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We hear about climate change on TV and in the newspapers, but have you thought about how it could actually affect you? The Shared Energy Toolkit is designed to help community organisations get staff, volunteers, trustees and clients talking about climate change.

Brought to you by The New Economics Foundation:
Click here to view:
http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Shared_Energy_Toolkit.pdf

CSI recently published a paper “Corporate Community Involvement among Leading Companies in Australia and New Zealand”. The paper reports that the majority of companies it looked at have developed strategies, management targets and structures and processes to address community issues. It found that almost all companies have a community-business partnership as part of their strategy and are applying a strategic approach to these partnerships, with over three quarters of participants indicating that most of their partnerships have clearly set and agreed objectives, terms of involvement and measures to evaluate the success of the project.

The paper found that while a significant number of companies monitor their corporate community involvement, the emphasis remains on the measurement of inputs rather than outputs and outcomes in terms of leverage, community and business benefits. To view a full copy of the paper click here:

http://www.csi.edu.au/uploads/31642/ufiles/CSI%20Issues%20Paper%20No%20%2010%20-%20Corporate%20Community%20Involvement%20among%20Leading%20Companies.pdf

When we sent out the last issue of Tonic Magazine, we offered Tonic Subscribers a special deal on our best selling e-book 'Top 20 Checklists for Community Groups'. We had such an overwhelming response, that we thought it only fair we offered the same deal to all of you.

As the name suggests, 'Top 20 Checklists' is a set of easy-to-follow lists which will guide you through some of the most common challenges in the non-profit sector. They are simple, step by step checks which take seemingly daunting tasks and make them bite-size and do-able. They really are basic road maps for all the things you know you need to do, but are not sure where or how to start.

The checklists come by way of an e-book and cover:
• Writing a Sponsorship Letter
• Preparing a Funding Application
• Writing a Press Release
• Designing a Promotional Brochure
• Hiring a Profesional Fundraiser
• Creating a Membership Package
• Writing a Succcessful Newsletter
• Managing a Sponsorship Appointment
• Preparing for a Media Interview
• Setting Up an Effective Website
• Running an Effective Meeting
• Writing a Risk Assessment
• Using Online Social Media
• and more!

It's a great tool to have on hand, and the checklists can be printed off and distributed to everyone involved in the specific task.
'Top 20 Checklists for Community Groups' costs just $40, but if you order before 2nd September, we'll give you a second e-book '40 Marketing Must-Dos' absolutely free.

o get your copy email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Make sure you put Top 20 Checklist in the subject line and get your order in by 2nd September.
Have a great week!
Kerri and Tracy

The time bank idea was developed at the London School of Economics by Washington law professor Edgar Cahn in 1986, who describes the idea as working like a blood bank or babysitting club: “Help a neighbour and then, when you need it, a neighbour – most likely a different one – will help you. The system is based on equality: one hour of help means one time dollar, whether the task is grocery shopping or making out a tax return... Credits are kept in individual accounts in a ‘bank’ on a personal computer. Credits and debits are tallied regularly. Some banks provide monthly balance statements, recording the flow of good deeds.”

Time credits are simply a recognition of the time and effort put in locally. They are not supposed to be an adequate recompense, and experience in the USA shows that most are never spent. However, they do seem to be the kind of recognition that keep people volunteering much longer than in conventional volunteer schemes. At its simplest, the idea uses a broker at the end of the phone, and allows people to earn time credits for each hour they help out in their local community. In the words of the New Economic Foundation (NEF) – “The result is a parallel economy, using time as the medium of exchange, putting these forgotten assets to work meeting the forgotten needs, and by doing so making connections between people and rebuilding a sense of trust.”

To read the NEF article entitled “Time Banks – a Radical Manifesto”, click here to download.

http://www.neweconomics.org/sites/neweconomics.org/files/Time_Banks_Manifesto.pdf