The Centre: Connecting Community in North & West Mebourne
- Project: Funding the Future
- Amount: $26,500
- Year(s) Funded: 2016
Enabling the sustainability of a small but highly effective homework club
Short-term employment of a skilled fundraiser to develop in-house skills and increase organisational capacity to build sustainability of the Home Away from Homework Club.
“The Funding the Future grant has enabled the training of a team of staff and volunteers to the point where, after consultation, research and design, we have launched an integrated, multi-source fundraising strategy to sustain our Home Away from Homework Program into the future.” Frances McMillan, Coordinator, Foundations Skills Program.
The Home Away From Homework Club is an inclusive and holistic program which provides learning support and tutoring to 60 disadvantaged primary and secondary students in Melbourne’s inner north, helping them both socially and academically to participate in school in a more meaningful way. The best practice, benchmark program features an experienced teacher as the coordinator and a dedicated team of 30 volunteers, delivering tutor support to the students, in partnership with the North Melbourne Library and the Altona North Community Library.
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- A professional fundraiser was employed to collaborate with staff and volunteers to develop and establish a sustainable, integrated funding strategy.
- The fundraiser worked with the Centre’s team in a series of training sessions to up-skill employees plus volunteers, resulting in increased organisational capacity.
- A comprehensive review was undertaken and a new marketing strategy developed with input from the homework students, which included creating a new identity and logo and the preparation of marketing materials and press releases.
- A video was produced to assist with crowdfunding and for publicity purposes.
- The fundraising campaign was successfully launched in September 2016.