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Social Sector Transformation Fund:
FREE ADVISORY AND INFORMATION SERVICES

In November 2020, the NSW Government established a $50 million Social Sector Transformation Fund (SSTF), to help small to medium sized charities and not-for-profits adapt their operations, and invest in new systems and technologies, so they could continue to provide responsive services to their communities.

In announcing the SSTF, the then NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet
acknowledged the crucial role that small and medium-sized charities and not-for-profits play in the lives of vulnerable people right across the State, and that the sector was hit hard by the pandemic with surges in demand and increased costs of providing COVID-safe services.

The SSTF was rolled out in three parts. These free advisory and information services are the third part of the program.

The overall objective of the services is to assist small to medium not-for-profits to remain efficient, effective and viable.

The services will conclude on 30 September 2022.

Who is Eligible to Access the Free Services?

Any not-for-profit or charity with less than $5 million in revenue (2019-20), providing services in social services and health sector in NSW

The following are particularly encouraged to apply:

Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs)

Organisations that deliver a majority of services to Aboriginal clients and communities

Organisations based in rural and remote NSW

Small organisations who derive more than 50% of their funding from NSW Government

Eligible organisations can receive assistance in any of the following areas:

Digital and Information Technology

Are you unhappy with your CRM and want advice on how to choose one that is effective for your organisation? Do you want to migrate your files to the cloud? Want to get advice on how to best spend your limited IT funds? Find out more and apply

Legal Advice

Do you need legal help with understanding and navigating the impacts of COVID-19 on your organisation? Does your organisation need employment advice? Is your constitution out of date and making governing hard? There are hundreds of legal issues not-for-profits and charities face every day. Justice Connect’s Not-for-profit Law program is here to help you navigate the process. Find out more and apply

Governance and Strategy

Want to have a strategic conversation on how to efficiently and effectively use your resources? Want to talk about Board recruitment and accountability? What to develop a new business plan? Or develop a marketing/branding or partnership strategy? Find out more and apply to Sefa or Social Impact Hub.

Leadership and Workforce Development

Do you want to skill up your staff in telepractice or provide coaching for emerging leaders? Or find out more about the NFP Sustainability in Transition Program: A group workshop/coaching program for senior leaders of NFP organisations. Find out more and apply

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Evaluation and Service Delivery

Do you want to creatively demonstrate the fantastic impact you have in your community? Want to test an idea for a social enterprise or learn how to increase your funding? Find out more and apply

For Aboriginal NGOs, Aboriginal Health services and non-Aboriginal organisations that service Aboriginal people

Do you want to identify organisational needs and develop plans to support your growth to increase capacity, effectiveness and sustainability? AbSec’s SSTF Project will also include information, resources, access to training, workforce development, and referrals to develop a more culturally appropriate and skilled workforce to enable better outcomes for Aboriginal people. Find out more and apply

Organisations can also benefit from two NCOSS led projects

The Resilience Building for Emergency Responses Project

The Resilience Building for Emergency Responses project is supporting bottom-up approaches to the current (and future) crises and ensuring that top-down emergency responses better align with context and need. Click here to find out more

Sector Symposium

The Symposium will bring together organisations from the social services, justice and health sectors to reflect on the impact of the Social Sector Transformation Fund (SSTF) and to leverage the sector’s collective wisdom, along with the lessons of COVID-19, to take stock of where we are now, what lies ahead and what is needed to make our sector viable or ‘future proof. Click here to find out more

Services in Action

“InfoXchange is our IT lifeboat”

Testimonials

Here are just a few real-life stories about the positive impact the SSTF has on the community.

As an organisation, Sefa has given us an invaluable skillset, tools and resources so as we move forward, we can continue to reflect and evolve our frameworks and model. Personally, Sefa’s mentorship and Theory of Change made me feel really confident going into conversations with our partners and potential funding bodies.

- First Steps Count

We had a wonderful understanding of the number of children we’ve supported with material aid and a robust understanding of need. And now through the SSTF fund we are getting fabulous free support from the Social Impact Hub to develop a Theory of Change to understand, measure and communicate the positive change we know we are making for families on the Central Coast and the Hunter.

- We Care Connect

InfoXchange helped us with strategic and practical advice for a new CRM and identified and introduced us to an external project manager so that we now have both these projects working in tandem. We are a small NFP with 12 mostly part-time staff and no internal IT expertise. Until now the thought of upgrading our CRM and migrating to the cloud, though entirely necessary, was daunting and posed considerable risk. We are now confident we will have the collaborative IT systems and tools we need.

- DV NSW

Services in Action

“We couldn't have done it without Sefa”

SSTF Service Providers

Further Information

We will be adding to this page including developing FAQs.

To receive updated information about all the SSTF Advisory and Information Services as it becomes available, register with NCOSS or email us.

Register Email Us

NCOSS is providing this information on behalf of the organisations who received funding from the NSW Government to provide SSTF Advisory and Information Services. These organisations have independent contractual relationships with the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). NCOSS’ role is to coordinate information, reporting and the development of resources for organisations to use after the program ends.