Philanthropy Australia's KnowledgeBank

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Over the past few years, Philanthropy Australia has been developing a model to bring together our information services to make them as extensive and accessible as possible.

Throughout this process, we have come to understand the immense value of making use of the information technology at hand. The resulting model is what we have called our "KnowledgeBank".

The KnowledgeBank will be an extensive and user-friendly information service, created and maintained by Philanthropy Australia and made accessible to our Members, the not-for-profit community and the general public through the internet.

It will expand the community sector’s knowledge base on philanthropy, promote and facilitate understanding and partnerships between funders and grantseekers, and provide a user-friendly and accessible ‘first port of call’ for anyone seeking information on philanthropy and the not-for-profit sector.

The KnowledgeBank project has been most generously supported by Macquarie Group Foundation, which has enabled us to take a holistic and inclusive approach to our knowledge management and information management across the board.

The KnowledgeBank encompasses several components of Philanthropy Australia's online information services:

KnowledgeBank Search

The KnowledgeBank Search will be a page from which the user can search the entire KnowledgeBank collection, including all of the following components (some pending):

Each of these components will also be able to be searched independently through the interface, and advanced search features will allow further refining. Search results will indicate if some material is only accessible to Members or Subscribers, and will provide access to that information if those users are logged in.

The KnowledgeBank Search will make accessible from a central location the wealth of information provided by Philanthropy Australia across various collections. While not breaching Member-only security for sensitive information, it will allow open access to all publicly available collections in the KnowledgeBank.

KnowledgeBank Search Progress: This component is next on our agenda to be developed, due for release in early 2008. We are currently still in its planning stages.

Philanthropy Australia Website

The Philanthropy Australia Website is a hub of news and information in the Australian philanthropy sector. Updated weekly, the Website provides an extensive archive of current and past research; practical guides for different players in the sector; noticeboards of news and events; resource portals for specific types of organisations; subscriber access to The Australian Directory of Philanthropy Online; and access to archives of communications and subscriptions features for Members, Subscribers and the public.

Main features of the Website include:

Website Progress: Since we re-launched the Website with a new design in 2006, we have been striving to make the best use of technology to make the site more user-friendly. To this end we have opened up the information available, organised it logically so it is easier to browse, and made RSS subscription to updates possible.

We are still working on: Monitoring our web stats to make sure the useability of the site is always optimised.

Philanthropy Australia Library Catalogue

We have approximately 2,000 books, journals, articles and reports on philanthropy, the Australian non-profit sector, foundations, grantmaking, corporate social responsibility and community investment, community development, partnerships, foundation and non-profit governance and management, and a wide range of program areas.

Members and Resource Centre Subscribers may borrow Library resources, or request other resources which are not held in our Library (which we can source from other libraries).

The Library Catalogue is available online.

Library Catalogue Progress: We have upgraded our Library Catalogue to the latest version of Koha, an Open Source Integrated Library System, which enhances the search features for the catalogue and allows borrowers to request material online.

We are still working on: integrating a login system that allows all Members to request & borrow material via the online catalogue with their universal username & password, and barcoding all our resources.

PhilanthropyWiki

The PhilanthropyWiki provides a first-port-of-call to the philanthropy and not-for-profit sectors, nationally and internationally, on philanthropy, grantseeking and charitable organisations in Australia.

It is currently still in early stages, as information is being added by both Philanthropy Australia staff and Members. Ultimately, it will form a comprehensive bank of knowledge, securing a deeper understanding and a research base for the philanthropy sector.

The PhilanthropyWiki is a vehicle to harness, access and manage the wealth of information and knowledge our staff, trustees and Members possess, encouraging its dissemination and effective sector-wide knowledge management.

The PhilanthropyWiki will incorporate the following sections:

Members will have the ability to edit and create pages in the PhilanthropyWiki, making it possible for them to share information they have gathered or created, as well as to document their own history. Selected sensitive documents may be only available to download by Members with a username and password, protecting their security while still fostering the sharing of information.

PhilanthropyWiki Progress: The PhilanthropyWiki had a soft launch in October 2007 and was officially launched mid-December 2007.

We are still working on: Plans to hold information sessions for Members in 2008, populating the Wiki & encouraging others to contribute.

The Australian Directory of Philanthropy Online

This grantseeking tool lists over 350 sources of non-government funding. An alphabetical listing of grant-making organisations, detailing their fields of interest, contact information, summary of purpose, geographical scope, legal limitations, grant restrictions and application procedures, the Directory is available in hard copy, published every 2 years, and in an Online version which is constantly updated.

Online Directory Progress: In 2005 we redesigned the Online Directory, giving it a new, cleaner look. We also added more user-friendly features including an advanced search page, download report functions, and a 'My Saved Entries' function (allowing users to bookmark entries to come back to later or download en masse).

We are still working on: researching and collating information to produce a new hard copy edition, due out in November 2007.

Philanthropic Grants Database

The Grants Database will allow us to accumulate and disseminate data on grantmaking, track trends and build knowledge on who is funding what, where and to what amount. This kind of data has long been collected in other countries and is used by researchers, policy makers, philanthropic funders and not-for-profits to inform their planning and decision-making. The Grants Database will go some way towards filling the gap in the resource base for Australian philanthropy.

Philanthropic Grants Database Progress: This component is currently still in the planning stage.

Projects in the Pipeline Database

The Projects Database will be a vehicle for grantseekers to list their forthcoming projects, for a small fee, for which they are seeking funding, on a central database. Others can then search to see which not-for-profit organisations are undertaking what work, promoting information exchange, reducing duplication of work and facilitating collaborations.

Projects in the Pipeline Database Progress: This component is currently still in the planning stage.


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