How to perfect your policies with the Policy Bank
Posted on 22 Oct 2021
It’s no surprise that the Institute of Community Directors’ Policy Bank is one of its most visited…
Institute of Community Directors Australia
The best-practice governance network for the members of Australian not-for-profit and government boards and committees, and the senior staff who work alongside them – providing ideas and advice for community leaders.
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Rethinking the Community Sector
The quarterly lecture series for ICDA members
If you believe you’ve got rights, you’re wrong
Posted on 04 Oct 2021
Australians get most of their ideas about politics from television, and most of their television…
We know it’s time to rethink the business of charity, but here’s what’s holding us back
Posted on 30 Sep 2021
Leading not-for-profit thinker Paul Ronalds, CEO of Save the Children Australia, says many…
Senate report rejects charities crackdown
Posted on 30 Sep 2021
News and information about the community sector, regularly updated.
Red tape is choking the community sector just when we need it most
Posted on 06 Sep 2021
When you hear the word ‘charity’, what’s your first thought? I’d suggest that ‘charity’, like…
Workplace vaccinations a prickly business
Posted on 25 Aug 2021
The urgency to get Australians vaccinated continues to grow and begs the question for…
Looking for your piece of the funding pie?
Posted on 24 Aug 2021
Pressure on not-for-profit organisations comes from all quarters: shifting government’s priorities,…
Social marketer challenges NFPs to ‘Ask me anything’
Posted on 23 Aug 2021
Brett de Hoedt is a man of 1000 opinions. The journalist turned social marketer shared many of them…
‘Recovery’ reveals path out of pandemic
Posted on 23 Aug 2021
Policymaker, public servant, and author Andrew Wear is sick of problems and is hell-bent on finding…
Top treasurers awarded for hard work and financial wizardry
Posted on 12 Aug 2021
Australia’s best community treasurers come from a range of not-for-profits and every corner of the…
Free webinars: How not-for-profits can beef up their balance sheets
Posted on 11 Aug 2021
Julienne Price, executive manager, Schools, Not-for-Profits and Women in Focus, Commonwealth Bank…
Proposed code on charity donations is an unnatural disaster
Posted on 28 Jul 2021
Every now and then in Australia something goes badly wrong for a not-for-profit in full view of the…
Why purpose is the competitive edge for not-for-profits
Posted on 28 Jul 2021
With three decades of experience across business and the not-for-profit sector in Australia,…
Pandemic pressure grows on volunteers, demand, fundraising but there's hope on the horizon
Posted on 23 Jun 2021
Not-for-profits in Australia are coming under intense pressure a year on from the start of the…
Don’t reform, but transform, sector leader urges community directors
Posted on 14 Jun 2021
Not-for-profit sector doyen Robert Fitzgerald has issued a rallying cry to Australian board members…
Community directors highlight the big issues at national conference
Posted on 14 Jun 2021
Not-for-profit board members want greater recognition of their sector and the unique challenges…
Can you force your workers to get vaccinated?
Posted on 14 Jun 2021
As not-for-profits seek to resume COVID-normal service, many organisations will want their staff…
Communities in Control conference a spark to ‘Think Bigger: Fix Everything’
Posted on 30 May 2021
Australia’s most progressive leaders, thinkers and community agitators have gathered in their…
Who says we can’t change the world?
Posted on 25 May 2021
One of the things about a global upheaval is that afterwards things that were once taken for…
Distance no barrier for online diploma students
Posted on 20 Apr 2021
Broome student Eloise Page has become the first person to complete ICDA’s governance diploma course…
Proposed charity power grab isn’t very charitable
Posted on 14 Apr 2021
In his latest commentary, Our Community's Denis Moriarty takes aim at the Federal Government's move…
New laws boost portable long service for community sector workers
Posted on 05 Mar 2021
Portable leave entitlements for community sector workers, which allow employees to accumulate long…
Young scholarship winner says ICDA's governance diploma has helped him 'step up'
Posted on 05 Mar 2021
Young People on Boards scholarship winner Matt Whitely, 27, said the Diploma of Governance course…
Legal experts join the ‘Our Community family’
Posted on 05 Mar 2021
Our Community has forged a new legal partnership with leading law firm Maddocks to cater for the…
Our Community digs into diversity
Posted on 05 Mar 2021
The Institute of Community Directors Australia (ICDA) is quizzing sector members about their…
Get back on track with the 2021 Festival of Community Directors
Posted on 02 Mar 2021
The Institute of Community Directors Australia are hosting the third Festival of Community…
A quick and sometimes messy guide to apologising
Posted on 12 Feb 2021
Even not-for-profits make mistakes. In this help sheet, media professional Brett de Hoedt, aka the…
New guide to help others boost their financial health
Posted on 12 Feb 2021
Taking control of your finances is never easy at the best of times and has become even harder for…
Live longer. Join a community group.
Posted on 27 Jan 2021
In his latest column, Our Community group managing director Denis Moriarty reflects on the…
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COVID-19 proves value of cash reserves held for that ‘rainy day’
Posted on 09 Dec 2020
The Institute of Community Directors has always maintained that having diverse funding sources is…
Top treasurers reveal their tips for surviving COVID shocks
Posted on 09 Dec 2020
Australia’s best community treasurers say riding out the tough times requires the kind of creative…
COVID-19 shows why Communities in Control is more important than ever
Posted on 26 Nov 2020
Against the odds, the 2020 Communities in Control conference was one of the liveliest ever. An…
Accolades to Innovation Lab in not-for-profit tech awards
Posted on 11 Nov 2020
Our Community’s Innovation Lab has taken out top honours in its category in the Connecting Up…
With communities in control, Australia is better off
Posted on 02 Nov 2020
In his latest column, Our Community group managing director Denis Moriarty reflects on the…
NFPs face tech struggle during pandemic
Posted on 29 Oct 2020
As an Aus-NZ study revealed 70% of NFPs struggled with work-from-home tech, here's a few tips to…
Why this free privacy policy is essential protection for your organisation
Posted on 08 Oct 2020
The latest addition to our Policy Bank is a fully revised privacy policy template.
Politicians must act now to fix fundraising red tape
Posted on 06 Oct 2020
In his latest commentary, Our Community's Denis Moriarty reveals why recent suggest fundraising…
Social impact measurement awards now open – with extra impact
Posted on 17 Sep 2020
How do you measure the social impact of anything when the nation has been thrown into disarray by…
Our Community tells govt to "get off its @r$e" and fix fundraising
Posted on 11 Sep 2020
Social enterprise Our Community (“where not-for-profits go for help”) has described recommendations…
$5000 goes a long way for clever treasurers
Posted on 08 Sep 2020
One of Australia’s best community treasurers, Mark Floresta, is upbeat about the possibilities for…
Who is holding up the groups that support our community?
Posted on 07 Sep 2020
Everybody approves of community. I certainly do. Everyone agrees we need more of it. There’s a…
World-first ‘Donation Dollar’ is a huge charity boost
Posted on 02 Sep 2020
The world’s first $1 coin designed to spark greater generosity is set to transform donations in…
Charities must tell their stories better: regulator
Posted on 01 Sep 2020
Amid criticism over bushfire fundraising and spending, charities need to "tell their story" better,…
Why putting people first provides the best results
Posted on 26 Aug 2020
Taking a human-centred approach to decision-making could be the key to harnessing your…
Community connectors could help win the battle against COVID-19
Posted on 20 Aug 2020
Want to get in touch with hard-to-reach groups? Help could be at hand with a special group of…
How to build hope for a post-COVID world: join up
Posted on 03 Aug 2020
For nearly all Australians, everything about COVID-19 seems to be precisely calculated to fall into…
What do not-for-profits, zombies and werewolves have in common?
Posted on 06 Jul 2020
When people phone Our Community asking about how to sort out glitches in their meetings, my usual…
Top not-for-profit leader training now available anywhere, any time
Posted on 16 Jun 2020
Australia’s best qualification for not-for-profit leaders just got better. As workers amp up their…
OPINION: If more debt means fewer suicides, let’s spend big
Posted on 01 Jun 2020
As the high tide of the coronavirus crisis recedes over the coming months (touch wood), we know…
Navigating JobKeeper a painful maze for charities
Posted on 28 May 2020
The Australian government has, quite rightly, provided assistance to Australian businesses to get…
Judgement on liability shows horse sense
Posted on 21 May 2020
As part of the Institute of Community Directors’ commitment to encouraging good governance, this…
Generosity Register will help tackle COVID 'threat to 230,000 groups'
Posted on 15 May 2020
This article is just one of the ways the Our Community Group is working to support not-for-profits…
How COVID-19 might be a positive for our mental health
Posted on 12 May 2020
If COVID-19 can be thanked for anything, it might be for creating an unprecedented focus on mental…
COVID-19 case study: How one organisation is harnessing the disruption
Posted on 11 May 2020
Think Impact director Suzi Young explains why the coronavirus crisis is an opportunity for the…
For country towns to thrive, some assembly is required
Posted on 08 May 2020
Let’s cut to the chase. Rural Australia is in a downward spiral which has no natural stopping…
Virus shows us social change can happen, now
Posted on 06 Apr 2020
We go through life, all of us, thinking that the world around us is stable, fixed and reliable. We…
Save Our Sector: Our pledge to not-for-profits
Posted on 20 Mar 2020
The Our Community Group is working to support not-for-profits through the COVID-19 crisis, as part…
Coronavirus and the community sector
Posted on 20 Mar 2020
This article is just one of the ways the Our Community Group is working to support not-for-profits…
Upcoming on the Festival of Community Directors calendar
Posted on 05 Mar 2020
The Festival of Community Directors is well underway for season 2020, and over the next two months…
Lena lands LGBTIQ+ scholarship to study good governance
Posted on 24 Feb 2020
The first LGBTIQ+ winner of a $1000 part-scholarship to complete a Diploma of Governance wants to…
Cracker 2020 calendar for directors built on community insights
Posted on 19 Feb 2020
The 2020 Festival of Community Directors – a year-long celebration of community governance – has…
Pray this never happens to your organisation
Posted on 13 Feb 2020
Confucianism and Taoism are among the world’s great religious and philosophical traditions, and…
ICDA fast-tracks scholarships for community leaders
Posted on 13 Feb 2020
Hundreds of not-for-profit leaders will be given the chance to win a part-scholarship to complete…
Free whistleblowing policy contributes ‘millions’ in value
Posted on 12 Feb 2020
An updated free whistleblower policy released by ICDA for use by not-for-profits has been a popular…
Sapphire miners association digs itself into trouble
Posted on 12 Feb 2020
As part of the Institute of Community Directors’ commitment to encouraging good governance, this…
Why not-for-profits are Australia’s sleeping giant
Posted on 10 Feb 2020
Not-for-profits are yet to truly embrace the power they wield, former World Vision chief Tim…
Free boost for cemetery trusts
Posted on 10 Feb 2020
If you’re a Victorian cemetery trust member, make sure you’ve completed the free governance and…
Good governance crucial for arts community
Posted on 28 Jan 2020
A detailed study of arts governance published as a joint venture between the Australia Council for…
Changes to whistleblower laws: what not-for-profits need to know
Posted on 11 Dec 2019
There's never been a better time for all not-for-profits to review their whistleblower policies and…
Not-for-profit ‘roadmap’ tackles sector’s big issues
Posted on 11 Dec 2019
A landmark study of Australian not-for-profit governance has created the clearest picture yet of an…
Data visualisation: ICDA Not-for-Profit Governance Roadmap 2020
Posted on 04 Dec 2019
In December 2019, the Institute of Community Directors Australia launched a major study into…
Festival of Community Directors to return bigger and better in 2020
Posted on 18 Nov 2019
As the door closes on the 2019 Festival of Community Directors, the Institute of Community…
Why you should trust and verify for good governance
Posted on 18 Nov 2019
The executive director of the Institute of Community Directors Australia, Patrick Moriarty, says…
Communities in Control Conference
Posted on 01 Nov 2019
The talent that will illuminate Australia's most important community conference has been locked in,…
Second Virtual Disability Conference
Posted on 20 Oct 2019
The Festival of Community Directors is dedicated to providing the best tips, tools and training to…
Study proves not-for-profit leaders need a better welcome
Posted on 07 Oct 2019
Nearly half of Australia's not-for-profits are giving their directors - including treasurers,…
Study takes pulse of not-for-profits’ financial health
Posted on 16 Sep 2019
Australia’s not-for-profits are almost evenly split between thriving organisations and battlers…
Study spotlights not-for-profit crime threat
Posted on 02 Sep 2019
Thousands of crimes targeting Australia's not-for-profits are going unreported, a detailed study…
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Old-school not-for-profits risk losing trust
Posted on 15 Aug 2019
Schools governance is in the spotlight after a very public spat in Queensland, experts suggest that…
Spotlight report highlights issues for board and CEO performance
Posted on 22 Jul 2019
ICDA executive director Patrick Moriarty’s first response to ICDA's Spotlight Report Assessing…
Study puts the spotlight on the role of the chair
Posted on 20 Jun 2019
Nearly all chairs enjoy their role as a board member, understand their responsibilities as board…
Conference reveals how directors can measure their impact better
Posted on 14 Jun 2019
Community directors know better than most that not-for-profits must do as much as they can with the…
Come up to the lab: The neuroscientist helping you do data better
Posted on 11 Jun 2019
Our Community's Innovation Lab has flicked the switch to better understanding by not-for-profits.
Not-for-profits missing the data train
Posted on 03 Jun 2019
More than one in 10 not-for-profits doesn’t bother tracking its success, while one in four say they…
High hopes for scholarship winners
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Winners of ICDA's first round of Future 500 Leaders scholarships are confident they'll make a…
New accounting rules for not-for-profits
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Not-for-profits will need to revise their approach to assessing income following the introduction…
Fundraising and the power of suggestion
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Our Community researchers have proven how important it is for fundraisers to tailor their suggested…
What to expect (at work) when you're expecting
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Pregnant women have the right to nap at work when they need to, under a new pregnancy and parenting…
How NFPs can keep calm under pressure
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Directors under pressure to deliver funds, good leadership Why a net return at the end of the…
Brace for impact of elections, inquiries, board quotas
Posted on 10 Feb 2019
Elections a time to take stock Elections and likely changes in governments will mean inevitable…
Free analytics tool released to not-for-profit organisations
Posted on 15 Nov 2018
Not-for-profit directors wanting to know more about the performance of their organisations should…
When it's just not cricket: Culture review's global impact can't be ignored by directors
Posted on 15 Nov 2018
The explosive review that picked over the toxic culture linked to Australian cricket's shameful…
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Tune in to the power of community
Posted on 15 Nov 2018
If anyone doubted the power of community to connect us, keep us healthier, and battle disadvantage,…
Plugging into 'the connectors' - a powerful resource for your community organisation
Posted on 15 Nov 2018
Connectors are the precious people who know many others and get things done. They have an uncanny…
Members Only
Inside Greening Australia's radical cultural transformation
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Looking at change? Consider this no-holds-barred Greening Australia presentation charting the…
Our Community's culture? Read the Manifesto
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Our Community founder and group managing director Denis Moriarty AM says Our Community's…
A new era for community directors: a navigator’s guide
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Community directors face an unprecedented burden of increased regulation, decreased funding and low…
Board members aiming higher after Community Directors Conference
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Community directors are better equipped to crack the code when it comes to regulation, data,…
Culture is key to healthy community organisations
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Words, like people, have their good times and their bad times. This is a very bad year for the word…
Good culture starts at the board table
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
ICDA's executive director and head trainer Patrick Moriarty says the strife striking down…
Wealthy exec jailed for charity theft
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
In June 2019, top executive Michael Clark from the Adelaide-based charity SYC was sentenced to…
Need support? Here's how to take your pitch from mediocre to memorable
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
A convincing pitch is a powerful tool you can use to unlock opportunities, form relationships with…
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Why not-for-profits must do data better
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Dr Lucy Bernholz, a world-recognised thinker on digital and data trends, and a specialist in…
Members Only
Why investing in your NFP workforce is critical to your culture
Posted on 15 Oct 2018
Knowing that an organisation needs a good culture to thrive is one thing, but how do you get there?
Seeing the big picture could be crucial to your survival
Posted on 10 Oct 2018
Culture will be the key for all organisations In the wake of royal commissions into child abuse and…
Doing More with More: Putting Shared Leadership into Practice
Posted on 16 Jul 2018
This article comes from Nonprofit Quarterly.
Ethics as a karate chop in the face of wrong
Posted on 16 Jul 2018
US education pioneer Dr Mary Gentile has seen first-hand some of the most devastating ethical…
The art of leadership at the Australia Council
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
Are leaders born, made, or something in between? It's a tricky question, and one that's been…
What makes a good community leader?
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
Each year, Our Community hosts the Communities in Control conference for 1000 representatives of…
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If ethics is so obvious, why is it so hard?
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
Most not-for-profit leaders aim to set - and expect the people in their organisations to practise -…
Vision and courage, the twin foundations of leadership
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
For all of the talk about the importance of leadership, relatively few resources are applied to its…
The problem with good leadership
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
Alexander conquered the known world in his twenties. Caesar conquered Gaul. Frederick the Great won…
Why diversity on boards makes sense
Posted on 15 Jul 2018
The concept of diversity applies to many factors besides gender, but gender diversity should be the…
Cyber attack exposes sex health clients, highlights threats to not-for-profits
Posted on 16 Apr 2018
A cyber attack on Family Planning NSW, which exposed the personal information of up to 8000 clients…
How to communicate with clout
Posted on 22 Feb 2018
As the head of a small organisation with "big ambitions", former ABC broadcaster and accomplished…
Decision less taxing on directors' decisions
Posted on 15 Jan 2018
Community directors can breathe easier following a significant tax ruling brokered by Our…
Get your head into the clouds
Posted on 30 Nov 2017
The cloud can keep you connected with your members and stakeholders.
NFPs face big digital decisions
Posted on 30 Nov 2017
Not-for-profits aren't investing enough on IT to keep pace with other sectors, an industry study…
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How to build your digital capability
Posted on 30 Nov 2017
Not-for-profits are being outspent on digital technology almost three-to-one by corporates, an…
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Recruit the ICT skills you really need
Posted on 30 Nov 2017
Not-for-profit recruiting expert Richard Green backs the Our Community Innovation Lab's finding…
Research shows why your board lacks ICT nous
Posted on 29 Nov 2017
You might assume that the demand for ICT skills on not-for-profit boards and executive teams would…
Get the most out of your data
Posted on 18 Nov 2017
Big tech companies and multinationals make huge profits with a big global impact, but how can we in…
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What can data tell you?
Posted on 08 Nov 2017
The US-based not-for-profit technology resource centre Idealware spent four years researching "data…
Great advice: Top five financial questions for not-for-profits
Posted on 17 Oct 2017
Knowing how to assess an organisation's finances is something that many people without accounting…
The art of survival for regional gallery
Posted on 17 Oct 2017
Our Community's thinker-in-residence, Chris Borthwick, casts a close eye over the financial…
Why being a perfect chair is for losers
Posted on 14 Sep 2017
A good not-for-profit board chair, if you consult the relevant literature, combines the leadership…
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Where are the women?
Posted on 23 Dec 2013
A quick look at building better board equality on not-for-profit boards.
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Tipping the scales - getting the size and shape of your board right
Posted on 23 Jun 2013
Over the past couple of months a continuing query in our governance training sessions has been…
Youth on board: Attracting and supporting young people on boards
Posted on 29 Mar 2012
A long standing challenge for groups in the sector is to attract young people to their board, and…
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Drive for diversity: A blueprint for board diversity
Posted on 29 Dec 2010
According to the Denver Foundation in the United States, full board diversity cannot be realised…
Save Our Sector
We’re giving the not-for-profit sector access to a library of capacity building resources to help you stay afloat until we get to the other side of COVID-19.
