Celebrating our Partners
The Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund
Celebrating our Partners: Philanthropic Investment for Strong Community Organisations is an initiative making grants of up to $100,000 each to organisations working in the community sector with which The Myer Foundation and Sidney Myer Fund have had a significant relationship, to be used for the purposes of capacity development and organisational strengthening. The initiative includes a research component, looking at the impact of the grants, to be undertaken by Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Philanthropy and Non Profit Studies.
Thirty five community and non profit organisations from around Australia are sharing in this $3.6 million initiative, which aims to support community organisations to undertake activities that will strengthen them for the future.
Very few constraints have been placed around the use of the grant, for which participating organisation simply had to provide an outline of intended use. The Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (CPNS) at QUT is providing support in the form of resources, and partner workshops which bring participants together to share their challenges and successes.
Some organisations, such a The Otis Foundation in central Victoria, are using the funds to develop communications and marketing materials, to broaden their support base. In 2009, for the first time The Otis Foundation was able to provide a professionally produced Annual Report to its supporters. Others, such as CASE for Refugees in Western Australia, are utilising the funds to develop potential income streams, as an accredited training provider.
Fitzroy Learning network, in inner Melbourne, is focussing on staff and board development, providing opportunities for training and development that were not previously accessible on the organisation’s tight budget.
Compassionate Friends, which provides peer support for those who have experienced the death of a child or sibling, is using the grant to undertake a thorough and rigorous service review, while Indigenous Enterprise Partnerships is developing an evaluation model for its work to support indigenous organisations and communities.
With part of its grant Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia (RDAA) has developed an innovative way of delivering services. In response to straightened economic circumstances in the general community, and using the opportunity provided by technology, RDAA conducted the 2009 National Dressage Championships through submission of videos by contestants. RDAA followed this up with the first ever Asia Pacific Dressage Video Competition. As a Riding for the Disabled coach in Daylesford commented “It was a great day for the riders, coaches, volunteers and “conscripted” helpers and well worth the effort to participate. It was an experience the riders would not have been able to have without the opportunity to submit a DVD recording”.
CPNS has produced an Interim Evaluation report which paints a picture of a program that has been well received by participants as timely, and supportive of a range of capacity building activities. Through a series of surveys and interviews CPNS has found that participating organisations are using the funding to address areas needing improvement, but also investing in areas of perceived strength.
The interim report notes also the importance of peer to peer learning in supporting organisational development activities, suggesting that funding alone, while critical, is not sufficient to support organisational development. Having opportunities to participate in a community of learning has therefore been highly valued by participating organisations.
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Word cloud generated by survey responses to the question: “What have been the benefits of celebrating our partners funding for your organisation?”
Celebrating our Partners will continue through 2010, and for some participating organisations, beyond that. We hope that the impact of the grants for organisational strengthening will be felt for years to come, and be seen in the strong and vibrant organisations which have participated.
Click here to download the Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies’ Interim Evaluation Report.
