Scholarships for NFP Chairman’s Course
18 November 2011 at 11:41 am
The Australian Scholarships Foundation has announced 75 scholarships for Chairs of charitable organisations, to support good governance in the Not for Profit sector.
The scholarships, funded by the Perpetual Foundation and the JS Love Trust, will give participants a place on the Australian Institute of Company Directors The Not for Profit Chairman course.
The scholarships are worth over $1,020 each, with courses being held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in February 2012.
Australian Scholarships Foundation Chairman, Paul Murnane says Chairs of Not for Profits are often volunteers, and many have limited experience in their roles.
“The greatest benefit of courses like this is the exchange of ideas and a forum to discuss different approaches to common problems – it’s not an opportunity that comes around very often for NFPs,” said Murnane.
Scholarships for NFP board Chairs will provide a much-needed opportunity for networking, discussion and collaboration between those at the pinnacle of Australia’s charitable organisations, according to fund managers Perpetual.
Perpetual’s General Manager, Philanthropy, Andrew Thomas, says NFPs are still being scrutinised by donors for their administration costs rather than their social outcomes, which often inhibits investment in training and development of their staff.
“This aversion to administration costs is gradually diminishing as donors become more aware of the need to invest in building the capacity and efficiency of charitable organisations. Education and training are an important part of supporting an effective NFP sector.”
The Not-For-Profit Chairman course will be facilitated by Henry Bosch AO, former chairman of the National Companies and Securities Commission, chairman of the Working Group on Corporate Practices and Conduct, and chairman of the committee that produced the Australian Standard on corporate governance.
Scholarship applications are now open and will close on 2 December. Applications are open to all existing chairs of Australian Not for Profit organisations. For more information on the scholarships, visit the Australian Scholarships Foundation’s website: www.scholarships.org.au.
