Issue 42 - 1 July 2011

On 1 August 2011, a signing ceremony for the Accord will take place at Parliament for the Kia Tūtahi Standing Together Relationship Accord.

The Prime Minister, John Key, and the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Tariana Turia, will sign the Accord along with community members attending the event.

The Accord sets out principles to guide relationships between government agencies and communities. Cabinet endorsed the Accord on 13 June 2011.

A joint community-government steering group undertook wide consultation on the Accord last year. Their report, and Cabinet’s response are available on the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector’s website: www.ocvs.govt.nz.

Go online at www.ocvs.govt.nz. from 2 August, if you would like to sign up to the Accord. Information will also be posted there on regional signing events taking place after the Parliament signing.

Six government agencies have agreed to champion the Accord: the Department of Internal Affairs; Ministries of Health, Pacific Island Affairs and Social Development; Te Puni Kōkiri and SPARC.

A reference group from communities and government will be involved in watching over the Accord’s implementation. Knowledge gained about good practice will be replicated across government and communities, and jointly reviewed by communities and government every three years.

A Ready Reference Engagement Guide will be released by the Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector on 2 August 2011. This aims to support good practice by government agencies when they engage citizens and communities in the development of policies and services.

The Guide’s practical advice shows how the relationship principles in the Kia Tutahi Standing Together Relationship Accord can be put into affect. Look for it from 1 August on www.goodpracticeparticipate.govt.nz.

A new website, www.communitymatters.govt.nz has been launched by the Department of Internal Affairs.

The new site is a one-stop shop where communities can access information about the community advisory services, Lottery grants, COGS (the Community Organisation Grants Scheme) and Crown-funded schemes and trusts administered by the Department.

This new site replaces the Department’s old www.cdgo.govt.nz website, and is the new gateway to the Grants Online system.

Currently much of the not-for-profit sector in New Zealand is governed by the century old Incorporated Societies Act 1908 – an Act which the Law Commission argues is in need of major reform.

The Commission is seeking feedback on a range of issues and options for reform including:

• whether all societies should, as a condition of incorporation, be subject to certain minimum governance rules that they cannot vary
• whether a new Act ought to provide a code that makes the obligations of committee members clearer
• how the Act should provide for the resolution of disputes between members and their societies
• what rules societies ought to be required to have in their constitution, and the nature of those rules.

The Commission also considers whether a new Act should also replace the ability to incorporate under the Charitable Trusts Act.

To view the Commission’s Issues Paper go to www.lawcom.govt.nz/. Submissions close on 30 September 2011.

On 27 May 2011, TV3 News reported that Payroll Giving donations topped $546,000 in March, the highest monthly total recorded since the scheme began 18 months ago. Revenue Minister Peter Dunne attributed this to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal, saying “It is very clear that the March figures were hugely boosted by New Zealanders supporting the Appeal, and finding that Payroll Giving is a simple and efficient mechanism to allow them to do that”.

The March donations came from more than 5,100 donors, well up from the average 1,400 to 1,700 donors using the scheme over the previous six months.

Payroll Giving has averaged about $129,000 a month since its inception in January 2010, but has really taken off this year with $159,000 in January and $162,000 in February. The previous highest monthly total was $209,000 in December last year. Mr Dunne said people had also donated $80,000 of their accumulated tax credit for this year to the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.

Payroll giving is available to all employers who file their Employer Monthly Schedules to Inland Revenue electronically and is completely voluntary.

The March figures are also published on the IRD website.

The Victory Village Forum in Nelson is being held on 27-29 July. A national event about local development, the forum will explore ways of working together to grow strong, thriving communities.

One such community is Nelson's Victory Village, which was named community of the year in the 2010 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year awards. Using the striking changes made at Victory Village as a starting point, the forum will bring together a group of innovative school and community leaders, with representatives from local government, central government, support agencies, service providers, philanthropic organisations and NGOs.

Forum participants will have the opportunity to share and learn about:

• evaluation and reporting
• some of the theory behind community-led development
• the links between community and economic development and enterprise
• working between the sectors and the role business can play in building strong communities
• relevant research and research techniques
• ways of connecting with and within communities
• funding sustainability.

The Victory Village Forum is brought to you by Nelson's Victory Village, in partnership with the Families Commission and Inspiring Communities.

Workshops on building knowledge and skills for successful partnering across public, private, community and philanthropic sectors, will be held in Wellington (3-4th August) and Auckland (2-3rd November). You can enrol online at www.thoughtpartners.co.nz.

The Working Together More Fund - He Pūtea Mahi Tahi is supporting attendance by community groups and NGOs which meet their criteria. The purpose of the Fund is to support community groups who wish to develop collaborative initiatives. Visit www.workingtogether.org.nz or telephone Barbara Edwards 09 486 7671.

The Society of Local Government Managers Opus Business School is offering training in managing and negotiating conflict from 14 - 15 July 2011 in Wellington.

Colin McKenzie is an internationally-recognised expert in conflict management (specifically, negotiation, facilitation, mediation and relationship management), in a wide variety of countries, and in both the public and private sectors. For further information contact clampp@solgm.org.nz.

Entries are open till 29 July 2011 for the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Core Value Awards 2011 for Australasia under two categories: Project of the Year and Organisation of the Year. To download application forms, click here.

The IAP2 Core Values Awards recognise excellence in public participation. Australasian winners in both categories will be announced at the bi-annual Australasian Conference for Public Participation 2011 in Sydney, which takes place from 20-21 October 2011.

As part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori celebrations 2011, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu launched a new online resource called Destination Reo on 4 July 2011.

www.destinationreo.com is an online mapping tool powered by Google Maps, allowing users to quickly find te reo Māori services, learning opportunities and events nationwide, even worldwide. The tool splits services into three categories AKO, HOKO and KŌRERO – or LEARN, SHOP and ENJOY. For more information about this website and the tool contact destinationreo@gmail.com or phone through on 0800 KAITAHU.

The importance of health and safety in volunteering and the particular issues faced by employee volunteers have led to a new publication, the Employee Volunteering Health and Safety Guidelines, launched recently by Volunteering New Zealand – available for download from www.volunteeringnz.org.nz.

The Cabinet Office in the United Kingdom has published a Giving White Paper that sets out plans to boost the giving of time and money.

A Social Action Fund will be used to pilot innovations that encourage giving, such as “complementary currencies” that give people credit for volunteering, and prizes for ideas that encourage generosity (for instance, the best new mobile phone volunteering application). Thirty million pounds will be invested in local infrastructure to support civil society organisations.

The paper includes a year-long campaign to promote payroll giving, and United Kingdom Government ministers will give one day a year to volunteer at a charity or voluntary group of their choice. The paper also indicates that banks and cashpoint providers have unanimously agreed to work together to enable donations to be made at ATMs by 2012.

The government will also invest £700,000 through the Social Action Fund in Philanthropy UK, which offers advice on effective giving to aspiring philanthropists. A further £1 million will be given to the youth charity YouthNet to support its “Do it” website, which links people to volunteering opportunities.

The Centre for Nonprofit Management at Trinity College Dublin has published exploratory research to map the characteristics, behaviours and facets of Irish social entrepreneurial enterprises. Their survey was aimed at enterprises that saw themselves as a business with the primary objective of creating social value. The report Mapping Social Entrepreneurial Enterprises in Ireland can be found at www.tcd.ie/business/cnm/assets/pdf/sei-mapping-report.pdf.

Vanisa Dhiru started as Executive Director of Volunteering New Zealand (VNZ) on 11 July.

Vanisa has worked in several communication roles in the sectors of transport and business development in government, within various small and large corporates. More recently she worked with ANZ and National Banks on corporate volunteering and community giving programmes. Vanisa’s volunteering includes membership of the YWCA and Trade Aid boards, and volunteering abroad in India. She is also one of the country’s youngest JPs.

Tayo Agunlejika, of Upper Hutt, has been elected National President of the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils.

His nomination for the presidency was made by the Upper Hutt Multicultural Council on which he has served for seven years and is the current vice-president.

OCVS establishment staff member, Hugh Lawrence, has taken up a secondment until early 2012 at the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, where he has a senior advisor role for sport and recreation, overseeing SPARC and the drugs testing agency, Drug Free Sport New Zealand.

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