About Pro Bono Australia
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Pro Bono Australia is a small organisation with big ideas. We are a company driven by the simple desire to make a useful contribution toward social change and social connection. Whether you work in the community sector, or just want to have more involvement in your community, we want it to be easy for you to find news and discussion, to connect with an organisation or donor, to find a job, an employee or a volunteer. |
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What we do... We publish news and information, both online and in print, about the community sector. We have a news media service, with our journalists providing extensive coverage focusing on issues which impact the community sector. We also publish the Australian Directory of Not for Profit Organisations, a Guide to Giving which has assisted charities with fundraising and gathering support for over 20 years. On our website, Not for Profit organisations can advertise for employees or skilled volunteers, as well as find events and specialist community sector suppliers. We encourage discussion on issues, and keep people informed through our regular email bulletins. |
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How we operate... Pro Bono Australia was founded out of the Mahlab Group and the two businesses continue to operate in tandem, with all our staff sharing their responsibilities across both companies. It is a unique business model, but it works. By keeping our overheads low, we can be self-sustaining and still deliver our main services for free. It also means we can collaborate with other organisations and invest our time working on new ideas that we think might help the community sector. We are a business, not a Not for Profit organisation or Social Enterprise. The terminology is always changing, but we have always thought of ourselves as a 'for-purpose' business. People have started saying we are a social business, which is nice too. |
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Our beginnings... Pro Bono Australia was established formally in 1998, but through the Mahlab Group we have actually been working with Australian Not for Profit organisations since 1989. Back in the late '90s, our founder Karen Mahlab was inspired by the possibilities of emerging information technologies. Back then, email was only just taking hold, and websites were mainly for universities. Very few Not for Profit organisations were using the internet to promote their cause. Karen was excited by the chance to use news and information online to resource Not for Profit organisations, and to encourage philanthropy in the broader community. We started with our email news bulletins in 1998, and the publishing of our Directory online soon after. This quickly expanded into other areas, such as skilled volunteer matching and advertising career opportunities. Ten years on, and we have grown and developed just as the sector has. We now communicate with thousands of people every week through our email bulletins, and continue to introduce the sector to many thousands more through our website and the printed directory. |
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So, who are these beautiful people? Thanks for asking! This is the whole Pro Bono Australia and Mahlab Group team. They are generally not so camera friendly, but were bribed out of hiding with cookies so you can see their smiling faces. Perched atop our logo we have Sivonne Binks, who is responsible for Communication and Development. Then we have our fearless leader Karen Mahlab, and our Managing Editor, the fabulous Lina Caneva. Below them we have our customer service wizard Sue Grant, and our intrepid journalist, Ryan Witcombe. To our right we have our multi-talented Operations Manager, Irina Bourova, and last but not least, our Marketing guru, Lee Newcombe. You can find out how to contact each of us on the contact page, and if you see us out and about, please say hello. |
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Get in touch... Our objective is to continue improving what we do so that we always have resources that are helpful for you. So if there is something that would help you do your job, make it easier to raise funds or find volunteers, or you would just like to know more about what we do now, please get in touch. Use our contact form, or give us a call on 03 8080 5650.
Pro Bono Australia
ABN 53 090 770 666 |
