How Shelanu could work, as a working hub.
A working draft for the founding group to react to, refine, and decide on.
1. Why this document exists
Shelanu is being established as a community hub in Bentleigh — not a venue with classes, but a place built deliberately to bring people together. This document proposes how to set it up so it actually works.
It is tempting to start with "let's hire a coordinator and figure it out as we go." Centres that start that way usually fail within three years. Founder burnout, governance gaps, and operational drift kill them faster than lack of demand ever does. Centres that start with a clear operating model — even a lean one — survive founder transitions and grow into something durable.
What follows is a proposed operating model. It draws on two real, documented Australian operating templates (see Section 8). It is deliberately simple. It is also, in important places, deliberately uncomfortable: roles named that we don't yet have, decisions named that we haven't yet made, risks named that we'd rather not dwell on.
The point is not to be right. The point is to be specific enough that we can disagree productively.
This document treats Shelanu as if it were starting from scratch. If anything has been formalised on paper already (committee, structure, registrations), that is a useful input but it should not constrain the design. The right operating model is the one that fits the mission, not the one we already filed.
2. Mission, restated
The mission of Shelanu is building community.
Everything in this document — every principle, role, decision — is tested against that mission. If something doesn't build community, it doesn't belong, even if it's interesting, profitable, or popular.
This sounds obvious. It isn't. The hardest decisions ahead — what to programme, what to say no to, how to spend money, whom to recruit, what to do when a high-paying booking conflicts with a community use — all come back to whether they build community or merely fill rooms. The mission is the test, not the slogan.
3. The trajectory: U3A-shaped now, NHV-shaped later
Two real, documented Australian community-organisation models inform Shelanu's design.
U3A (University of the Third Age) is a peer-led, all-volunteer, member-fee-funded model. Roughly a hundred chapters in Victoria. It has a documented constitution, a known committee structure, and an operating playbook that has survived founder transitions for decades. It is cheap, lean, and proven.
Neighbourhood Houses Victoria (NHV) is the broader, more mature Australian community-centre model. Approximately 400 Houses across the state. Mixed funding, paid coordinators, professional governance, recognised regulatory ecosystem.
Shelanu starts U3A-shaped — lean, all-volunteer-feasible, built on a model that works. As the hub grows in scope, audience, and complexity, the operating model evolves toward the NHV pattern: broader scope, mixed funding, more mature governance.
This is not vague aspiration. Both models have free, downloadable playbooks. Section 8 lists them.
4. Operating principles
Five principles. Each one does real work — that is, each one rules out a specific failure mode we've seen in similar centres.
Partnership at the boundary, autonomy in the program.
Shelanu is hosted at Etz Chayim1. The partnership governs space — which rooms when, shared facilities, holidays affecting access, security. It does not govern programming, audience, branding, or voice. This boundary needs to be written down and reviewed annually, not assumed.
Two leadership layers, separated deliberately.
Strategic / governance (founders + committee, episodic, monthly cadence) and operational (continuous, daily-to-weekly cadence). The classic failure mode is founders dragged into operations and burning out, or bottlenecking decisions. The separation is what protects them — design it in.
Teachers are talent, not management.
Teachers and activity leaders contribute their craft. They don't manage the centre, run scheduling, or onboard other teachers. Conflating these creates the "indispensable teacher who quietly runs everything and then leaves" pattern that quietly kills small centres.
Two operational rhythms, not one.
Term-based scheduled programs (regular classes and activities) and episodic events (one-off performances, special days, festivals). Different lead times, different processes, different volunteer pools. Pretending they are one workflow is a false economy.
Single point of accountability, distributed execution.
Each operational function has one named owner. That owner can be supported by many; ambiguity about ownership is the source of most operational failure in volunteer organisations. "Whoever picks it up" doesn't scale past five people.
5. Success factors
How we'll know the operating model is working. Five observable signals — not aspirations, but things you can actually look at.
Programs run reliably without founder intervention.
The week's classes happen, the rooms are ready, the teachers are supported — even when no founder is in the building. The single most important signal of a working operating model.
Volunteer turnover is replacement-rate, not collapse-rate.
People cycle through (life happens), but recruitment matches departures, and exits are graceful, not bitter. A volunteer leaving tired but proud is a sign of health; one leaving exhausted and resentful is a flashing red light.
Money flows are tracked weekly, reconciled monthly, reported quarterly, audited annually.
Not aspirationally — actually. A volunteer-led organisation that can't say where its money is, in real time, is one bad month away from a crisis it won't see coming.
Conflicts get resolved at the right level.
Operational issues don't escalate to the board; board issues don't get resolved in corridors. A maturity signal — and the absence of it is the early warning that governance and operations have collapsed into each other.
The participant base extends beyond the founder network within 18 months.
Without a measurable target here, origin gravity wins (see Section 10) and Shelanu drifts toward becoming a clubhouse for the founders' circle. With a target, we can manage to it.
6. Roles — three clusters
Three clusters, deliberately separated. Most volunteer-led failures happen because organisations staff up programming and forget governance and operations.
Cluster A — Governance
The committee. Legally responsible per the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012. Meets monthly. Owns: strategy, finances, partnerships, risk, hiring, big decisions. Does not own: day-to-day operations.
| Role | What they own |
|---|---|
| President / Chair | Sets agenda, runs meetings, public face, casting vote. |
| Secretary / Public Officer | Statutory filings, minutes, member register, official correspondence. |
| Treasurer | Books, financial reporting, audit relationship, signing authority. |
| Vice President / Deputy | Backs up the President, often holds a second portfolio. |
| Ordinary committee members (3–5) | Carry portfolios (e.g., programs, partnerships, fundraising). |
Cluster B — Operations
The two head roles. The next section goes into them in depth because they're the most consequential and most contested decisions in the model.
| Role | What they own |
|---|---|
| B1 — Centre Coordinator | The "do" role. Daily running of the centre. |
| B2 — Hub Builder / Operating Lead | The "design" role. Operating model, programming strategy, growth. |
Cluster C — Specialist Functions
Single named owner each. Can be on the committee or not. These are usually the roles that get forgotten on the org chart and then cause crises — the bookkeeper who quietly runs everything financial; the facilities lead who knows where the spare key is; the child safety officer the centre legally cannot operate without.
| Role | What they own |
|---|---|
| Volunteer Coordinator | Recruiting, rostering, retaining, thanking, exiting volunteers. |
| Comms Lead | Newsletter, social channels, member announcements, public voice. |
| Bookkeeper / Finance Officer | Day-to-day money: invoicing, reconciliation, supplier payments. |
| Facilities Lead | Cleaning, repairs, equipment, Etz Chayim facilities liaison. |
| Child Safety Officer | Mandatory if any program involves under-18s. Owns the Child Safe Standards. |
| Grants & Funding | Identifying, writing, acquitting grants. Often committee-attached. |
7. The two head roles in depth
B1 and B2 are the immediate hiring focus, and the most consequential design decisions in the operating model. They will get the most scrutiny — rightly — from the founding group.
Centre Coordinator
Continuous, calendar-driven, reactive. The person who is in the building most days, makes the centre run, keeps the trains on time.
Owns
Room scheduling, teacher liaison, weekly comms, member queries, opening and closing, vendor contact, fee collection, sorting daily problems.
Profile & skills
Organised, calm, a people-handler, comfortable with admin systems, available during operating hours.
Time commitment
0.4–0.6 FTE realistic.
Paid vs volunteer
This is the role that most strongly argues for being paid, even at 0.2–0.4 FTE. If it stays volunteer, it must be at least two people sharing it with explicit handover protocols, otherwise it dies in 18 months.
Hub Builder / Operating Lead
Episodic, design-driven, proactive. The person who decides how the hub should work, designs new programs, builds external partnerships, evolves the model.
Owns
The operating model itself, programming strategy, partnerships beyond Etz Chayim, growth planning, evolving the systems as the hub matures.
Profile & skills
Community-sector experience, programming or curatorial judgment, systems thinking, comfortable with ambiguity.
Time commitment
~0.2 FTE in mature state. Significantly more concentrated in the first 12 months.
Paid vs volunteer
Feasible as a time-bounded volunteer — a 12-month "foundational architect" role — given the right intrinsic reward (designing something new, being credited as architect). Open-ended unpaid is very hard to fill.
B2 designs how things should work. B1 makes them work day-to-day. Both report to the committee. Neither reports to the other.
Sequencing: the proposal here is to recruit B2 first as a 6–12 month foundational architect; B2 then designs the operating parameters and helps recruit B1 to fit them. This avoids hiring B1 into a role that hasn't been fully designed yet. Alternatives are open for discussion (see Section 9).
8. References & examples
Three real organisations whose operating models inform Shelanu. Each has documented playbooks. Read times are honest. Don't be put off by length — you don't have to read these cover-to-cover; the value is in knowing they exist and lifting from them when needed.
U3A — the lean foundation
Peer-led adult education organisations, all-volunteer governance, member-fee funded. Australian-wide, with a strong Victorian presence. Operates out of community halls, libraries, and similar shared spaces.
Why we're borrowing the method: documented constitution, simple committee structure, decades of survival across founder transitions, very low cost. Shelanu adopts U3A's governance and operational template; we don't adopt U3A's mission scope (peer education for retirees only).
U3A Batemans Bay — Committee Handbook
Practical, complete operational handbook covering committee composition, meeting practices, role obligations, course coordination, IT, attendance records, financials. Directly liftable. The single most useful document on this list for the early phase.
Open the handbook (opens in new tab)U3A Moonee Valley — Constitution & policy library
Full Victorian-compliant constitution based on Consumer Affairs model rules, plus policies covering refunds, social events, complaints, privacy, and member responsibilities. Highly liftable templates — especially useful when we get to drafting our own constitution.
Browse the policy library (opens in new tab)NHV — the long-term direction
Peak body for ~400 Neighbourhood Houses across Victoria. Houses operate as not-for-profit centres providing social, educational, recreational and support activities to local communities, using a community development approach.
Why it fits where Shelanu is going: as Shelanu grows from a U3A-shaped lean centre to broader scope (more programs, wider audiences, possibly paid coordination, mixed funding), the NHV model becomes the right fit. NHV provides governance handbooks, policy libraries, a recognised funding category, and peer support.
The cheap insurance and recognised-sector benefits flow through the state Coordination Program funding stream, which has its own eligibility criteria. Whether a synagogue-hosted hub qualifies is unclear from public materials — worth a direct conversation with NHV (peak body) and Glen Eira Council before assuming the funding pathway is available. The templates and operating model are free regardless.
Community Governance Made Easy — Governance Handbook for Neighbourhood Houses
Comprehensive governance handbook for committees of management. Covers governance roles, meetings, budgets, audit, induction, sub-committees. The closest thing to a copy-pasteable governance starter kit you'll find for free.
Open the handbook (opens in new tab)NHV — Resources Library & Good Practice Guide
Online collection of templates and sample policies, structured around the NHV Good Practice Guide self-assessment tool. Useful even pre-launch as a "what does good look like" reference.
Browse the resources library (opens in new tab)Winchelsea Community House — a worked example
A working Victorian Neighbourhood House that publishes one of the cleaner public articulations of the operating model. Useful to see how the committee/coordinator split works in practice in a real organisation.
Winchelsea Community House — Governance page
Short, clearly written articulation of how their governance and operations split works. Useful as a "what does this look like in real life" reference.
Open the page (opens in new tab)More working examples
Four more Victorian Houses, varying in scale, suburb, and audience. The websites are functional rather than fashionable — modest, often dated. That is the point. Look at the substance: how programs are described, how membership is offered, who the audience appears to be, what tone of voice they use. Three of these are within thirty minutes of Bentleigh.
Many more Houses are listed by the Neighbourhood Houses Victoria peak body and by individual councils (e.g., the Brimbank Council aggregator). The four above were selected for proximity, scale-relevance, and variety, not as a ranking.
9. Open questions for the core group
Grouped. Each question is stated cleanly with a one-line note on why it matters. No answers proposed yet — this is the part that the group needs to decide together.
Strategic parameters
- Are B1 and B2 paid or volunteer roles?Determines candidate pool and recruitment realism.
- What is the realistic year-one budget envelope for paid roles?Shapes everything from the JD to the recruitment timeline.
- Is B2 a time-bounded foundational role (12 months) or a permanent role?Affects how we write the JD and who we attract.
- What sequence: B1 first, B2 first, or in parallel?Sequencing matters for handover and operating-model design.
- Of the founders, is anyone willing and able to act as interim B2 for 6–12 months?If yes, the sequencing question simplifies dramatically.
Structural decisions
- What is the legal and governance relationship to Etz Chayim?Program of, auspiced by, or separate entity in partnership — each has consequences.
- Do we pursue charitable status (ACNC) and tax-deductibility (DGR)?Affects what kinds of donations and grants we can accept.
- Does the building's planning permit allow the activities we are envisaging?Public performances, kids' programs, evening events — these have permit implications.
Operational baselines
- What's the year-one insurance budget? (Public liability, volunteer accident, professional indemnity.)Non-negotiable cost, often underestimated.
- Who is our Child Safety Officer, and is that resolved before any kids' programs run?Legal requirement; no kids' programs without this.
- Is bookkeeping in-house or outsourced, year one?Affects volunteer load and risk of financial drift.
Definitional
- What does success in three years look like?Members, programs, broader-network reach — we need a measurable picture.
- What's our target ratio of broader-community to founder-network participants by year two?Without a number, origin gravity wins by default.
10. What could go wrong
A short pre-mortem. These are the failure modes the founding group should know are likely if not actively designed against. Naming them is the first step to avoiding them.
Founder burnout
Founders end up doing operations alongside governance alongside their day jobs. Year 2–3 collapse pattern. Mitigated by Principle #2 — genuinely separating leadership layers — and by hiring B1 with paid time.
Origin gravity
Despite "for everyone" positioning, the centre quietly drifts to predominantly serving the founders' networks. Engineered against (Success Factor #5), not assumed away.
Etz Chayim leadership change
A new synagogue board renegotiates the hosting arrangement. Mitigation: documented, written partnership terms, reviewed annually. The relationship is the partnership document, not goodwill.
Operational debt accumulation
Quick fixes pile up; nothing is documented; one key person leaving causes a crisis. Mitigation: Principle #5 (named ownership) actually enforced, not gestured at.
Wrong B2 hire
A B2 who is great in their field but doesn't actually want to be a community-sector architect drifts back to programming, or burns out. Mitigation: clear scope and exit plan in the JD; explicit foundational-architect framing.
11. What happens next
This document is a starting point, not an outcome. The intended sequence:
- Read. The founding group reads this, and (ideally) at least skims the U3A Committee Handbook in Section 8.
- React. Annotations, disagreements, alternative proposals welcome — in writing or in the meeting.
- Decide. The Open Questions in Section 9 are the agenda. The aim is to walk out of the meeting with as many of those resolved as we can.
- Iterate. Updated version circulated after the meeting reflecting what was agreed.
- Commit. Once stable, the framework becomes the basis for JDs, recruitment, the constitution, and the partnership document with Etz Chayim.
The document is a draft. Feedback is invited at every level — challenging the principles, proposing different role structures, disagreeing with the U3A–NHV trajectory framing. Better an awkward conversation now than an awkward situation in eighteen months.
12. Glossary
Brief definitions of the recurring not-for-profit and Australian regulatory terms used in this document.
- Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012
- The Victorian legislation governing incorporated associations — the legal form most likely to be used by Shelanu.
- Auspiced
- When one organisation provides the legal, financial, or governance wrapper for a separate program or initiative (e.g., an established charity auspicing a smaller initiative that doesn't have its own legal entity yet).
- Committee of Management
- The elected board of an incorporated association; legally responsible for the entity. Equivalent to a not-for-profit board.
- Coordinator
- The senior operational role at a Neighbourhood House; typically paid; reports to the Committee. Closest to "B1" in this document.
- DGR
- Deductible Gift Recipient status — ATO endorsement that allows tax-deductible donations.
- ACNC
- Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission — the national regulator of charities.
- Child Safe Standards
- Eleven mandatory standards that any Victorian organisation working with children must comply with.
- WWCC
- Working with Children Check — the mandatory background check for anyone working with under-18s in Victoria.
- NHV
- Neighbourhood Houses Victoria — the peak body for ~400 Houses across the state.
- U3A
- University of the Third Age — a peer-led adult education organisation model with strong Australian presence.