Policy Bank

Welcome to the Policy Bank, where you can find a range of free policies and procedures relevant to not-for-profit Boards and Committees and the organisations they govern.

As the old adage goes, "None of us is as smart as all of us". The Policy Bank creates a shared resource that takes the hard-won knowledge of one organisation and shares it with many.

There are a number of policy categories:

Human Resources Policies - Accenture
Human Resources Policies - Other contributors
Values Policies
Board Operational Policies
Governance Policies
Financial Management Policies
Financial Control Policies
Communications Policies
Other Policies

How to use the Policy Bank

Step One: Look through the list of policies and procedures below to locate the ones that your Board or organisation needs.

Step Two: Download the policy you want by clicking on the name and saving it to your own computer (the policies are provided in Microsoft Word format).

Step Three: Adapt the policy to suit the particular needs of your organisation. This step is very important as parts of the model policies may hold no relevance at all to your organisation, while other parts will need to be added or modified to suit your purposes.
- For example, some of the policies refer to a Human Resources Department. If your organisation does not have a HR Department, who is the responsible person? The template policies also refer to the "Board", so if your organisation is governed by, say, a Committee of Management you will need to substitute these terms.
- You also need to discuss which clauses you would like to keep, which you would like to modify, and which you would like to take out - in most cases there is no "one size fits all" answer. For example, the model Fundraising Policy prohibits door-to-door and telephone solicitations, which some community groups will be happy to authorise. This policy also flags the possibility of excluding certain companies and individuals from making donations to the community group. Exactly who your group wants to exclude (if anyone) is a matter that needs some degree of discussion.
Step Four: Adopt the new policy at your next Board meeting.

Step Five: Make a deposit. If you have some great policies that your organisation thinks would be of use to other groups, email them to kathyr@ourcommunity.com.au or post to Kathy Richardson, PO Box 354 North Melbourne, 3051.