Philanthropy Australia Board Matrix

The Philanthropy Australia Board works hard to optimise Board composition for effective leadership and governance. To this end, a skills, experience and diversity matrix was established to help understand the strengths of and gaps within the current Board, so we can ensure the Board is representative of the broader community and contemporary philanthropy.

 

Board Skills Matrix

CATEGORY	ITEM	BOARD BACKGROUND & DIVERSITY
		Yes	Somewhat	Gap
Skills / Expertise	Philanthropy
	Finance
	Strategic
	Governance
	Governance relations (policy and process)
	PR / Communications
	Information technology
	Policy and research (structuring philanthropic trusts)
	Board roles
	NFP leadership
Background	Trusts and foundations
	Corporate foundations
	Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs)
	Community foundations
	Individual philanthropists
	National organisations
	Intergenerational organisations
Diversity	Age - mixed-age profile*
	Gender - 40% minimum**
	Non-English-speaking background
	Indigenous***
	State representation
Personal Attributes	Broad perspectives (life experiences)
	Good communicator
	Active contributor to Board
	Ambassador (representational role)

* 1 Board Member is under 40 years
** 9 Board Members are women, 4 are men
*** No Board Members are Indigenous

2021 Board election

The current Board would like to encourage nominations from members with the following skills, experience and profiles:

Skills and experience

• Finance
• People
• IT
• Corporate Foundations
• Community Foundations
• Government relations (policy and process)

Profile

• Culturally diverse
• First Nations people
• People under 40

In addition, Board Members need contemporary and future-focused understanding of current practices and the potential for philanthropy.

Eligibility

To be eligible for appointment to the Board of Philanthropy Australia, a nominee must:

be a Member*, or a representative of a Member; and
not be disqualified from managing a corporation under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) or from being a responsible entity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012 (Cth).

*A Member from Active, Engaged, Impact and New Gen membership levels has full voting rights and can be elected to the Board (a Member from the Connected level of membership does not have voting rights and can't be elected to the Board). Clause 12.1 (d) of the Constitution states that “Each director must be a member or representative of a member, at the time of appointment or election, and the majority of directors must be Funders or representatives of Funders.”

Please note that Members whose rights have been suspended are not eligible to be nominated, nor to nominate others. 

Criteria

Philanthropy Australia has a skills, experience and diversity matrix to help understand the strengths of, and assess the gaps in, the current Board composition.  The Board is keen to ensure the mix of Directors is representative of the broader community, maximises good governance and that the total composition strengthens and enhances its effectiveness. The Board therefore asks that nominators and candidates review the skills matrix and that nominations address the desired skills, experience and characteristics highlighted.

The Philanthropy Australia Board Charter and other related governance documents can be found here.

Nominations

To nominate for a Board position, please:

• use the form approved by the Board, which can be found here.
• include up to 500 words describing the candidate’s profile, their purpose for standing and how they meet the needs of the Board, with reference to the skills matrix.

As advised to Members on 17 February 2021, the board nomination process has been extended from 14 Febrary to 5 March. Please submit all nominations for a Board position by 5.00pm 5 March 2021 to the AGM Secretary, Nicolas Crowhurst via email (ncrowhurst@collaboratusgroup.com) or via post:

Philanthropy Australia
Attn: Nicolas Crowhurst
Level 2, 55 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Download the 2021 Director Nomination form here.

Nominees are encouraged to speak with the Board Co-chairs, Ann Johnson and Amanda Miller, as well as current Directors or the CEO to assist with questions, background or any other information that might be helpful. Please call the Melbourne office on 03 9662 9299 if you would like to discuss a nomination. 

As per the Constitution, if there are more nominations for Board positions than vacancies, nominations will go to a vote of Members held by ballot, the details of which will be sent to all Members on 9 March 2021. This vote will be conducted by Philanthropy Australia's appointed returning officer and AGM Secretary, Nicolas Crowhurst.