Our Community is a world-leading social enterprise that provides 15 Knowledge Centres – spanning all aspects of running a community group and comprising a range of resources, training, advice and tools – for Australia’s 700,000 community groups and schools, as well as practical linkages between the community sector and the general public, business and government. Click here to read about us.
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	Board Builder Conference 2009: Treasurer Wayne Swan and KPMG Leader and Australian Social Inclusion Board Chair Patricia Faulkner have been confirmed as speakers for the 2009 Board Builder Conference, to be held at Telstra Dome in Melbourne on February 27. Find out more and book your spot at www.ourcommunity.com.au/boardbuilder2009. 2008 Christmas Giving Cards Released: Australia Post and Our Community have again teamed up to launch the 2008 Christmas Giving Cards campaign. We're encouraging politicians, local government councillors, businesses and individuals to purchase Giving Cards to send to their contacts, with $1 from each card purchased donated to a community group of their choice. For more about these great Christmas Cards go to: www.ourcommunity.com.au/givingcard. Giving Week 2008: We're in the midst of preparations for Australian Giving Week 2009 - 1-7 December 2008. We would like your input to help us hone the Giving Week website (www.givingweek.com.au). Do you have a Christmas appeal you'd like to promote? Christmas trees you'd like to sell? Gift catalogues you'd like to promote? Send the details to donations@ourcommunity.com.au. Vote for your Favourite Community Sector Image: A brush-tailed possum hiding in his tree hollow, a winter's day at the beach, the sun rising above the clouds, playing Frisbee on Lake Eyre at sunset, and the classic rural Australian 'outhouse' - these are just some of the many unique photos that have been submitted to the new Our Community Photo Bank over the past few months. Vote for your favourite before December 1 at www.ourcommunity.com.au/photobank. New Era: Westpac has created a new Community Markets division and appointed Vanessa Nolan-Woods, a senior employee of the bank, to head up the new program. Vanessa says Westpac's new approach will help to equip community customers with advice, products and specialist bankers to help them grow their organisations or maintain their purpose. Visit the Community Financial Centre for more information about Westpac community initiatives, or read the latest news from Vanessa in the October edition of Our Community Matters. Our Community Hero: Our latest Community Hero is Sue Smith, who is a youth worker at Pathways Mount Isa Residential Service. While Sue describes herself as an everyday person, to the young people she cares for she is much more than that. To read more about Sue and other Community Heroes visit www.ourcommunity.com.au/heroes. Finding Treasurers: Our Community's Board Matching Service is now being promoted among accountants' professional bodies, giving organisations on the look-out for new board talent more opportunity than ever before to reach a high quality pool of motivated professionals. The Board Matching Service is easy to use and, thanks to the support of Hesta, it's free to both community groups listing a vacancy and those searching for opportunities to give more to the community through board service. You can list your vacancy or find out more at www.ourcommunity.com.au/boardmatch. Funding for Enterprising Ways to Fight Poverty: Victorian Premier John Brumby has announced an $8 million grant to help not-for-profit businesses get up and running in Victoria. Mr Brumby said a new $8 million agency would be set up in partnership with a private family trust to support community enterprises which help provide job training and work opportunities for people. Click here for more information. Making Waves: Calling all community advocates - we want to hear from you! We are currently developing a collection of case studies illustrating the issues, challenges and lessons learned from a variety of advocacy campaigns throughout Australia. The history of your campaign can significantly aid others in achieving their own aspirations - share your story by completing our survey at www.ourcommunity.com.au/advocacycasestudies. Book a Brain: If you want to make sure your "community brains" are put to good use, you may want to follow the Maleny example and set up a 'Book a Brain' initiative. Information sheets and templates are posted online in the Tools and Plans bank at www.ourcommunity.com.au/whatworks. You can submit your great ideas too! Help us help people find your group: Join In, Join Up! will soon be launched with a flurry of publicity. This is a unique opportunity for community groups around Australia to find new members and supporters - but they can't find you if you're not in the directories. Sign up now at www.ourcommunity.com.au/signupdirectory. It's free! Lead. Learn. Inspire. Achieve. Our Community's training arm, the Australian Institute of Community Practice and Governance, has released a brochure detailing all upcoming training opportunities. You can download the brochure at www.ourcommunity.com.au/aicpg. Community View: The latest edition of Our Community Matters includes an article on what community groups need to do to respond to the global financial crisis, tips for sustaining volunteers, a discussion on the meaning of 'profits' within a not-for-profit context, ideas on green printing for community groups, the latest from the Marketing Guru, community classifieds (notices, offers, giveaways and tips) and more. Sign up as a member now (it's free!) at www.ourcommunity.com.au/signup, or download this month's edition of Our Community Matters at www.ourcommunity.com.au/ocmatters