Social Sector Financial Literacy Week is an initiative of Our Community and Westpac.
This is one week in 52 when we highlight the importance of good stewardship over the finances of Australia's 600,000 community groups, though of course that's important all year round.
It reflects our shared commitment to reforming financial education and banking services for the Australian Social Sector and revolutionising the way financial literacy is viewed in the sector.
It also provides an opportunity to celebrate and advance the contribution of the Social Sector in overseeing the $54 billion of funds under its management.
Events held during Social Sector Financial Literacy Week are designed to celebrate and provide financial literacy education for the staff, volunteers, board members and treasurers who oversee the finances of Australian community groups.
It's been a long meeting. The Treasurer waffles on, and we don't pay that much attention to the details. We just wait for the bottom line.
There's a motion to accept the Treasurer's Report. We raise our hands and the motion's carried.
We move on - feeling a bit unsatisfied and slightly guilty, and hoping that nobody asks us if we understood what it actually meant.
We think we should do better.
We want to do better.
Social Sector Financial Literacy Week provides the opportunity to get started.
It's about helping the whole Board to get on top of the jargon, understand the concepts, and follow what the Treasurer is talking about.
It's about making sure that everyone involved in the organisation - staff, volunteers, board members, everyone - feels a shared responsibility for the financial health of the group.
That's what Social Sector Financial Literacy Week is about.
If you're a community group, it's not all about money. Your social mission is what defines your work, not your profit-margin.
But people who don't care only about money sometimes can slip over into not caring about money at all, and that's dangerous.
However shining your cause is, however great or worthy the work you do, money does matter.
People who work or volunteer for community groups aren't necessarily top businesspeople. They may not work regularly with financial reports, they may not know what to watch out for, and they don't necessarily have the background to follow the conventions of accountancy in the papers in front of them.
But ignorance can be dangerous (both for you and for the organisation) and the confidence that comes from mastery can open up greater potential for growth and development.
Building the financial capacity of your organisation can lift you to a new level.
Here are 10 ways you can celebrate financial literacy in your organisation and help to build its capacity:
These are just some of the ways Our Community and Westpac are working together to ensure that we are supporting those of you who are working to build better communities.
Happy Social Sector Financial Literacy Week!
For further information about Social Sector Financial Literacy Week, please contact Our Community on (03) 9320 6800 or email to service@ourcommunity.com.au
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National Headquarters: 51 Stanley St, West Melbourne Victoria 3003 Australia
(PO Box 354 North Melbourne 3051 Victoria)
Telephone (03) 9320 6800 Fax (03) 9326 6859 Email service@ourcommunity.com.au
More than 40 grantmakers are attending the 2012 Grants Bootcamp. Who will you get to meet? Get in quick - numbers are capped!
The Grants Bootcamp is for staff and volunteers from community organisations of all sizes and types who want to improve their grantseeking skills, knowledge and connections. Grassroots groups will have the most to gain.