Benefits of Membership

The Federation provides a very comprehensive and up-to-date training programme for budget advisers. The Budget Adviser Introductory Course is a complete, structured training programme delivered by accredited Federation tutors. The course has been developed over a number of years in consultation with the community, experienced advisers, and budget service clients.

The course has been accepted for recognition on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and covers the NZQA Unit Standard 7974. As the Federation is not a registered provider it cannot accredit Unit Standards. As the course itself meets the standard, however, budget advisers can apply for recognition of prior learning and use the credits toward the completion of a National Certificate. This is a very powerful recruitment and retention option in the increasingly difficult volunteer sector.

Tutors - Access to the national Federation tutor network

The Federation recruits a trained pool of Federation accredited tutors annually to provide all of the training needs for its members. The tutors are systematically appraised by the Federation's Training Manager to ensure their delivery standards are kept very high. The tutors own skills are also kept up-to-date through national and regional tutor forums. The Federation's network of tutors are able to provide training in all regions and districts throughout New Zealand. The costs of maintaining this network is completely covered by the Federation.

Resources - Access to free manuals, user-guides, and service stationery

A number of manuals, guides, and handbooks have been developed to support the capability of budget services. These guides are regularly updated and offer an extraordinary level of detail. An organisation could set itself up from scratch using these comprehensive guides. The Federation also works constructively with other organisations to develop relevant resources to assist service delivery and continues to actively seek partner organisations in the creation of resources for its members.

The extensive experience of the Federation has been used to create a complete set of forms and stationery for services and advisers to use. Along with stationery items, the Federation has a constantly updated range of pamphlets, posters, videos, and library resources. All of the Federation resources are provided to members completely free. The Federation covers the cost of development, printing, and distribution of all its resources. The cost of this service runs to around $1,400 per member each year and many hundreds of thousands more is spent on the initial development.

Funding - Federation membership recognised by all major funders

Affiliation to the Federation is very important to members when accessing the various funding streams available in New Zealand. The Federation, through its assurance of a consistently high level of service delivery, has ensured that its name is known and respected by funding bodies. Due to the rigorous affiliation criteria and annually reviewed standards of service, funders know that Federation affiliated budget services are safe and viable community organisations and this is an extremely valuable funding tool. Such funders include Family and Community Services, the Community Organisation Grants scheme, many of the community trusts, industry supporters such as Telecom and other philanthropic bodies.

Accords - Access to the Federation's national accords

Only Federation members have access to the range of accords the Federation has developed with industry partners. These accords benefit budget service clients and increase the range of services an organisation can provide. The Federation has developed an important relationship with Telecom, which offers member clients access to a special repayment scheme for Telecom debts, Budgetlink, and Connect Assist programmes as well as offering the Community Connection scheme to all Federation members. The Federation has negotiated with private organisations such as Chriscos and Home Direct to assist clients. Relationships have also been developed with government departments to benefit members. These include Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Insolvency and Trustee Service, Housing New Zealand, Inland Revenue Department, Work and Income, and the Ministry of Social Development. Community sector organisations are also involved directly with Federation members such as the Citizen's Advice Bureaux, Cancer Society, New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations, Volunteering New Zealand, and the Gambling Foundation. A national agreement for referral services has also been developed with the SEED foundation. The Federation continues to actively seek out accords with organisations to benefit its members.

Networking - Opportunities for local, regional, and national networking

As part of the overall Federation networking and communication strategy district and regional representatives are responsible for coordinating district and regional meetings each year. These forums ensure collective knowledge and best practice is communicated throughout the network and provide opportunity for training workshops and presentations from industry and government experts. Maori representatives support the Federation partnership policy, which promotes consultation and communication with Maori to increase the effectiveness of its service to Maori clients.

Each year the Federation holds its annual AGM, which provides an opportunity for networking and also for services to provide feedback into the policy of the Federation. Opportunities are also made available for experts to provide industry related information to the membership. Every second year the Federation holds its national conference. The conference is a major event in the budgeting calendar. A full range of workshops, speakers, and events is included over the three day conference and networking opportunities are made available to the well over 200 delegates that regularly attend.

Support - A full range of support from Federation staff and representatives

Over 30 experienced representatives currently volunteer for the Federation. Categorised as Maori, district, and regional representatives these people work actively to support members, create opportunities for networking, coordinate communications across the country, and ensure that a consistently high level of quality service is delivered by Federation members. These volunteers work very closely with new members to help organise their training and affiliation requirements and continue to work actively with members once they become affiliated.

In addition to this support, the Federation has partnered with the Tindall Foundation and Child, Youth, and Family on a new initiative, the Capacity Strengthening project. The project has put in place three Field Officers to work constructively with new and current members to increase their capacity to deliver budget advice to the community. This project has been extraordinarily successful so far and it is hoped that funding will be secured to see it rolled out throughout the country.

Advocacy - Your organisation's views advocated at the national level

The Federation representative network has been set up to provide services with a voice at the national level. Prior to all National Board meetings, services are able to provide representatives with local and regional issues and concerns to be heard at the national level. This is an extremely positive model that ensures grass-roots services are linked with the national decision making body.

Nationally, the Federation national office provides a broad range of advice, consultation, and submissions to policy makers both in government departments and private industry organisations. By constantly canvassing its members and ensuring its members views are easily communicated, the Federation has a collective knowledge in the personal consumer finance industry that is very well respected and in constant demand.

Information - Federation monthly newsletter

The monthly newsletter Budgetline is produced by the Federation and includes articles on relevant current issues and Federation network news and events. The enclosures regularly include Trainline the Federation's training newsletter, Blue Paper a one-pager of information for management committees, the Governance newsletter updating the membership on policy issues, as well as regular information from a range of government and industry organisations. The regular collection and distribution of information ensures our members' staff are always kept fully up-to-date with new government policy and legislation, relevant events, news and issues effecting the community sector, and the latest industry information effecting your clients.

Listings - Free listing every year in the Telecom White Pages

All members are provided with one listing in the Telecom White Pages under 'budget advice services' every year. This is the easiest way for clients to locate services in their area and is a very effective marketing tool. Wherever possible the Federation promotes the White Pages local listings as the best way for clients to locate its members. This service is also provided completely for free.