Part I

Part II

Part III

Beginning 12 July, the Rotary Club of Sydney exclusively will accept meeting make-ups online at SydneyRotary.com. This trial initiative utilises best practices for modern information and communications technologies, and it aims to facilitate a higher level of member engagement and promote membership among new and younger audiences.

Online make-ups will require at least 30 minutes of activity on our new website, including contributing to discussion boards, reading articles about club activities or otherwise browsing. No more than two online make-up sessions will be permitted per month, and a mandatory $10 payment to the Club for each will be required.

In line with President Ned Boyce’s charge to reposition our Club as the premier Rotary Club in New South Wales, we will no doubt attract the interest and attention of Rotary International by unveiling this advance feature for participation and interaction. We are one of only a few Rotary Clubs in the world to pilot this type of facility, and we hope that Sydney Rotarians will take advantage of it in pursuit of your meeting attendance goals.

Angus M Robinson, Vice President and Advisor, Electronic Communications
12^th July, 2011

There's $2 million dollars in the pot. It's earmarked for Educational Scholarships for frontline staff employed in the Not for Profit sector. Would you like to be able to support your favourite Not For Profit charity in a really meaningful way? Do you know an outstanding person whose leadership capabilities would be enhanced with further education and training?

The Australian Scholarships Foundation and the Rotary Club of Sydney have formed a collaborative partnership to launch a two year Pilot Program with a $2 million budget over two years. The aim is to identify and select appropriate candidates for the various scholarships on offer from leading educational institutions and corporations.

The Australian Scholarships Foundation was born when Rotarian Murray Wells (ex RC of Sydney) and investment banker Paul Murnane realised that many wonderful people in the Not for Profit (NFP) sector lacked access to on-going training and professional development : see www.scholarships.org.au

"Many NFPs simply don't have the financial resources to allocate to staff training and development" Murray said. "As a consequence, many of them battle to keep abreast of strategic management practices. When personnel lack the tools to enhance operational efficiency it is much harder to deliver optimal outcomes".

The Australian Scholarships Foundation (ASF) funds and facilitates training and education for people who work in the NFP sector. Its Mission is to increase the overall effectiveness of the sector which is responsible for a staggering $41 billion per year. $41 billion! At 5% of GDP it's a significant economic force.

There are Scholarships available for a range of management and finance training programs, postgraduate and undergraduate degrees, diplomas and certificate courses, short training programs and specialized mentoring services. Lincoln Hopper from Mission Australia who won a Scholarship to the prestigious Australian Institute of Company Director's course says the opportunity is "vitally important" to the sector.

These Scholarships are obviously hotly contested. Rotarians nationwide however, are being given a unique opportunity to submit names of potentially worthy candidates to Project Director Robert Funke - rfunke2@gmail.com at the Rotary Club of Sydney or Rotarian Liz Jeffrey - sharland@ozemail.com.au

Article written by Ann Burleigh, RC of Sydney, PR Chair D9750

Past President of the Rotary Club of Sydney, Garry Browne speaks to Carson Scott on SKY BUSINESS CHANNEL's On the RECORD.