ASF is an independent nonprofit organisation and is not tied to any educational or training institution.

It was established in late 2006. Through 2008 ASF offered up to 60 scholarships as it tested its processes, organised its national network of scholarship assessment committees and slowly expanded its  scholarship offerings. By year end ASF was offering scholarships at a running value exceeding $400,000 a year, with an initial emphasis on financial management of nonprofit organisations. This success encouraged the Council to embark on the next stage of its planned strategy, including scholarships targeting indigenous non profit organisations and broadening the scholarship offerings to other management disciplines.

In 2009 ASF offered over 100 scholarships at a market value of $450,000.  We also expanded our education partnerships to 10 including 6 major universities.

Our aim over the next 2 years is to scale ASF up without increasing costs significantly.

Following are ASF's 5 key strategic objectives for 2010 - 2012:  

1.  Scholarship Offerings

• Increase scholarship offerings to over 200 by end of 2010 with a value of $1,500,000
• Expand education partnerships to greater than 15,including 9 universities
• Broaden scholarships into at least 5 new disciplines.

2.  Funding

• Secure $250,000 additional growth funding over 2 years to ensure sustainability.

3.  Research  

• Commission research to:
• determine the training and education needs of the not-for-profit sector, and

• determine the long term impact of scholarships on the not-for-profit sector.

4. Operations / Governance 

• Further develop IT infrastructure including:

• rebuild of ASF website;
• implementation of CRM (customer relationship management) platform;

• Further develop Council and structure including:

• restructure Council and Advisory Panel to reflect a more diversified nationally represented board, and

5.  Increase ASF brand awareness.