The endless drive of Professor Stephen Li: “Please let me do a bit more”
Posted on 30 Sep 2025
Professor Stephen Li, the chair of CASS, was named Volunteer of the Year at the recent Third Sector…
Want to make this year the one you achieve your organisation’s biggest goals? Then you’ve got to prepare. And we can help.
From this month, we’re hosting the Festival of Community Directors, “a year-long celebration of community governance”, with events and training aimed at inspiring and educating community leaders. Why? Well, Roman ancient Marcus Cicero stressed “diligent preparation” before action more than 2000 years ago. And US Speaker Nancy Pelosi last year urged more women to step into leadership, with the advice: “Organise, don't agonise.”
As our Community Directors Council chair Susan Pascoe (AM) says: “The organisations meeting and exceeding their goals are, almost without fail, well-governed by competent boards with a healthy culture and a commitment to continual improvement”. That's why our Festival is a packed program covering ethics, human resources, communications, policy, strategy, finance, testing impact, whistleblowing, fundraising, AGMs and much more.
Talking of preparation, in this edition we've asked Ms Pascoe and several other not-for-profit experts to predict the biggest challenges and opportunities you’ll face this year. Completing our new national survey of the sector’s big issues will help that knowledge grow too, alongside a chance to win great prizes – including tickets to the unmissable Communities in Control Conference on May 20-21.
Posted on 30 Sep 2025
Professor Stephen Li, the chair of CASS, was named Volunteer of the Year at the recent Third Sector…
Posted on 12 Mar 2026
If government were to give you a blank cheque for one million dollars tomorrow, what would you do…
Posted on 14 Jun 2025
Mergers in the in the not-for-profit sector are on the rise and while the benefits can be…
Posted on 04 Mar 2025
Raising funds to support charitable causes a decade from now will look very different from the way…
Posted on 12 Mar 2026
I sat in a room with 1200 people at a fundraising event a few weeks ago, dressed nicely, feeling…
Posted on 09 May 2024
I recently wrote about the impotent campaigning of the Yes campaign. The current debate and…
Posted on 03 Sep 2025
The problem with the NDIS is not autistic families or children, says Annabel Rattigan, a leadership…
Posted on 24 Apr 2025
An elected Coalition government will introduce financial thresholds that exempt smaller…
Posted on 01 Jul 2024
The definition of volunteering has become more complex, but that’s not a bad thing, says the head…
Posted on 18 Feb 2025
Charities and not-for-profits deserve to be taken seriously. That means governments investing in…
Posted on 11 Mar 2026
Applications are now open for the 2026 Joan Kirner Emerging Leaders Program, a fully funded…
Posted on 25 Feb 2026
Author Andy Griffiths has spent 30 years bringing “punk rock” to children’s books, making kids…