Hunter Community Alliance is funded by the membership dues paid by partner organisations. Dues contributions are based on the means of each organisation, and all partners who contribute retain equal representation in the decision making processes of the Alliance.
Funding our organisation this way allows us to be politically active while remaining non-partisan and independent.
For information on our dues policy and schedule of fees for various sized organisations, please contact us:
Callan Lawrence, Organiser: [email protected]
HUNTER COMMUNITY ALLIANCE DUES POLICY
The motivation:
Acknowledging that The Hunter has not yet arrived –
Where not all are participating
in flourishing ecosystems where the needs of all are addressed,
where the voices of people, creatures and places
suffering a range of disadvantages
are sufficiently heard, and issues addressed;
we are building a diverse alliance,
with a range of sizes of organisations,
to build power,
so
all have dignity and capacity,
to participate in the framing and achieving
of inclusive and sustainable futures
– socially, economically and environmentally;
to give expression to democracy
as it is meant to be.
The Process:
Building strong relationships amongst leaders of civic organisations
through 1:1 conversations -
where respect, understanding and trust grow,
sufficiently to see the need
that to achieve common goals
we need to work together -
in some things, not all things.
Where leaders and members of organisations:
Experience learning together;
how communities are organised;
developing leadership identified;
common issues prioritised;
solutions researched;
joint actions planned;
decision makers addressed;
evaluation valued.
The Funding Challenge - Paying our ‘Dues’:
To remain non-partisan, these kinds of Alliances do not seek nor receive government funding, for it is government officials that will often be called to account, for the way things are, and working together for how they might be better.
Ron Heifetz of Harvard University penned the phrase ‘the elegant tenacity of the status quo’ to describe how all systems revert to usual practices unless sustained agitation is applied. Therefore, every alliance needs the service of a Community Organiser, to link leaders, share the vision and principles, coordinate training in the methods, to work with a council of organisational leaders to make decisions on the functioning of the Alliance.
In the Hunter it has been possible to employ an Organiser for 21 hours a week, including peripherals, at a total of $5,000 per month. As the Alliance grows, the position may need to involve more time but at this stage 21 hours is considered sufficient to the end of 2021. Existing member organisations have contributed funding, that with Federal Government Covid JobKeeper, will cover costs to the end of 2020.
The Alliance is currently facing the challenge therefore, to raise funds for 2021 and beyond. For long term planning contributions are usually indicated for a three year period. For organisations evaluating participation, one year contributions are considered reasonable.
Contributions, are called ‘Dues’ in this kind of Organising. It is a reminder that out of respect for each other, the task at hand, and the ownership that ensues, that each organisation does its duty by enabling funding of the Alliance.
Each organisation is asked to contribute according to its capacity. The following table offers suggestions.