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News, Reviews & Resources || Issue 117 April 2015 Dear Reader, This month you can discover the power of stories, enhance recruitment to your NFP
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News, Reviews & Resources || Issue 117 April 2015 |
Dear Reader,
This month you can discover the power of stories, enhance recruitment to your NFP Board, learn about the dances of student discipline, evaluate your collaborative efforts, avoid Death by Powerpoint, listen to "Weird Al" Yankovic bemoan various Word Crimes ... and more!
As always an eclectic mix in which we hope you'll find at least something to enjoy and add to your resource bank.
Cheers
Sue & Chris
BJ Seminars International |
Comedian Fred Allen once said "A human being is nothing but a story with skin around it". And, as author Barry Lopez says, "I_f stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive_."
The Power of Storytelling is a wonderful YouTube video about how stories have enriched the lives of residents, families, staff and carers in two aged care facilities in Australia. It makes for inspirational viewing, and we think you'll find it 30 minutes very well spent!
1000 Voices is a wonderful and growing collection of heartfelt stories from people all around the world who have a disability of some kind. The project "aims to collect, display, and analyse 1000+ life stories from people with disabilities from around the world.This site is set up so that you can tell your story in any way that you would like to: through images, films, audio, text, or any combination of the above! You are also welcome to upload as many stories as you would like to over time. How you represent your life and experiences is completely up to you!"
And finally, an article that Sue wrote for the Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner back in 2008, called The Gifts of Story. We hope you might enjoy reading it! |
The Dances of Student Discipline is an interesting read for teachers. In your classroom do you do the foxtrot, the tango or the swing dance?
And Let's Not Forget: Teaching is an Art! Watch this YouTube video about the "intersection between relationship, curiosity and content".
And finally, TESis an excellent resource for Australian educators! You need to sign up to be a member, but there is no charge for membership or for any of the more than 780,000 'individually crafted teaching resources developed by teachers for teachers'.
The TES story is an extraordinary one: its digital community is one of the fastest growing of any profession globally, and it boasts a 100-year heritage at the centre of teaching and the education community. Today, with nearly 3.6 million registered online users in 279 countries and territories, it is the world’s largest online network of teachers. More than 4.9 million resources are downloaded from the TES website a week, with ten TES resources downloaded a second.
The resources on TES Connect allow "education professionals to share and benefit from one another's resources and lesson plans, in order to drive excellence in the education sector". |
Following on from our successful workshops in Bendigo, June will see us in Sale, Shepparton and Melbourne. See the dates below. Each workshop is $352 (incl GST) or $319 (incl GST) at the Early Bird rate. Early Bird deadlines vary, depending on the workshop date. (See the cut off dates for those in our full Program Schedule.) Click on the images below for more information about each program. |
 Chair Chi Lvl 1
BSale 01/06
Shepp. 15/06
Melb. 22/06 | |  A Taste of Appreciative Inquiry
Sale 01/06
Shepparton 15/06
Melb. 22/06 | |  Chair Chi Lvl 2
Sale 02/06
Shepp. 16/06
Melb. 23/06 | |  Unleashing Appreciative Intelligence®
Sale 02/06
Shepparton 16/06
Melb. 23/06 |
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For anyone or any organisation working in a collaborative relationshop, the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory is a very useful online collaboration assessment tool. It will take an individual approximately 15-20 minutes to answer all questions, which will help you assess how your collaboration is doing on 20 research-tested success factors. You will be able to view factor scores as well as item averages and open ended responses for your group's completed inventories. Please note, forms are entered anonymously, so you will not be able to identify responses or track individual respondents.
You can complete a personal inventory or register a group to do so. There is no charge for the basic assessment, whether you complete the online assessment as an individual or register a group. However group registration is restricted to one group per email address of the person registering. To use the tool with another group, you must use another email address .
For more information or to discover how you can purchase the book or ebook, visit the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation website. |
Critical Dos and Donts of NFP Board Recruitment is an interesting article, courtesy of the excellent Better Boards website, written by Chris Franks who is currently serving as Chair of Habitat for Humanity Australia, Acting Chair of RESULTS International Australia, director of NSW Kids & Families, and director of Family Planning NSW.
Outlining a common sense approach, the article contains no surprises but can provide a useful checklist if your organisation is recruiting for one or more new board members. You may also find some very useful tips to support members of your current Board!
Our thanks to Raphael Goldsworthy, Managing Director of Better Boards, for the heads up on this article. |
Children of Parents with a Mental Illness is an excellent resource for mental health professionals, children, parents and families.
On the site you'll find information about the latest research and a great deal of practical information and advice, as well as downloadable resources on a variety of topics.
Also offered is a series of e-learning courses at no charge for mental health and other allied health professionals. |
 The Aged Care Reform Agenda (YouTube) | |  Early Childhood Australia Learning Hub | |  2015 Diamond Series: Education Conversations in the Community | |  "Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes |
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We all hear about the millions of dollars spent by large corporations on their marketing and advertising - funds the community sector can only dream about wistfully. However even on a comparatively miniscule budget, successful marketing is within reach. Here are some great resources for nonprofits looking to enhance their marketing and PR strategies.
10 Pages Every Charity Website Should Have, which outlines the nature of these pages and provides screenshots of some best practice examples
21 Ways Nonprofits can Leverage Social Media, again with brief descriptions of each strategy and some real-life examples
Designing a Communications Plan to Enhance your Fund-Raising Campaign reminds us not to confuse a 'Communications Plan' with a 'Marketing Plan' and contains a great deal of useful information and tips.
The Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA) also has a huge knowledgebankof articles and resources on marketing and public relations. Much of it is targeted for larger corporate enterprises, but can be useful advice for the community sector as well. There are also an excellent collection of resources specifically for nonprofits. You can join PRIA as a PRelationship member (for non PR professionals). |
Early Childhood Australia will be hosting a national symposium at the Stamford Grand Adelaide, 8–9 May 2015 to explore reconciliation within the sector.
Building and nurturing strong relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is central to our national identity and wellbeing. Starting these relationships in the early years will secure positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait children and their families. This effort also ensures all children develop a better knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the living culture of Australia’s first peoples.
The early bird discount has been extended to 28 April, so you have a week to register if this is of interest for you.
Download full program information. |
Recently we've seen some appalling slideshows that well-meaning presenters have used for their sessions. And we're sure our readers have been there too. Seated in an auditorium or meeting room, with a presenter who may have some fascinating material to share but a slideshow that threatens to send us to sleep with each word-packed, over-written multi-bulleted slide that appears.
But it doesn't have to be that way! A carefully prepared and attractive presentation is the answer. Here are some tips for preparing a slideshow that can keep your audience awake and engaged.
Presentation Skills: Seven Rules for Communication through Slides
Six Ways to Avoid Death by PowerPoint
This last article mentions Prezias an alternative. Prezi can certainly add a "wow" factor for audiences accustomed to PowerPoint. But be aware! Just like PowerPoint, alternatives such as Prezi are simply tools and can be badly used. All the panning and zooming in Prezi has even given some people motion sickness!
And finally, in a lighter note, here's an amusing look at Life After Death by Powerpoint |
Visit our Events Calendar to find details of conferences, workshops, training opportunities, exhibitions and special days to celebrate!
Alongside several workshops and conferences, the month of May is for 65 Roses, raising awareness about Cystic Fibrosis. We also love TLC's fundraising program, for which you can pick any day in May as Tracky Dack Day.
And don't forget to honour all our amazing volunteers in any and every sector during Volunteer Week!
There are many more! Go to the relevant date in the Events Calendar for details and links to the event websites. |
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