New scholarship announcement

The Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) has announced the opening of its not-for-profit scholarship places for 2022. This year the AICD is offering another 200 fully-funded scholarships for leaders of small not-for-profit organisations across all states and territories with facilitating partner the Australian Scholarships Foundation..

A major impediment to the long-term viability of Australian not-for-profits is a lack of critical knowledge, skills and abilities, with an emphasis on leadership, management and governance capacity, as identified by The Productivity Commission’s, Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector report. It highlighted, “Board members may lack the skills required to conduct their duties. Similarly, management in the NFP sector is often made up of service delivery employees looking for career advancement who may not have necessarily have sufficient management skills”

The Governance Foundations for NFP Directors program offered by the AICD provides participants with an understanding of fundamental compliance and performance related roles and responsibilities of directors, specifically in governance, risk, financial performance and strategy.

Michael Browne, Executive Director, with Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place and recipient of the AICD Governance Foundations for NFP Directors in 2021 shares:

Having attended the AICDs Governance Foundations for Not For Profit Directors course, I am unable to speak highly enough of the facilitator and content covered allowing me to leave the course feeling more confident in my understanding and abilities to ask questions and apply the knowledge as particularly related to governance and risk.

Good governance has never been more important in the not-for-profit sector as organisations face ever increasing challenges and demand for their services. The AICD’s Not- for-Profit Governance and Performance Study highlighted 95 per cent of respondents reported service delivery had changed post-pandemic adding to the current challenges these organisations face.

Yet many smaller NFP’s do not have the budgets to undertake training. An extensive research initiative and report Learning from Purpose – Researching for Social Return on Education and Training. found 33% of NFP executives have no access to a designated training budget.

One of the AICD Governance Foundations for NFP Directors 2021 recipients Abi Binning, who is Executive Director with Wide Angle Tasmania shares:

Receiving quality governance training is incredibly important for directors in the not for profit sector, however, most small and medium organisations are unable to provide this training to directors from within their budgets. These scholarships provide a very valuable entry point for many volunteer directors in the sector.

Directors of small NFP organisations (annual income of $2 million or less), or aspiring directors, executives or senior managers of NFP organisations, are encouraged to apply for this scholarship in 2022.

Successful applicants undertake the highly regarded AICD Governance Foundations for NFP Directors program between August 2022 and June 2023.

Applications close on 1 May 2022, apply at the Australian Scholarships Foundation.