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Message from Peter Shergold
I am cautiously optimistic that global financial markets are starting to operate more efficiently once again. It is possible that major share markets have hit their bottom although I foresee continuing volatility. Property markets, I think, will continue to fall. Of one thing, unfortunately, I am pretty certain. Unemployment, and the social distress that accompanies it, will continue to increase for at least the next year. Pressure on nonprofit organisations to provide assistance and emerging help will intensify, just at the moment they confront significant financial and operational challenges.
I’ve recently written a couple of related papers on the variety of pressure placed on social welfare organisations and the forms of strategy and leadership that will be required. I’m pleased that CSI is partnering with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Fundraising Institute of Australia on a survey of nonprofits which will provide real-world information on the level of economic squeeze they face. We’ll distribute the results to you as soon as possible.
Our recent Board meeting and strategy planning day suggest that CSI is well placed to help support the third sector at this time of challenge. The applications for the Helen Macpherson Smith Chair in Leadership in Social Impact at the Melbourne Business School (a conjoint appointment with CSI) have closed. It’s a strong field and I think a top person will be appointed.
Perhaps most exciting, I can now announce agreement in principle that the Business School of the University of Western Australia in Perth is to become CSI’s fourth full partner. It’s a wonderful prospect. I’ll provide more details next newsletter.
A number of well-known international experts will also be visiting CSI later in the year. In addition to Jon Huggett (our first John B Reid Visiting International Fellow introduced below) we will also host a trip by Alex Nicholls from the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford. I also expect to welcome a few progressive British speakers, from across the political spectrum. I’ll let you know dates and names as soon as they are settled.
To all of you who have taken time to provide feedback on our first Annual Report, newsletter, website, courses and events, many thanks. I’ve tried to reply personally to all of you. I really appreciate receiving your views! Please keep them coming!
Peter Shergold,
Macquarie Group Foundation Professor
www.csi.edu.au
Annual report Launching CSI’s first annual report in late May, Senator Ursula Stephens, the Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, praised CSI for becoming, in such a short time, a force in research and bridge-building for social inclusion in the government, not-for-profit and business sectors. Download the annual report detailing our first year of achievements and financial results. View a video of the May 22 function.
The John B Reid International Visiting Fellows Program has been established to acknowledge the substantial and enduring contribution by John Reid AO to the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) and later to the Australian School of Business. The Fellowship enables CSI, in association with the Australian School of Business, to invite outstanding international researchers, innovators and educators from leading organisations around the world to visit CSI for short periods to share their ideas, research and experience and to explore opportunities for future collaboration.
Jon Huggett is the inaugural John B. Reid Visiting Fellow. He was a partner in Bridgespan, a non-profit management consultancy dedicated to improving performance across the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, with previous long business experience as a partner of Bain and Company. Jon will visit from New York in October. He will deliver a course on improving decision making as well as present at a number of events and workshops on topics such as strategy in nonprofits and global NGO networks. He will also deliver the John B Reid Lecture, a public address.
In November CSI will join with QUT’s Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies to deliver the annual JB Reid Nonprofit Governance Colloquium. Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes and John Reid will present on the theme of Developing Your Board.
Re-charging electric cars, a controversial Sydney-bound voyage in a plastic bottle boat, and a new shorthand lexicon to help nonprofit leaders better articulate their funding models are among the treats for readers of the latest Knowledge Connect. Articles in this issue of CSI’s quarterly digest of news and views relevant to the third sector from around the world are grouped around the theme of innovation. Michael Liffman of CSI partner Swinburne University also reviews controversial philosopher Peter Singer’s latest book, The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.
CSI events and courses continue at a cracking pace. This week we are hosting a roundtable discussion for invited guests to explore the issues surrounding the role and growth of social enterprises for the Productivity Commission’s current review. It’s not too late to register for David Marshall’s executive workshop 'Managing the media and maximising opportunities' in Sydney this Wednesday 17 June so you can sharpen your skills at handling the media. There are also places available in Melbourne at our morning workshop on Thursday June 25 on Corporate Responsibility in a Global Economy and International Trends on Stakeholder Engagement. This features Professor Jennifer Griffin, a world leading authority on stakeholder engagement from George Washington University.
'Managing the downturn' survey 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. Responses have been received from 263 organisations, providing the first reliable data for the Australian nonprofit sector. Preliminary analysis of the 'Managing the Downturn' survey is now in progress. Results of the survey are expected to be available early July.
With an action-packed visit to Pacific nations in May, CSI’s team has almost completed the consultation stage of the new project funded by AusAID for design of a regional program to build the capacity of NGOs in Pacific nations and Timor Leste. Discussions are now being held with Australian organisations and a report will be prepared for AusAID in July, with a view to running a pilot program in 2010.
With this issue we bid fond farewell to our administrative assistant Phuong Ngyuen, who leaves us to do volunteering work at the Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh and complete the last elective of her degree before taking up a position at Cox’s Bazaar for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. We wish her safe travels and look forward to hearing more of her important work and adventures.
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