Welcome to the Lessons Bank, the place that houses all of the key knowledge and hard-won truths accumulated through thousands of projects and programs carried out around Australia.

The real value of carrying out community work (and funding this work) is to learn from the experience, rather than just describe it.

That way we make sure that we are not caught in a cycle of endlessly reinventing the wheel and never really learning from the experience, nor sharing those lessons.

Case studies are great, but this collection will be different, because not only will it tell you about what was achieved, it will tell you how it was achieved - what worked and why.

We're Listening: Tell us What Works!

You can share with us - and with other community groups (and funders) - all the lessons about your own triumphs (and challenges) by filling in a Lessons Bank Template.

You can download and fill in the Template one of two ways:

Click Here to download the Template as a Word document, save it to your computer, fill it in electronically and email to denism@ourcommunity.com.au.
Click Here to download the Template as a PDF document, print it, fill it in and fax it to (03) 9326 6859 or post to PO Box 354 North Melbourne, 3051.

Your completed Template will be checked and loaded onto the website in PDF format, allowing other community organisations and funders to learn from your experiences.

This resource will build over time, eventually emerging as a fully indexed and searchable database of lessons - an invaluable resource for community organisations and grants managers.

We're learning What Works too!

We look forward to receiving your wisdom about What Works soon.

We also welcome suggestions for how we can improve this resource, including suggested changes to the Template.

Email your suggestions to denism@ourcommunity.com.au.

ABOUT THE CENTRE FOR WHAT WORKS

The Centre for What Works is the place where people can learn from others, save time and money and help reduce duplication of effort.

The Centre has four key resources for community groups, government and communities, taking the hard-won knowledge of one organisation and sharing it with many. These "knowledge banks" allow you to extract the lessons of others, or contribute your own - as the old adage goes, "None of us is as smart as all of us".

1. Lessons Bank - find out what projects others have worked on - what worked, what didn't, and what could have been done differently - before you start a similar project/program.

2. Plans and Tools Bank - download useful plans or handy tools (marketing plans, business plans, etc.) that will save you time and money when putting in place a new project/program.

3. Policy Bank - find a range of template policies and procedures relevant to not-for-profifi Boards and Committees and the organisations they govern.

4. Linkages Bank - this provides you with web links from around Australia and the across the world to the best knowledge and resources for community groups.

The Centre for What Works is a companion resource for Our Community's Centre for Best Practice in Grantmaking, helping grantmakers ensure their valuable resources go further and that knowledge is distributed more widely and effectively.