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The CommunityNet Aotearoa monthly newsletter.
"News and views on community networking throughout Aotearoa."
It seems our sector may be becoming the focus of email and web scams. So take nothing at face value and do your homework before responding to any request for help or a wonderful offer that you receive via email. Google or other search engines will soon tell you all you need to know. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/scammers-target-ngos.htm.
From 1 July this year community groups that employ staff will be required to offer them a superannuation scheme. A group of people in the community and voluntary sector have been doing some work on creating a scheme that would be owned by the sector. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/community-groups-super.htm.
Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand CEO, John Stansfield, is concerned that pokie trusts may be misusing their financial power over community organisations by encouraging them to lobby Territorial Local Authorities that are reviewing their gambling policies. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/community-capture-concern.htm.
A report published last month in Britain has raised fears in that country that the voluntary sector's role in the delivery of statutory services poses a serious threat to many charities' independence, reputation and financial survival. It also provides food for thought for the sector and government in this country. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/state-of-dependence.htm.
Art Competition for Children: Design a UN Stamp on the Theme "We Can End Poverty". The best 6 designs will be presented during the commemoration of the International Day on the Eradication of Poverty and will be issued as stamps. Another 20 designs will receive special commendation. Entries close: 30 June 2007. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/end-poverty-art.htm.
Save the Children wants to fund local initiatives that endeavour to make lasting benefits for children and young people by building their capacity to reach their full potential. The maximum Small Grants Fund award is $5,000 and the closing dates for applications are 15 April and 15 September 2007. www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news/national/childrens-grants-fund.htm.
Latest community news, events, jobs and ads are online at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/news.
Comprehensive information about parenting in New Zealand, from pregnancy through to leaving home.
www.kiwifamilies.co.nz.
Following the World Health Organization's guidelines for palliative care, the NZ Palliative Care Strategy and the NZ Cancer Strategy for Palliative Care, we use specially trained volunteers to provide free practical help and companionship for those with progressive degenerative conditions / terminal illness.
www.amitabhahospice.org.
Cook Islands Health Network Association connects the Cook Islands health and disability workforce in NZ. We work collaboratively with many organisations to achieve positive health outcomes for Cook Islands communities. Integral to our work is the celebration and preservation of the uniqueness and diversity of the Cook Islands culture and tradition.
www.cihna.org.nz.
TangataWhenua.com aims to provide exceptional, relevant, and independent news, events and information to Maori and those working with and interested in indigenous communities in an effort to strengthen online Maori networks and businesses.
tangatawhenua.com.
Support and advice for those family / whanau members who are raising their kin.
www.grg.org.nz.
Reviewing accessible travel, accommodation and attractions in New Zealand for wheelchair users. Visitors can read our reviews and submit their own.
www.nzonwheels.co.nz.
You'll find these and more links at: www.community.net.nz/links.
These Events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/events.
These Training events are coming up in the next few weeks. Find details at: www.community.net.nz/communitycentre/training.
Are you bothered by Spam? Does it fill your email In Box? It's a big problem for everyone at the moment, with some estimates that spam contributes about 80% of all email traffic.
For someone just trying to get on with sending and receiving a few legitimate emails, here are some tips for coping with spam.
Visit www.stopspam.net.nz. This free web resource, provided by InternetNZ, aims to help you understand and minimise the impact of spam.
It describes what spam is and how it works, offers some ideas for individuals and businesses to reduce their spam burden and provides an overview of the current legal situation. It also offers a set of golden rules to follow when dealing with spam.
Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) should be able to provide some spam filters for you. Check with their Helpdesk to find out how to turn these on.
Check your email software for its spam-fighting features. In many email programs you can turn on a spam or junk filter. Turn it on and then train it by marking spams as junk, rather than just deleting them.
In Gmail use the Report Spam button.
Don't email spammers to tell them to go away. Don't use their unsubscribe links, and never, ever send them money (for products, services, or anything).
Instead use your email software's facility to mark the email as spam or junk (so that it better trains the filters), and then just delete the spam.
If a message is particularly offensive then you can try keeping it and contacting your ISP who may ask you to send it through to them. Most ISPs though are utterly overloaded with the torrent of spam and are unlikely to be very interested in any one message.
If you have a domain name you may find that all wrongly addressed email is sent to a 'catchall' address. This is handy if people make typos when sending email, for example they send to infromation@community.net.nz by mistake (see the 'from' instead of form'?), but it's an open invitation to spammers.
It's a common spammer technique to blast emails to invented addresses. If you leave the 'catchall' address open these will be redirected to you.
The good news is that if you shut down that 'catchall' address you can dramatically reduce the amount of spam you receive. You may miss a couple of legitimate emails, but that's the trade-off.
[March 2007] When you send newsletters to your whole address book you may be contributing to the spam problem. Are you sure you're not an accidental spammer?
Spam is unwanted bulk email, unsolicited electronic messages. It has become an enormous problem on the Internet. It's clogging email channels, annoying email users and administrators, and costing businesses lost time and money.
The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 aims to prohibit unsolicited commercial electronic messages and require senders of commercial electronic messages to include accurate sender information and a functional unsubscribe facility.
The act prohibits persons from using address-harvesting software or a harvested-address list in connection with the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages.
It applies to all emails, texts and instant messages that market or promote goods, services, and other schemes of a commercial or dishonest nature.
As a community group you may feel that such a law doesn't apply to you. That may or may not be true, and it would be a good idea to consult a lawyer for a definitive opinion. Or, you could save a lot of fees by making sure your email practices are conservative.
Before adding anyone to a regular mailing, make sure that they are agreeing to receive information from you by email. Also make sure recipients can easily and quickly remove themselves from your mailings, no questions asked.
When you set up a mailing list (a set of addresses to which you'll send regular or irregular information), ask the intended recipient to confirm that they wish to join your mailing list. If they don't confirm, then don't add them.
"Would you like to join our mailing list?" is very clear. If they respond with a Yes, then they have opted-in.
This is especially important if you've simply added email addresses to your list when people have contacted you for information, or you've been chatting at a party or conference.
Don't just send un-requested emails, with a sentence at the end that says "If you don't want to stay on our list then let us know." That's a spammer technique.
With every mailing list message you send you must include a clear link or other method for recipients to unsubscribe. Remember, the people on your list will have deliberately subscribed in the first place, or have explicitly confirmed their willingness to receive your emails.
At the bottom of every email message you send to the list (or in some other prominent position), include clear information about how to be removed from the list. If you receive an unsubscribe request then act on it immediately.
www.beehive.govt.nz/ViewDocument.aspx?DocumentID=28499.
www.stopspam.net.nz/nzlegislation.htm.
www.legislation.govt.nz. (Search under Statutes).
Past Website tips are all available on CommunityNet Aotearoa.
In March 2007 there were 31,562 visits (February: 25,517).
Last month, 45 new community items were published.
Send in your free community notice or advertisement at:
www.community.net.nz/about/submit.
There were 6,066 files downloaded (February: 5,557). The most popular file download was the Organisational Structures section of the Community Resource Kit: 248 downloads, (February; Financial Management section of the Resource Kit: 230 downloads).
Find CommunityNet statistics at: www.community.net.nz/about/website/statistics.htm.
Remember: please forward the complete Panui to others who'll find it useful.
Miraz Jordan, Webmaestro.
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Panui and CommunityNet Aotearoa are guided by an Advisory Group drawn from community organisations and are published by Department of Internal Affairs, PO Box 805, Wellington. Phone: 04 4957200. Email: information@community.net.nz.
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information in this publication, the publishers accept no liability for any errors and omissions. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors, not the publishers.