ASI ‘SMART Company’ Scholarship Fund Blog

Applications for the June round of funding in 2008 have now closed. We have had an overwhelming response to our MDU scholarships and received a total of 20 eligible applications overall requesting approximately $40,000 in funding. The Review Panel is currently considering the applications and will announce the Scholarship recipients in early July.  

Applications are welcome for the September round of funding.  Applications close for this review period on Wednesday 10th September 2008.  

Keep an eye on the scholarship website at www.advsol.com/ap/scholarship and click on ‘pre-approved courses and scholarships available’ to check how many scholarships are still available.

N Gow
Manager, Fundraising and Events
Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy
 

Firstly, I would like to express my deepest thanks to ASI for giving me the opportunity to attend the Fundraising Skills 1 course.  Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy is a small charity with little or no budget for professional development so if it wasn’t for ASI, I wouldn’t have had a chance to complete this important training session. 

Skills 1 was a fantastic learning opportunity and I have gained new fundraising skills which can be put into place immediately on my return to the office.  In fact, my ‘to-do’ list has increased dramatically, which is a good thing !!!  As well as new skills, I also have refreshed ideas about how we currently do things.  I also met a great bunch of fellow fundraising professionals and we shared ideas of what works and what doesn’t work within our industry.

The course covered topics which include bequests, donor development, special events, legislation and ethics, donor database management and direct marketing and was presented by experienced leading members of the fundraising industry.  We also worked in groups on a case study which we presented to a panel on conclusion of the course, this was a wonderful way to test our new skills & knowledge.

Thank you to the Fundraising Institute of Australia for presenting such a varied and interesting training session.  And again, thank you to the ASI scholarship program for giving me the chance to attend.  This course will definitely improve the fundraising efforts of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, which will in turn raise more funds and allow more disadvantaged people the chance to enrich their lives via the power of music therapy.

K Ward
Communications and Fundraising Officer
Object: Australian Centre for Craft and Design – New South Wales
 

Thanks to the opportunity provided by the ASI ‘Smart Company’ Scholarship, I now feel as though I am qualified in my title of ‘Fundraiser’.  The scholarship allowed me to attend FIA’s (Fundraising Institute of Australia) Skills 1 course, which has given me a fantastic framework on which to base my current (and future) work in fundraising.

Coming from a small, not-for-profit arts organisation, our fundraising department is at a crucial stage in establishing and developing an effective giving program.  The Skills 1 program has given me the knowledge to build our organisation’s program on a solid foundation.  I have already been able to incorporate key elements of the course into our program, such as a strategy to communicate with and nurture our donors, to strengthen our existing program and retain support.

I found the depth of content in the course incredibly insightful and as a ‘foundations’ course, was impressed that the detail provided allowed participants to engage with the content on a deeper level.  It was also inspiring to hear from people who echoed the most current trends and principles being explored in Australia and internationally.

Following on from the course, I now continually look for examples of effective campaigns and believe that there is a great opportunity to be gained in keeping up to date with trends, technology and donors’ interests.

The high calibre of presentations by the guest speakers gave the course a truly three- dimensional edge.  Group activities, visual examples, story telling and lectures, allowed the group to come away with an extremely holistic picture of philanthropy.  Some of the simplest activities, such as quickly summing up your organisation’s mission to a potential donor, were often the most poignant.  As a result, our organisation is currently solidifying its mission and brand.

One of the most insightful elements of the course was simply the privilege to be in a room full of people from different organisations, who share the same goal.  Being the only person from an arts background, I found myself talking to others and sharing stories about our experiences and in the end absorbed a great deal from those working in more traditional humanitarian or charity fundraising roles.

The arts community has struggled historically with philanthropy and even today relies on different models to those used by charities and NGO’s.  By sharing experiences with colleagues across different organisations, I was able to identify the significant differences (and sometimes similarities) in our approach and identify the common threads that have achieved success.

In all forms of fundraising and possibly even more importantly in the arts, I have learned the importance of communication and relationships in fostering support.  I am now even more passionate about championing philanthropy in the arts and hope to be able to implement a giving program within my organisation that is accessible to a broad audience.

Again, my thanks to ASI for this wonderful opportunity!  I am incredibly excited about the possibilities for fundraising in the arts and believe that increased knowledge in philanthropy will help provide invaluable opportunities for our outstanding Australian practitioners.

K See
General Manager
Western Australian Police Union of Workers

Through the generosity of the ASI “SMART Company” Scholarship Fund I afforded attendance at the three day course presented by the AIM-UWA Business School alliance.

Among the emergent perspectives of Leadership Studies, authentic leadership is gaining increasing attention in the scholarly and practitioner communities.  The fundamental premise behind this course is that spirituality and spiritual identity are at the core of authentic leadership.  Sarah Ban Breathnach said…”The authentic self is the soul made visible.”

Prelude to the course was a self description and peer group 360 degree review of K See’s core values, sense of self and how that manifests in leadership style.  The professionally structured yet informal atmosphere encouraged trust, confidence and considerable exposure among the small syndicate of current and future leaders from commerce, mining, agriculture and construction.  I was the conventional if altruistic representative of the not-for-profit sector.

In terms of style, I am very red in Task Orientation balanced with a green Security Need and People Focus.  For my own sake, I need to be more blue and constructive towards Satisfaction Needs of achievement, self-actualisation, humanistic encouragement and affiliation.

Through a well crafted mix of academic tuition, role plays and story telling, individuals within the group revealed their value sets and personal strengths, which, present in our leadership success … or not.  As our community matures and new generations emerge through education and opportunity, leadership style and individual effectiveness increase in importance to establish and retain functional teams with high motivation and productivity.

In the Western Australian labour market, corporate investment in people is as critical as technology and other resources and quality leadership is essential.  As a wise man said … if your staff are demotivated some will leave and worse still, some will stay.

Participation in this course of introspection reminded me to stay genuine but step back to review, loosen up and communicate with fewer barbs in the tail of my message.  I need to move my focus from Strategist to Visionary and Storyteller.  As an Authentic Leader I need to be more emotional than analytical and focus on touching hearts not just minds.

I enjoyed the event and again acknowledge the support of ASI who made it possible.

S Nakhla
Senior Research Assistant
Clinical Research
The Heart Research Institute

I was very fortunate to attend an intensive Recombinant DNA Techniques Course at the Department of Microbiology, Monash University Clayton, Victoria, from Sunday November 18 to Friday November 23, 2007, as the recipient of a $1600 ASI study grant.

The course provided comprehensive and fundamental training in the essential skills of “recombinant DNA technology”.

Recombinant DNA technology is a technique in biotechnology which involves the artificial re-arrangement of DNA by isolating segments of DNA from one organism, which can then be incorporated into the genetic makeup of another organism.

The aim of this process is to mass produce the protein encoded by the inserted gene along with substances coded for by the native genetic material of the recipient.

The techniques involved have become well established and are universally applied to solve biological problems particularly in the diagnosis of genetic disorders and determination of potential causes of many diseases.  These techniques have transformed the field of research in the biological and medical sciences.

The course format was ten hours of theory via lectures and over thirty hours of practical training which involved experimental laboratory work and tutorials.

Lectures included a basic introduction to Microbiology, DNA and Molecular Biology.
Basic Cloning Requirements, Gene Cloning Techniques and Hybridisation – Northern, Southern and Western blots.

The theoretical basis and applications of construction of Genomic Libraries, Restriction Fragment Mapping, Genetic Mapping, DNA Sequencing Design, the use of Oligonucleotide Primers in Polymerase Chain Reactions and RT-PCR, Site- directed Mutagenesis and Cloning Vectors were explained, as well as the Application of Gene Expression Systems, Bioinformatics and Database Searching Microarray Technology.

The practical and skills training reinforced the lectures and provided essential skills in the current methodologies covering:
• Cleavage and Ligation of plasmid DNA,
• Transformation of bacterial cells,
• Preparation and Purification of Plasmid DNA
• Restriction Enzyme Mapping
• Agarose Gel Electrophoresis
• Recovery of DNA from Agarose Gels
• Preparation of Probes
• DIG-based Southern Blotting and Hybridisation
• DIG-based Colony Hybridisation
• Induction of Fusion Protein Production
• Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis and Western Blotting
• Nucleic Acid Extraction
• Reverse Transcription and PCR
• DNA Sequencing and Computer-aided Analysis

Upon return to the research lab at the Heart Research Institute, I am now well equipped with new knowledge and expertise which will be invaluable in the process of designing new experiments and would like to thank ASI for their support.