About this organisation
Summary of activities
The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life skills, self esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and by doing so, equips them to participate more meaningfully in society. The Foundation believes that a failure to experience achievement when young, coupled with a position of under-privilege can lead to alienation, anger and to more serious consequences. As a prelude to tackling these and other issues, participants are first provided with an opportunity to succeed and in turn to raise their self-esteem. Our programme is delivered through a network of academies established in partnerships with schools. Any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander male enrolled at the school is eligible to participate in the Clontarf academy. Our academies provide an important school-engagement mechanism for many at-risk students who would otherwise not attend or have low school attendance. Full-time, locally based Clontarf staff mentor and counsel students on a range of behavioural and lifestyle issues while the school caters for their educational needs. Using a comprehensive approach of supportive relationships, a welcoming environment and a diverse range of activities, the students develop improved self-esteem and confidence which enables them to participate in education, employment and society in a positive way. Academy activities are planned within the focus areas of education, leadership, employment, well being and sport. In order to remain in the programme, participants must continue to work at their schooling, embrace the objectives of the Foundation, and consistently endeavour to attend school regularly, apply themselves to the study of appropriate courses, and embrace the academy's requirements for behaviour and self-discipline. Upon completing the programme, graduates are assisted to find employment. Specialist Clontarf Employment Officers are engaged to do this, as well as to provide support until graduates become comfortable with their new jobs and surroundings. This approach has proven to be very successful, not only in attracting young men to school and retaining them but also in having them embrace more disciplined, purposeful and healthy lifestyles.
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Outcomes
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Programs and activities
Name: Clontarf Foundation Engagement Program
Classification: Education support (Education > Education support)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Children - aged 6 to under 15
- Males
- Youth - 15 to under 25
Finances
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This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
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First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
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Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
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Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
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