Project Australia was an Australian organisation that provided pro-bono support for not-for-profit projects between 2007 - 2014. This site is an archive of its work. Its Annual Reports can be viewed here, and the final message from the Board can be viewed here.
The organisation's legacy continues via The Not-for-Profit Handbook, a manual for starting, scaling and sustaining resilient projects, based on the organisation's learnings.
- History
National Nights of DiscussionProject Australia began as a series of national nights of discussion. On three ocassions, people met in small groups around the country to discuss how to create a brighter Australian future. Over time it became clear that people were wanting support for developing their own community, but that such support wasn't readily available to them.
Pro-bono consultanciesHaving gone through the start-up process itself, Project Australia began providing pro-bono support for organisations to do the same. As the years went by, this service expanded to cover issues as diverse as board set-up, enterprise development, marketing, social media, and volunteer management. In all, 164 organisations were assisted over a 7 year period, with many going on to achieve great success.
Presentations and TrainingsTo expand the reach of its work, Project Australia facilitated over 30 trainings for more than 1000 participants. Typical workshops included: Idea Crystallization; How to Raise your Digital Profile; Asset-mapping for Your Project or Community; Running an Offers and Needs Market; and Creating A World-Changing Project on a Limited Budget. In-house trainings also saw skill development for Project Australia's hundreds of volunteers over the 7 years of its existence.
Support DatabaseIn addition to providing consultancy and training support, Project Australia sought to strengthen Australia's social innovation ecosystem. It developed a searchable database (Start Good Stuff) of over 100 Australian organisations that were providing other forms of assistance, from crowdfunding platforms, to co-working spaces and training programs for budding social entrepreneurs.
Online ToolboxThrough its own experiences, Project Australia developed an extensive list of useful tools for social innovators. In partnership with the Australian Social Innovation Exchange (later TACSI) it used this data to create a searchable, online toolbox (Tools4Good) that included links to relevant documents, templates and free software.
Online IncubatorOne of the organisation's less successful initiatives was an online incubator for social innovation. After two years of planning and building (in the years before lean development was widely understood), the voluntary team of developers and user-experience specialists ran out of steam. A similar service entered the Australian marketplace via the PlanBig platform.
Youth Speakers' BureauProject Australia's work constantly saw it interacting with passionate young social entrepreneurs. Given so many of these people were incredibly articulate, the possibility of a professional speakers' bureau for young social entrepreneurs was explored. However, as with the incubator, too much time was invested in developing comprehensive infrastructure, without testing what the market really wanted and launching an imperfect product. The Bureau's main website was never completed.
Not-for-Profit HandbookThe main legacy emerging from Project Australia's experiences and learnings is The Not-for-Profit Handbook (to be published in 2022). Authored by Project Australia’s Founder, Donnie Maclurcan, this crowdfunded handbook provides a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to start, scale or sustain resilient projects in an ever-changing world. Offering ideas, tips, tools and insights across a range of topics, the book is written primarily for Australian and U.S. audiences, but has relevance for social entrepreneurs worldwide.
Wind-down and HandoverWith Project Australia's founder, Donnie Maclurcan, having relocated to the U.S. in 2013, a decision needed to be made about the future of the organisation. In June 2015, the Board decided to wind-down the organisation. As Donnie was continuing his work assisting not-for-profit organisations (through the U.S. Post Growth Institute), it was agreed that the Handbook project be transferred to the Institute for completion and publishing. The small amount of money Project Australia had in its bank account was gifted to the Post Growth Institute (itself a 501c(3) non-profit), to off-set some of the printing and distribution liabilities resulting from the 2013 crowdfunding campaign. 
HandbookThe Not For Profit Handbook provides a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to start, scale or sustain resilient projects in an ever-changing world.
Providing ideas, tips, tools and insights across a range of topics, the book draws on Donnie Maclurcan's experience in establishing, advising and consulting to not-for-profit groups around the world.The handbook is due for publication in 2022. Pre-purchase your copy by clicking here.
