Tanck’s Neil Pharaoh dives into your options, challenges, and opportunities from the recent Australian Federal Budget.

Let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we…is governance boring?

Well, I think that depends entirely on how you look at it. It can certainly seem boring if you let it, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Believe it or not, if you approach it the right way, good governance can actually be quite inspiring. And that’s how I like to think about it.

 The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) seems to have gained momentum in recent years, and more and more business – large and small – are recognising the need to be a good corporate citizen, and focus on doing things ethically, responsibly, and in a way that adds value to the world, whilst also making their profits.

It seems like nearly every not-for-profit organisation I talk to these days is struggling to find people willing to put up their hands for positions on their Boards (or Committees of Management).

As we say goodbye to Pro Bono News, we move into an interesting political landscape in Australia: with almost wall-to-wall Labor governments, it raises new and different challenges for our sector.

Economic modelling can come with a hefty price tag. Neil Pharaoh examines whether it's worthwhile. A hotly contested subject is whether organisations should invest the time, money and effort into doing a cost/benefit analysis, or to show the long-term savings to government when asking them to fund a program. Will this extra step help your organisation’s case or simply be a waste of time, money, and effort?

Let’s play a game of pretend. What if cars ceased to exist? How would life be different? Governments would have to invest in public transport. People would walk more, get fitter and actually meet their neighbours. Concrete car parks would give way to green parks and room for more housing. Out of town monster shopping malls would be replaced by local markets and smaller urban villages. We may not be achieving utopia any time soon, but it’s great to dream.

Partnerships are more than just the money, right? Just like airlines are all about the schedules, seat size and in-flight entertainment, until one crashes into a hillside. Then it’s all about safety and maintenance.

Neil Pharaoh recently did a radio interview on civil society, and it got him thinking: What will be the future of civil society on its current trajectory?

When you want to win hearts and minds on the road to change, sometimes you can gain the most ground by engaging with the people who support you the least.