SCG Funding & Support

Since its formation in January 2000, the Southern Cross Group has existed and grown due to the significant time commitment of a small but dedicated team of volunteers around the world. Most of those on the Committee have full time jobs and give up their spare time to contribute. Financial outlays have to date been met by Committee Members and the limited personal financial resources of the Group's Co-founders as they arise on an ad hoc basis.

The Group does not receive any sponsorship or grants and is not affiliated with any political party or government body. In order to be able to impartially lobby governments and institutions for change on behalf of the diverse Australian expatriate community, we believe that it is important to remain independent.

Running the SCG involves costs such as web-hosting fees, advertising in expatriate magazines, telephone and other communication charges, help desk and mailing expenses, as well as the cost of holding our events in different locations world-wide, and trips for meetings with decision-makers and journalists. As you can imagine, these costs are now quite substantial. In addition, the Group's work can only be carried out within the framework of the limited resources we have.

We do not want the SCG to be a membership fee-based organisation. Rather we would like our website and our resources and support network to be available to anyone at any time. So membership of the SCG is open to anyone who cares to sign up to our free e-mail bulletin list.

How You Can Help Financially

Donations

Since early April 2002, the Group has been part of the Amazon Honor System, which means that individuals anywhere in the world can make an online donation towards the work of the SCG using a credit card. There is no transaction charge for the person making the donation. Amazon charges the Southern Cross Group 15 percent of the donation, plus US $0.15 per transaction. So, for example, if you donate US $10.00, the Southern Cross Group will receive US $8.35. The maximum individual transaction possible using this system is US $50. If you would like to make a donation, please click here.

Referral Fees and Commissions

Apart from making a direct donation through the Honor System, you can help us in a small and ongoing way by making any online purchases of books, CDs and other items from Amazon.com and accessing Amazon.com through the Amazon logo on our site at the left of this page. If you do this, the SCG will earn referral fees because it is a member of the Amazon Associates Program. The referral is 5% of the sale price for most purchases. An individual item link to a book discounted 10-30% will earn a referral fee of 15% of the sale price if the purchase is a direct sale. A direct sale occurs when the customer adds the individually linked book to his or her shopping cart immediately upon clicking through to Amazon.com. If the customer searches Amazon.com before adding the title to his or her shopping cart, the sale is considered an indirect sale and earns a referral fee of 5% of the sale price. Additional qualifying items purchased during the same shopping session earn a referral fee of 5%. Please note that all items other than books, music, and videos are subject to a $10.00 maximum referral fee per item sold. Amazon does not pay referral fees for gift certificates, out-of-print items, Auctions items, and products sold by third parties (for example, drugstore.com and z-shops merchants).

As part of our participation in the Amazon Associates Program, we would like to shortly set up an online bookstore on our site. If you have any books or other items you think would be relevant for us to feature on our site, please let us know.

We also have an associate relationship with the Australian company Red Balloon Experiences. If you purchase a Red Balloon experience product by accessing the Red Balloon website through the Red Balloon icons on our site, then we will also receive a small commission. Red Balloon organises adventure experiences which can be given as gifts to family and friends in Australia. Their products make innovative presents and surprises for people at home, which can all be organised and paid for from overseas. Accessed through our site, Red Balloon pays the SCG a 5 percent commission on the value of the product ordered.

Advertising on the SCG Website

Recently, we have begun to accept paid advertising on our site, which is also helping to offset some of our recurring costs. If your company or organisation would like to advertise on this site, please contact Anne MacGregor. If you are interested placing a banner on our site please note that there is a size restriction. Banners should be no more than 140px wide and around 150px high. All advertising is placed on the right hand side of our pages.

How You Can Help in Other Ways

Last, but certainly not least, you can also provide non-financial support by getting personally involved in the Group as a volunteer and donating your time. Everybody has different skills to offer, and varying degrees of spare time. If you'd like to join our virtual team in some capacity, we'd be very glad to hear from you. For more information, refer to our page Volunteer Opportunities or contact Anne MacGregor.