Woohoo! 

If any of you like me have developed a real interest in the exciting medium of photography and video to tell the story of our community work and create real impact that cuts through so many barriers from litercay issues and language barriers to our audience being time poor and overloaded with information - a picture tells a 1000 words!

I discovered the course on our linked in group : Connecting Up Australia through a discussion posted by Roger Burk from http://www.pictographers.org/ conducting the course. I was sure this would be another fantastic US course - but it's in Australia.

Course details : http://www.idss.com.au/pages/1261366836.app 

I'm going to register right now!

Check out some examples of the power of digital storytelling:

• our Video blog for examples of more Australian nonprofit organisations using video and photos.
• the "A Jpeg is worth a 1000 words competition"   and more info.
• "Big Stories" an amazing project - award winning documemntary
• Online Video for Nonprofits workshop slides - a how to guide - from Connecting Up Conference 09

By Karen Gryst

The Gov2.0 Taskforce's Public Sector Information "Ideas" contest for nonprofit organisations received huge numbers of entries which is very exciting that there is so much traction around how we could innovate to use government information for collaboration and application in our contexts.

The winner is.............“Indicators of social inclusion in local geographic areas for planning an evaluating community services” from Helen McGuire, which proposed that data should be published on key social indicators based on local geographic areas so it can be made available to community organisations, policy makers, and government funding bodies.

There were numerous great ideas - find out more here.

And for more on what the Gov2.0 Taskforce are doing click here.

We're all going on a summer holiday.......la, la, doobie, doobie, do, do, do, do.

We would like to wish our Australian nonprofit sector a lovely summer and festive season.

Every year is busy but 2009 has been particularly challenging with the financial crisis.

We hope that everyone gets the rest they deserve to continue your great work in the community.

Connecting Up December newsletter - short and sweet - Connecting Up have a nonprofit specific Board position available - see more information in the newsletter.

So take it easy......sleep, walk, read, meditate......Ommmmmmmmmmmm!

And we'll see you with all those fantastic resolutions in the New Year...2010!

Many South Australian community and government services close or operate on a limited basis over the Christmas - New Year period. To help service providers who are looking for organisations that provide a meal for isolated or disadvantaged on Christmas Day or emergency relief services between Christmas 2009 and  New Year 2010, Connecting Up Australia has compiled a list of services that are available at that time.

Please contact us if you have information to add to this listing, and feel free to distribute this information to colleagues and organisations that would find it useful.

Purpose

Connecting Up Australia is conducting a national research into the capacity development priorities of
the nonprofit sector in Australia 2009-2010 to build an understanding of current and emerging
nonprofit priorities in Australia. Research findings will be published and shared with the
sector, Government and other stakeholders. Findings will also be used to inform Connecting
Up as an organisation to represent and support nonprofit capacity development needs
among nonprofits and also with business, government and academic sectors. This valuable
data will enable the development of new strategies, collaborations and services.

Who is Connecting Up Australia?

Isn't it so frustrating when companies or sponsors or other funding bodies dangle a carrot of much needed funds, but only want to fund a specific thing. "Well what we had in mind was a purple playground for the rare and endangered spotted bunyip, with photos please of happy bunyips for our PR, with a detailed report on their preference of slippery dip or the swing."

I'm being cheeky, but in reality it is easier for these funders to sell a tangible project with popular appeal. It is much harder to sell and promote a story of money for new administration staff, internal IT upgrades, capacity development.

We often hear the story that some sponsorships and grants are more trouble than they are worth, creating more work to try and fit funding criteria on something which can even be a diversion from where we really need to be spending our valuable time. 

Wouldn't it be nice if companies doing their bit for the community understood that we (the nonprofits helping the community) know our stuff, we're passioante about it, we know how to work very efficiently and we are ready to tackle the community issues we deal with through excellent programs. We just lack the resources human or otherwise, to do so.

That is why the DonorTec program is so ingenious. The companies who support this program are saying - 'We know you do great work! So let's help you save those valuable dollars to spend on core programs and priorities rather than IT infrastructure AND become more efficient in the process with the latest and greatest technology. We have it, you need it as well as the additional budget. It is easier for us to give product rather than cash to all these groups."

A Win Win they implement tangible community development and corporate social responsibility and we (the nonprofits) have more funds to get on with our work!

A few weeks ago a group of librarians organised a tour of the Adelaide Women’s Prison Libraries. They found that library services to prisoners are limited to 2 small collections, one in the mainstream prison and the other in the  Living Skills Unit. The books in both collections desperately need to be renewed and expanded so that they can become useful resources for recreational reading and for supporting literacy and learning within the prison. The library service relies on the volunteer efforts of one person who spends a few hours each week on this task. If you are interested in assisting here are some ideas:

• Volunteer your time to help out in the prison libraries
• Donate books from your own personal collection at home
• Donate magazines you’ve recently bought and finished reading
• Organise a book drive at work and donate the books to the prison
• Do a whip around at work and use the raised money to go out and buy a new book to donate

A simple but effective way to make a difference to the lives of people in prison and help them prepare for their return to the community.

Making Links, one of Australia’s leading forums on information and communications technology (ICT) for the community sector, will be returning to Melbourne this year from 16 to 18 November. This year's conference will explore the twin challenges faced by the global economic crisis and environmental sustainability, specifically addressing the effects, opportunities, and threats on the community sector.

Addressing and navigating through this complex environment will be keynote speakers Matthew Allen, Associate Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University of Technology, who will explore how the interactions between people and computers enables change and development; and Karl Mallon of Climate Risk, who will discuss how organisations can identify and manage the risks associated with the impact of climate change.

Making Links, now entering its sixth year, is renowned for an engaging and inclusive program which includes practical workshops, panel discussions, case studies and a wide range of speakers from community organisations such as Inspire Foundation, Greenpeace and the WA AIDS Council, research institutions and the corporate world. This year, presenters will address topics as broad as reducing costs and environmental impact by maximising use of online space, the benefits and challenges of social networking, free and cheap online tools, and current research on the ICT capacity of both organisations and marginalised communities. Satellite events include a day workshop on website accessibility and usability, and a short film festival showcasing community developed films and multimedia.

The conference will be attended by delegates from across the country who are engaged in critical and cutting edge work in community development, technology, and social innovation. Find out more information and register at www.makinglinks.org.au.

5 Days left to enter - closes November 6 at 5pm.

Do you have an idea for using government information that you’d love to have but you can’t get now? Would you like to win $5,000 for your favorite nonprofit? Well, all you have to do is come up with a great idea for the nonprofit sector to use government information to make the world a better place. The contest details are below.

Who’s behind this? The Gov 2.0 Task Force, appointed by the Australian Government. http://gov2.net.au/

What’s Gov 2.0? It’s about governments being more open with information and using social media to communicate with the public, so they are more accountable.

So how does this contest work? The Taskforce will select the best idea(s) for using public sector information in a nonprofit/charity setting and award a cash donation of $5,000 to the charity/not-for-profit organisation of the winner’s choice.  http://gov2.net.au/blog/2009/10/09/not-for-profit-psi/

What happens after that? The winner(s) (or their nominated not-for-profit organisation) will get help from Connecting Up Australia to scope their idea as a project proposal to the Taskforce.
What does that mean? It means that your idea may get funding from the Gov 2.0 Project Fund to be put into action.

How long have we got? You’ve got until 5pm Friday 6 November, so hurry. But don’t panic, you just need to generate the idea at this stage, but you’ll need to provide some broad details to allow the Task Force to make a decision.

If you have ever wanted to learn more about digital stroytelling and how it can work for a community the Big Stories Project is a great example to check out.

Two film makers : Jeni Lee and Sieh Mchawala with Martin Potter all from the Media Resource Centre ran a project and workshops in a town called Port Augusta in South Australia to produce " Big Stories".

I heard about Big Stories when I met with Gayle Mather from Umeewarra Aboriginal Media Association in Port Augusta recently. Gayle sent me the link to Big Stories after I thanked her for her time and commented on how I was inspired by her passion and comitment to the community there. She sent me the link to her story to help explain why she is so passionate. Wow! That a powerful way to explain something! Check out Gayle's story.