• Paul Ramsbottom - ASI Managing Director (and Chairman of the Fund)
• Julie Willett - ASI HR/Facilities Director
• Clara Leonardi - ASI Consultant (on rotation)

Approximately $18,000 will now be made available for the next three rounds of funding for 2009.

Congratulations to the following Scholarship recipients:
Part A – Fully Funded Education Scholarships

Rebecca Stanton - Children’s Cancer Research Institute
Connecting Up 2009 Conference

Yuk Ting Cheng - National Employment Services Association (NESA)
Connecting Up 2009 Conference

William Shead - SBH Queensland Inc
Connecting Up 2009 Conference

Roz Taylor - The Shepherd Centre
Connecting Up 2009 Conference

Jane Goninon - RSL Victorian Branch
Diploma of Business (School of Volunteer Management)

Mary Anne Bakker - Guide Dogs Queensland
FIA Skills 1

Bianca Elhage - Leukaemia Foundation
FIA Skills 2

Juliet Williams - Community Connections
FIA Skills 1

Nina Kovach - Asthma Foundation NSW
FIA Skills 1

Sasha Molodstov - Evolve at Typo Station
FIA Skills 1

Caroline Bayer - Earthwatch
FIA Skills 2

Part B – Education Subsidies for ASI Customers

no scholarships awarded

Part C – Education Grants for ASI Customers

Denise Easton - Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
iMIS Introductory Crystal Reports

 We thank all the applicants for taking the time to prepare their applications.  Applicants - successful in this round or not - are encouraged to consider applying again in future funding rounds (annually in June, September, December and March).

25,000 Reasons for Non Profit Professionals to be Happy in 2009
 

This is shaping up as a very happy new year indeed for the latest five recipients of Advanced Solutions International’s ASI SMART Company Scholarships.
 

The December round recipients will attend a major conference, undertake training in fundraising and develop their skills in training and assessment courtesy of the scholarships.

   
“The December 2008 round was one of the most competitive in the fund’s three-year history, so these recipients can be particularly proud,” says Paul Ramsbottom, ASI Asia Pacific managing director and fund chair. “With a fresh $25,000 of funding available in 2009 we are looking to more scholarships, more smarts and more smiles.” 

    
The December round received applications for $15,000 worth of scholarships, making a total of $70,000 worth of scholarships applied for in 2008. Twenty-eight people were successful over the year. Of course, it’s not just individuals who benefit but the non-profit organisations for which they work, in this case:
 

• Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists;
• Asthma Foundation NSW;
• The Infants’ Home;
• Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia; and
• Earthwatch Australia.

Scholarships are once again on offer in 2009, with another $25,000 worth of funding available to individuals working in not-for-profits.  Applicants must be Australian or New Zealand citizens, or have permanent residency, and be either full-time or permanent part-time employees at an NFP. A maximum of $2000 per individual for studies directly relevant to the applicant’s professional development in the sector is available. More about ASI SMART Company Scholarships at: www.advsol.com/ap/scholarship.  
  

About ASI: Advanced Solutions International (Asia-Pacific) – ASI – has more than 35 staff and over 300 clients from the not-for-profit, charity and association sectors including: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Cancer Council Victoria and the Australian Medical Association. They use ASI’s flagship software solution iMIS to manage membership communications, fundraising, events, payments and website content.
   

Media: Paul Ramsbottom is available to talk about the ASI SMART Company Scholarship Fund, associations, charities and not-for-profits and their use of technology, association management, Australia’s IT industry and more. Contact ASI media advisor, Brett de Hoedt of Hootville Communications, on +61 3 9017 1062 or brett@hootville.com

Paul Ramsbottom - ASI Managing Director (and Chairman of the Fund)

Julie Willett - ASI HR/Facilities Director

Andrew Kennedy - ASI Project Manager (on rotation)

Approximately $25,000 will now be made available for the four rounds of funding for 2009.

Congratulations to the following Scholarship recipients:

Part A – Fully Funded Education Scholarships

Enza McNaught - The Infants’ Home
FIA Skills 1 (NSW)

Cate Harman - Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia
FIA Skills 1 (WA)

Caroline Bayer - Earthwatch Australia
FIA Skills 1 (VIC)

Part B – Education Subsidies for ASI Customers

no scholarships awarded

Part C – Education Grants for ASI Customers

Lucy Jacka - Asthma Foundation NSW
FIA 32nd International Fundraising Conference

Travis Bean - The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists
Certificate IV in Training and Assessment

We thank all the applicants for taking the time to prepare their applications.  Applicants - successful in this round or not - are encouraged to consider applying again in future funding rounds (annually in March, June, September and December).

Approximately $5,000 will now be made available for the final round of funding for 2008.

Congratulations to the following Scholarship recipients:

Part A – Fully Funded Education Scholarships

Amy McPartlan - Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust
FIA Skills 1 (Victoria)

Sian Lambert - Kids’ Camps Inc
FIA Skills 1 (WA)

Grant Nibbs - Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation
FIA Fundraising Leadership Program (FLP)*

Alex Green - Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia
FIA Fundraising Leadership Program (FLP)*

Fiona Lawrie - The Bipolar Expedition
FIA Fundraising Leadership Program (FLP)*

Wendy Mathews - Australian Red Cross Western Australia
FIA Fundraising Leadership Program (FLP)*

*FLP - as the program was unexpectedly cancelled, recipients were instead awarded a $500 scholarship to be put towards another FIA course.

Part B – Education Subsidies for ASI Customers

no scholarships awarded

Part C – Education Grants for ASI Customers

Evelyn Williames - Karuna Hospice Services
NiUG Discovery Conference

Jessica de Araugo - Fundraising Institute Australia
NiUG Discovery Conference

We thank all the applicants for taking the time to prepare their applications.  Applicants - successful in this round or not - are encouraged to consider applying again in future funding rounds (annually in December, March, June and September).

I would like to say a great big thank you to ASI Smart Scholarships for the wonderful opportunity to attend Madison Down Under (MDU) 2008.

It was not without a tinge of trepidation that I began my journey to MDU, concerns that I was about to be held in ‘fundraising boot camp’ surfaced. However warm smiles, friendly greetings, re-united friends and cocktail parties soon made me feel comfortable and ready to be invigorated and inspired.

MDU provides a forum for dedicated fundraising professionals from USA and Australia to share knowledge, skills, expertise, experience, ideas and solutions to help us do our job better. My classmates were generous, courageous people enabling change across the health, education, environment and creative sectors. A very inspiring group indeed!

I have a better grasp of the fundraising process, researching potential donors, matching people’s needs with positive outcomes, understanding why people give, how to make the big ask, and expressing appreciation. Our captivating group of presenters shared theoretical and practical knowledge through talks, workshops, case studies and discussions. Problems and solutions were shared. The role-play exercise allowed us to test this new information and was also very entertaining.

With these new tools at hand I feel more capable of contributing to our fundraising efforts. The challenges facing The Wilderness Society are enormous. The ASI Scholarship has helped both me, and The Wilderness Society, face some of these challenges.

Thank you ASI, for your generous support.

Thank you for providing me the 50% subsidy to attend Madison Down Under – Strategic Management Track.

Time for Kids is a small South Australian charity that was not in a position to send me to MDU so the scholarship enabled me to attend. Time for Kids helps ‘at risk’, or disadvantaged children by giving a much needed break from what can often be a stressful home life. The children are matched with a volunteer family in their local community and given the opportunity to spend time with the family on a regular basis over the long term. Our aim is to give these kids positive childhood experiences, useful life lessons for later in life, and acceptance, love and care.  

The Strategic Management Track was extremely beneficial in my current role as the presenters took the participants through some useful information that can be applied immediately. 

Having attended MDU in the past and participated in different tracks it was refreshing to be able to utilise the information in my current role, without having to wait for programs to be implemented.

In particular we discussed Strategic Plans and management of staff, which were particularly relevant as we are in the process of addressing our Strategic Plan and as our organisation is growing we are looking to hire more staff.  The track was very practical and relevant with the entire group participating in discussions.

Apart from the educational aspect of MDU it provided wonderful networking opportunities. From these I was able to establish some valuable relationships that will have an impact on the work of Time for Kids as well as enable me to develop professionally.
The benefit of the event being live-in over 4 days, you get opportunities to discuss issues at length, which is not often the case at the traditional type of conference.

Thank you again for the opportunity.  The scholarships provided by ASI are often the only way many smaller charities can attend MDU and that is often vital for the charities fundraising success.

Paul Ramsbottom - ASI Managing Director (and Chairman of the Fund)

Julie Willett - ASI Director Administration/Human Resources

Andrew Wilton - ASI Customer Care Manager (on rotation)