpoint emerging issues; and track any changes over time to allow informed decisions to be made about trends in educational development and to enable strategic planning for the future to take place in the context of evidence.

Download the full report here 

Read the story in The Australian from 16 September,

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24356487-12149,00.html

The Trevor Wigney Award is ADAPE’s most prestigious recognition of a member for outstanding service in the advancement of education in Australasia.  It recognises individuals who have made a significant contribution through exceptional advancement success in educational philanthropy and who have advanced the professionalism of their colleagues by mentoring and giving generously of their time, expertise, vision and conviction.  The Award is presented every two years at the ADAPE International Conference.

 

This year's winner was announced before more than 400 attendees at the Gala Dinner ay ADAPE's Conference on 12 September.

Congratulations to:

Henry Campey: Director of Business Development at The Glennie School, Toowoomba, QLD. Current President ADAPE QLD, Chair of 1998 ADAPE Conference (Adelaide), Chair of 2008 ADAPE International Conference. 

Henry has been involved in philathropic fundraising in education since 1993. Since establishing the Development Office at The Glennie School in 1998, he has raised $4.5 million and is responsible for marketing and promotions as well as philanthropic fundraising. Henry is an extremely hands-on professional and has been involved as a telethon caller, researcher and desk top publisher (amongst many other tasks) in order to assist The Glennie School achieve its goals. Henry is known for his patience and generosity in sharing his knowledge and practices and is a willing mentor of others. Under Henry's Presidency (2003-present), membership of ADAPE Qld has grown from 62 members in 2004 to 131 in 2008 and he took on the role of Chair of 2008 Conference, whilst also being heavily involved in celebrations for 100 Years of The Glennie School this year.  He has presented a number of papers at local PDs and represented ADAPE at the CNPS (QUT) Raising Funds for Educational Scholarships Seminar in 2006.

The ADAPE/CASE Volunteer Award pays tribute to the strong contributions of our volunteers who advance education in Australasia.

The recipient was announced at the ADAPE International Conference at the Gala Awards Dinner. 

The judging panel of Krista Slade (CASE - international panelist), Alan Watkinson (President, ADAPE Australasia) and Marilyn Rickard (Secretary, ADAPE Australasia) named Michael Robinson AO as the inaugural winner.  He will be profiled in the October issue of CASE’s monthly international magazine, CURRENTS.

Michael has been a very active member of the Scotch College, Melbourne, community over the last three decades holding various positions such as President of the OSCA (Alumni organisation) Council, Chairman of the Scotch College Council (Chairman for 11 years), President of the Scotch College Foundation Board, President of the Scotch College Foundation 2008 and Trustee of the Scotch College Foundation.The Robinson family fund a current scholarship student and at the launch of the Scotch College Bequest Society in 2003, he was the first to publically commit to a bequest.

Delegates can download presentations from the 2008 ADAPE Conference at www.tatu.net.au/adape.php.

You will need to enter your delegate number to access the records.

The new ADAPE website is now live. Please take the time to have a good look through the site, log on to the members area, and remember to update your details and check the box to receive our newsletters so we can stay in touch with you about member events and professional development. Enjoy!