AUSTRALIA’S SMALLEST
CHARITIES
2015
Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission
The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) is Australia’s national charity
regulator. Registered charities are required to provide the ACNC with an Annual Information
Statement comprising up-to-date corporate governance and financial data. The ACNC has
commissioned the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at UNSW to analyse charity data and provide
reports for distribution to the sector and the broader Australian community. This closes the feedback
loop for charities required to provide data and provides empirically based insights into Australia’s
charities. ACNC data can also be explored at: http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au
The Centre for Social Impact
The Centre for Social Impact (CSI) is a collaboration between the University of New South Wales,
The University of Western Australia and Swinburne University of Technology. CSI’s mission is to
create beneficial social impact in Australia through teaching, research, measurement and promoting
public debate. We consider and promote best practice and thought leadership in the context of a
systems thinking approach to social purpose.
The Social Policy Research Centre
The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at the University of New South Wales was founded in
1980 as Australia’s first national research centre dedicated to shaping awareness of social welfare
issues. The Centre makes a positive impact through independent and leading research that explores
the key social issues of poverty, inequality, wellbeing and justice.
Research team
Centre for Social Impact
Roger Simnett, Abigail Powell, Rebecca Reeve, Andrew Young, Ioana Ramia
Social Policy Research Centre
Natasha Cortis
Suggested citation
Powell, A., Cortis, N., Young, A., Reeve, R., Simnett, R., and Ramia, I. (2016) Australia’s Smallest
Charities 2015. Centre for Social Impact and Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Australia.
Contact for follow-up
Abigail Powell, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Social Impact: Email: [email protected]
Ph: 02 8936 0916
Acknowledgements
The research team has benefited from the extensive expertise, commitment and support of Susan
Pascoe AM, Ross Gillott, Susan Cotterill, Melville Yates, Tim Liu and Benjamin Rashid from the
ACNC, and Chris Twomey from Western Australian Council of Social Services (WACOSS). We also
thank the charities that contributed to the case studies: Diamond Creek Men’s Shed; Yarra
Foundation; Brave Foundation; Living Child; Women’s Federation for World Peace Australia;
Haemophilia Foundation ACT; and School Volunteer Program ACT.
Any errors or omissions are those of the authors.
©ACNC for the Commonwealth of Australia. You are free to copy, adapt, modify, transmit and distribute this material
as you wish (but not in any way that suggests the ACNC or the Commonwealth endorses you or any of your services
or products). However, we do ask that you cite the report using the suggested citation above.
ii
CONTENTS
Contents .......................................................................................................................................... iii
Figures ............................................................................................................................................ v
Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................. viii
Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 1
1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 4
Extra small charity case studies .......................................................................................... 5
2015 Report series .............................................................................................................. 5
Constructing the dataset ..................................................................................................... 5
Case study: Diamond Creek Men’s Shed ....................................................................................... 8
2. Introducing Australia’s smallest charities ................................................................................. 9
How many extra small charities are there? ......................................................................... 9
Examining the size of Australia’s smallest charities ............................................................ 9
How old are the smallest charities?................................................................................... 10
Where are the smallest charities located? ........................................................................ 12
What business structures are used by the smallest charities?.......................................... 15
Case study: Living Child ................................................................................................................ 19
3. What do Australia’s smallest charities do? ............................................................................. 20
What activities do the smallest charities perform? ............................................................ 20
Case study: Women’s Federation for World Peace Australia ....................................................... 23
How do the smallest charities pursue their purpose?........................................................ 24
Who do the smallest charities help?.................................................................................. 27
Case study: Yarra Foundation ....................................................................................................... 29
4. Who works in Australia’s smallest charities? ......................................................................... 30
Paid employees in Australia’s registered charities ............................................................ 30
Volunteers in Australia’s charities ..................................................................................... 32
Charities with both volunteers and employees .................................................................. 34
Case study: Brave Foundation ...................................................................................................... 36
5. A closer look at the finances of Australia’s smallest charities ................................................ 37
How do the smallest charities fund their activities? ........................................................... 37
How do the smallest charities allocate their funds? .......................................................... 42
The financial status of the smallest charities ..................................................................... 46
Case study: Haemophilia Foundation ACT ................................................................................... 52
6. How Are Australia’s small charities changing? ...................................................................... 53
Change in total income...................................................................................................... 53
Change in main activities .................................................................................................. 53
Change in employment ..................................................................................................... 54
Change in volunteers ........................................................................................................ 54
Change in overseas operations......................................................................................... 54
Case study: The School Volunteer Program ACT (SVPACT) ....................................................... 55
iii
7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 56
References .................................................................................................................................... 57
Appendix A: Supplementary tables ............................................................................................... 58
Appendix B: Further methodological details .................................................................................. 64
Data inclusion .................................................................................................................... 64
Group data ........................................................................................................................ 64
Data cleaning – ACNC ...................................................................................................... 64
Data cleaning/omission – Research team ......................................................................... 64
Estimation model ............................................................................................................... 65
Change over time model ................................................................................................... 66
iv
FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Summary of data sources ........................................................................................... 6
Figure 2.1
Small charity size, 2015 .............................................................................................. 9
Figure 2.2
Size of extra small charities, 2015 (%) ..................................................................... 10
Figure 2.3
Years since established, 2015 .................................................................................. 11
Figure 2.4
Mean years since charity was established by detailed size, extra small charities 2015
.................................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 2.5
Proportion of extra small charities in each age category by main activity, 2015 ...... 12
Figure 2.6
Extra-small charities registered and operating in each jurisdiction, 2015 ................. 13
Figure 2.7
Number of states and territories that charities operated in, by income, 2015 (%) .... 13
Figure 2.8
Proportion of extra small charities operating in each state and territory by size, 2015
(%) ............................................................................................................................ 14
Figure 2.9
Charities registered in major cities, regional and remote areas, 2015 (%) .............. 15
Figure 2.10
Entity type of reporting charities, XS and all charities 2015 (%) ............................... 16
Figure 2.11
Proportion of charities with DGR status by size, 2015 (%) ....................................... 17
Figure 2.12
Proportion of charities with DGR status by sector, extra small and all charities 2015
(%) ............................................................................................................................ 18
Figure 3.1
Extra-small charities reporting any activity, 2015 ..................................................... 20
Figure 3.2
Extra small charities’ main sectors of activity, compared to all charities, 2015 (%) .. 21
Figure 3.3
Sector of main activity by size, 2015 (%) .................................................................. 22
Figure 3.4
Charitable purpose, 2015 (%) ................................................................................... 24
Figure 3.5
Word frequency: how Australia’s smallest charities pursue their purpose................ 25
Figure 3.6
Proportion of charities helping particular groups, 2015 (%) ...................................... 28
Figure 4.1
Full-time, part-time and casual staff, extra small charities, 2015 .............................. 30
Figure 4.2
Proportion of all staff employed by sector, extra small charities and all charities, 2015
(%) ............................................................................................................................ 31
Figure 4.3
Proportion of charities with no paid staff by sector, 2015 (%) ................................... 32
Figure 4.4
Charities with volunteers by sector, 2015 (%) .......................................................... 33
Figure 4.5
Proportion of charities with volunteers by sector, 2015 (%) ...................................... 33
Figure 4.6
Charities with volunteers by size, 2015 (%) .............................................................. 34
Figure 4.7
Proportion of charities with employees and volunteers, 2015 (%) ............................ 35
Figure 5.1
Summary of income sources, extra small charities and all charities 2015 ............... 37
Figure 5.2
Key indicators of income sources, extra small charities, 2015 ................................. 38
Figure 5.3
Extra-small charities for which government grants comprised more than 50% of total
income, 2015 (%)...................................................................................................... 39
Figure 5.4
Proportion of total income from donations and bequests, by size, 2015 (%)............ 40
Figure 5.5 Proportion of total income from ‘other income’ by size, 2015 (%) ............................ 41
Figure 5.6
Summary of expenditure, 2015 ($) ........................................................................... 42
Figure 5.7
Mean total expenditure by size, 2015 ($) .................................................................. 42
v
Figure 5.8
Charities for which employee expenses were zero, 2015 (%) .................................. 43
Figure 5.9
Proportion of expenditure on employee expenses by sector, 2015 (%) ................... 44
Figure 5.10 Expenditure on grants, 2015 ($) ............................................................................... 44
Figure 5.11 Proportion of all spending on grants by sector, 2015 ............................................... 45
Figure 5.12
Average net income ratio by size, 2015 (%) ............................................................. 46
Figure 5.13
Net income ratio by size, 2015 ................................................................................. 48
Figure 5.14
Net income ratio by sector, 2015 .............................................................................. 48
Figure 5.15
Summary of assets and liabilities, 2015 ($) .............................................................. 49
Figure 5.16
Net asset ratio by size, 2015 .................................................................................... 50
Figure 5.17
Average net asset ratio by sector, 2015 (%)............................................................. 50
Figure 5.18
Sustainability framework example: Extra small charities, 2015 ................................ 51
Figure 6.1
Change in mean income among extra small charities, 2014 and 2015 .................... 53
Figure 6.2
Percentage of charities in the same or different category of volunteers in 2015
compared with 2014 ................................................................................................. 54
vi
FIGURES IN APPENDICES
Figure A. 1
Extra small charities operating overseas by size ...................................................... 58
Figure A. 2
Sectors and main activity areas ................................................................................ 58
Figure A. 3
Extra small charities’ main activity by size ................................................................ 59
Figure A. 4
Main beneficiaries of extra small charities by size (column %) ................................. 60
Figure A. 5
Staff in extra small charities by size .......................................................................... 60
Figure A. 6
Staff by main activity and size .................................................................................. 61
Figure A. 7 Extra small charities with no paid staff by size ......................................................... 61
Figure A. 8
Volunteers by main activity ....................................................................................... 62
Figure A. 9
Entity type by size ..................................................................................................... 62
Figure A. 10
Employee and grant expenses as proportion total expenses by main activity ......... 63
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
ABN
Australian Business Number
ABR
Australian Business Register
ACNC
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
AIS
Annual Information Statement
CSI
Centre for Social Impact
DGR
Deductible Gift Recipient
L
Large charities (total income $1,000,000 to <$10,000,000)
M
Medium charities (total income $250,000 to <$1,000,000)
ORIC
Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations
PBI
Public Benevolent Institution
S
Small charities (total income $50,000 to <$250,000)
SPRC
Social Policy Research Centre
XL
Extra large charities (total income $10,000,000 to <$100,000,000)
XS
Extra small charities (total income <$50,000)
XXL
Extra, extra large charities (total income >$100,000,000)
viii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report profiles almost 19,000 of Australia’s smallest charities registered with the Australian
Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC), each of which reported an income of less than
$50,000 in 20151. We refer to these charities as ‘extra small’ charities, ‘charities with less than
$50,000 in income’, or ‘Australia’s smallest charities’ throughout the report. This is a companion report
to Australian Charities Report 2015 and other resources available at
http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au.
Key findings
In 2015, 37.1% of Australia’s 50,908 charities had an income under $50,000. Together, these 18,892
extra small charities had:
•
Total income of $301.2 million; total expenses of $361.3 million
•
Total assets worth $5.0 billion, with net assets worth $4.5 billion after liabilities
•
26,177 paid staff employed and a total of 436,234 volunteers.
Size and location
Among Australia’s extra small charities, 3.8% reported no income for 2015; 38.7% had incomes
greater than zero but less than $10,000 a year.
Four in five extra small charities operated in only one state or territory; 7.2% of extra small charities
operated overseas.
Activities and beneficiaries
Most extra small charities reported performing an activity in the reporting period (91.2%), that is,
relatively few were ‘dormant’ in 2015.
•
•
•
Charities with no income were less likely to report an activity (63.3%).
As with charities of all sizes, the most common main activity for extra small charities was religion
(30.6%).
However, extra small charities were more likely than average to report that their main activity was
in social services (13.9%), culture and recreation (10.5%) and as philanthropic intermediaries
(8.8%).
As with other charities, around half of extra small charities reported supporting the ‘general
community in Australia’ (48.7% of extra small charities), while large proportions also reported helping
‘people of all ages’ (34.5%), ‘women’ (31.8%) and ‘men’ (30.0%).
Staff and volunteers
In 2015, extra small charities employed a total of 26,177 staff – over two-thirds of these were casual
staff (66.9%).
However, four in five extra small charities engaged no paid staff.
1
This is calculated based on gross total income reported in the AIS.
1
Extra small charities’ paid staff were concentrated in a relatively narrow range of sectors.
•
•
For example, the culture and recreation sector employed more than half of all employees within
extra small charities (58.1%). However, this same sector employed only 4.4% of all charity
employees.
Staff that work in extra small charities are much less likely to work in education and research and
health than average, as these sectors tend to consist of larger charities.
Extra small charities have high levels of volunteer engagement:
•
•
Together, they engaged 436,234 volunteers in 2015.
Over two-thirds of extra small charities (68.4%) operated with volunteers only and no paid staff,
compared to only 39.1% of all charities.
Income sources
In total, extra small charities reported incomes of $301.2 million. Compared with all charities, extra
small charities’ incomes consisted of relatively low proportions of government grants, whereas
relatively high proportions came from donations and bequests.
•
•
Among extra small charities, government grants comprised 5.7% of total income, whereas among
all charities, income from government comprised 41.4% of income.
Extra small charities received 38% of income from donations and bequests, compared with 8.3%
for all charities.
Expenses
In total, extra small charities spent $361.3 million pursuing their purposes; 11.3% of this was on
employee expenses and 24.9% on grants and donations expenses.
Financial status
Extra small charities’ net income ratio was –19.8% (indicating an average deficit of 19.8% of total
income). By contrast, across the whole sector charities had an average surplus equivalent to 8.7% of
total income. Rather than indicating poor financial performance, this is likely to reflect a range of
circumstances.
For extra small charities, total assets minus total liabilities amounted to $4.5 billion. The net asset
ratio for this group was 89.9% (indicating that net assets were 89.9% of total assets). This is higher
than the 69.7% for all charities and higher than any other size segment, which may be because extra
small charities are less likely than others to have significant liabilities.
Change over time (2014–2015)
Charities that were extra small in 2014 experienced high levels of growth, with income growing by
38.4% between 2014 and 2015.
2
Where does the data come from?
Data comes from all Australian charities that were registered with the ACNC at the end of their 2015
reporting period.2 This report uses the best and most recent data available for each charity. In most
cases, data came from Annual Information Statements (AIS) provided for 2015, or from 2014 or 2013
where 2015 data was unavailable. Where no AIS data was available, information was used from the
ACNC Register. Where financial information was not reported by charities, it was estimated based on
data reported by comparable charities, to help build a complete picture of the charity sector.
Visit http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au to:
• Download a summary (14 page) Australian Charities Report 2015 – a view of the charity sector
in pictures.
• Interact with ‘datacubes’ to view and customise graphics for the whole charity sector or for one
or two sectors (for example, health or education).
• Download specific interest reports. A report on aged care charities will be added in 2017.
Reports on charities working with people with disabilities, charities working internationally and
charity red tape were completed in 2015.
2
Charities which, by the end of the 2015 AIS lodgement period, had not provided their AIS for 2 years (and met the
criteria for deregistration) were excluded. A number of charities which report to the Office of the Registrar of
Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) were also excluded.
3
1. INTRODUCTION
This report explores the characteristics of charities registered with the Australian Charities and Notfor-profits Commission (ACNC) in 20153 with an annual income of less than $50,000. We refer to
these charities throughout this report as ‘extra small charities’ or Australia’s ‘smallest charities’.
In 2015, there were 18,892 extra small charities in Australia, accounting for 37.1% of all
charities. Extra small charities are a significant subset of the ACNC’s category of small charities
(55.2%), which captures charities with annual revenues of less than $250,000.4
Australia’s 18,892 extra small charities are of interest not only because of their numerical significance,
but because they differ from the wider charity sector in important ways. Compared with larger
charities, smaller charities have been found to depend more on volunteers (Morris, 2000) and on
fundraising income (Van der Heijden, 2013). Further, while small charities are often considered highly
specialised, flexible, locally embedded and responsive to localised or niche needs, they also face
some risks. Small charities have been found to be more financially vulnerable for example (Backus
and Clifford, 2013; Kay, 2016) and many find it hard to compete with large charities for government
contracts or donor funds (Kay, 2016; Morris, 2000). It may be difficult for small charities to offer their
paid staff opportunities for professional development, and they may face difficulties contributing to
and influencing government reform, and in growing and diversifying their funding base (Cortis and
Blaxland, 2014).
By providing a profile of Australia’s smallest charities, the report shows how they compare with the
rest of the charity sector, and underlines the importance of the contribution these charities make to
social, cultural, and economic life in Australia and overseas.
Some caution should be used, however, when interpreting the findings. The extra small size
categorisation used in this report is based on reported income for one year only5 and does not take
into account assets or expenses. Future work should consider how the categorisation of charities by
size may be improved.
The report should be read alongside the Australian Charities Report 2015. Like that report (which
profiles all registered charities), data here comes from charities that were registered with the ACNC at
the end of their 2015 financial year.6 The dataset uses the best and most recent data available for
each charity. In most cases, data came from Annual Information Statements (AIS) provided for 2015,
or from the 2014 or 2013 AIS (which ever was more recent) where 2015 data was unavailable.
Additional data was taken from the ACNC Register and from the Australian Business Register. Where
no AIS data was available, data was estimated, where possible using information from the ACNC
Register. The methodology for this estimation process is described in Appendix B: Further
methodological details.
3
Charitable organisations must register with the ACNC and be recognised as charities under the Charities Act 2013
(Commonwealth) in order to receive Commonwealth charity tax concessions from the Australian Taxation Office or
access other Commonwealth exemptions or benefits. Throughout this report, the term ‘charities’ refers to charities
registered with the ACNC. Information about the statutory definition of charities is provided in Appendix D.
4
Small registered charities in Australia are regulated by the ACNC through a simplified framework. Reporting
obligations are available at http://www.acnc.gov.au/ACNC/Manage/Reporting/Report_information__small_charity/ACNC/Report/ReportSmall.aspx?hkey=a866d65c-f225-4fe4-8880-c80fe65f8d02
5
This is calculated based on gross total income reported in the AIS, whereas ACNC categorisation of small, medium
and large charities is based on revenue. Revenue is the income that arises in the course of ordinary activities of an
entity, whereas total income includes revenue and income outside the ordinary activities of an entity. Small charities
are only required to report on income/receipts not revenue in the AIS, so detailed size categorisation is only possible
by income.
6
Charities which, by the end of the 2015 AIS lodgement period, had not provided their AIS for 2 years (and met the
criteria for deregistration) were excluded. Charities which report to the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous
Corporations (ORIC) were also excluded.
4
Together this information builds the most accurate picture of the characteristics, structure, activities,
purpose and resources of Australia’s smallest charities to date. For the first time, it also uses a panel
data set which shows the change among charities between 2014 and 2015.
Extra small charity case studies
Throughout this report we include a number of case studies of extra small charities. For anyone not
familiar with extra small charities, these case studies provide an insight into the type of work
Australia’s extra small charities do and how they operate in terms of staff, volunteers, where they get
their income from and what they spending their funding on. These case studies highlight the diversity
of extra small charities found in Australia and their purpose.
2015 Report series
This report should be read alongside Australian Charities Report 2015.
Data can also be explored at http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au, where you can:
• Download a summary of Australian Charities 2015 Report – a view of the charity sector in
pictures.
• Interact with ‘datacubes’ to view and customise graphics for the whole charity sector or for one
or two sectors (for example, health or education).
• Download specific interest reports. A report on aged care charities will be added in 2017.
Reports on charities working with people with disabilities, charities working internationally and
charity red tape were completed in 2015.
Constructing the dataset
Full details of the dataset are in Australian Charities 2015 Report. In summary, data from the following
sources was matched using Australian Business Numbers (ABNs):
•
•
•
The ACNC Register
The Australian Business Register (ABR)
Charities’ Annual Information Statements (AIS).
In the whole dataset, there were 50,908 records containing information about the activities of 51,679
charities.7 However, this report is focused on the 18,892 charities considered ‘extra small’ on the
basis that their annual incomes in 2015 were under $50,000.
The ACNC register
The ACNC register contains information provided by charities for the purposes of registering with the
ACNC. This includes their legal name, ABN, date of establishment and their charitable purpose. The
register is available publicly on the ACNC website.8 The ACNC register is a ‘living’ dataset. It is
regularly updated by the ACNC as new charities are registered or report a change of details, or as
charities have their registration voluntarily or involuntarily revoked. Some data in this report, including
charities’ date of establishment, and charitable purpose, is derived from the register, as this
information was not captured in the AIS.
7
There were three extra small charities which reported as part of one group. Each group is treated as a single charity.
8
Charities are able to withhold commercially sensitive details, if public release could cause harm to the charity or a
person, or endanger public safety ACNC. (2016) Information on the ACNC Register: withheld information. Available at:
http://acnc.gov.au/ACNC/FindCharity/About_Register/Withheld_info/ACNC/Reg/With_info.aspx.
5
The Australian Business Register (ABR) dataset
The ABR contains details provided by Australian businesses and organisations when they register for
an Australian Business Number (ABN). It includes information about whether or not charities are
endorsed for tax concessions. Relevant ABR data were obtained by the ACNC and provided to the
research team for matching to the ACNC Register and 2015 AIS data. In this report, ABR information
is used to profile charities’ legal structure, and their Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. It is
important to note that for some charities, ABR data may be incorrect or out of date compared to data
held on the ACNC Register.
The Annual Information Statement (AIS) dataset
Most information in this report comes from information reported by charities to the ACNC as part of
their AIS. The 2015 AIS relates to charities’ characteristics and activities in the reporting period
ending in 2015. The standard ACNC reporting period is the financial year from 1 July to 30 June.
However, charities that use a different reporting period can apply for a ‘substituted accounting period’
(ACNC, 2015e). The time period reported in the AIS is based on the reporting period used by the
charity.
The dataset incorporates information from the 2015 AIS for 15,839 extra small charities that had
provided the required information to the ACNC by 19 September 2016 (83.8%). Among those who
provided their 2015 AIS, there were three extra small charities which reported their AIS as part of one
group. This group is treated as a single charity for the purposes of the analysis, as it is not possible to
disaggregate the data and assign values to each charity in the group.
The AIS captures information including charity size, activities, beneficiaries, employee and volunteer
numbers, and locations of operations. Since 2014, AIS information has included financial information.
Not all registered charities were required to provide an AIS in 2015 (such as newly established
charities), and not all providing an AIS were required to provide financial information (such as basic
religious charities). In addition, some charities required to report had not done so in time for analysis
and inclusion in this report. In these cases, proxy information for the charity was used.
Proxy information was required for the 3,052 charities for which 2015 AIS data was not available.9
The information for these charities was estimated based on the best available data about the charity
which was held by the ACNC. In most cases information was drawn from the charity’s previous AIS.
For extra small charities, data came from the 2014 AIS for 1,580 charities and from the 2013 AIS for
48 charities. Where information could not be drawn from a previous AIS, estimation processes were
used, based on information in the ACNC Register (1,424 charities). The approach to estimation is
described in Australian Charities 2015 Report.
The composition of the dataset is presented in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1
Summary of data sources
Source
2015AIS
Groupcharities,2015AIS
2014AIS
2013AIS
Dataestimated,wherepossiblebasedon
informationinACNCRegister
Total
Numberofcharities
%
Cumulative%
15,839
83.8
83.8
1
0.0
83.8
1,580
8.4
92.2
48
0.3
92.4
1,424
7.5
100.0
18,892
100.0
Notes: *three charities reported as one group
9
Charities did not report 2015 either because they were not required to, or in a smaller number of cases, because they
had not done so in time for the analysis.
6
Some questions in the AIS were not answered by all charities, so the total number of responses to
each question may vary. Non-response reduces the accuracy with which the findings represent the
whole population of registered charities. Notwithstanding, the near-complete nature of the data, and
the approach to identifying and correcting errors means the dataset provides the most accurate and
comprehensive information ever available about Australia’s charities to date.
Want to know more about the data?
Further information about the dataset, including estimation processes and data quality, can be found
in the Appendix of Australian Charities 2015 Report.
7
CASE STUDY: DIAMOND CREEK MEN’S SHED
The Diamond Creek Men’s Shed is based in Nillumbik Shire – in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs –
and has been operating since 2011.
The Shed is led by a small group of local men who are passionate about ‘finding creative ways to
promote wellbeing’ for other men in their community.
Like 81.4% of Australia’s smallest charities, the Diamond Creek Men’s Shed has no paid staff and is
entirely reliant on volunteers. It has a small annual membership fee that is affordable even to those on
a low income or who are reliant on government support.
In 2015, it recorded income of $19,800 and expenses of $11,308. Its funding sources included grants
from the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments, support from other local community
organisations and businesses, and through fundraising and community donations.
The Diamond Creek Men’s Shed conducts a range of activities, including bike-riding groups,
woodworking programs and regular day outings for members.
However, its Tuesday lunches are perhaps the most important aspect of its work. These lunches
allow the charity to create a safe and trusting environment for men, and encourage conversations
about issues affecting their personal lives or health.
Conversations like these provide men with the opportunity to support each other as they share
personal issues; some which may not even be shared with their own family members.
The Diamond Creek Men’s Shed also runs projects where members can help support other local
community organisations, including the local quilters group, disability support organisation, and
Scouts group.
Networking with other charities produces benefits for the local community, as well as increases the
Men’s Shed’s presence in the area.
The Men’s Shed’s main challenge is securing funding, be it through systematic searches for grants or
regular fundraising. As a volunteer-run organisation, it also faces the challenge of ensuring it keeps
up with other obligations such as OH&S, governance, building regulations and public liability.
Looking into the future, the Diamond Creek Men’s Shed hopes to grow its membership so it can
increase the range of services and activities it offers, including extending its operating hours.
It also plans to build on existing networks and to form new partnerships with other organisations. It
hopes to further broaden its engagement with the local community and increase awareness of men’s
health.
The Men’s Shed works to reduce member churn by addressing new members’ needs and
expectations. It is also focussing on being recognised as a professional, proactive organisation that
makes a difference.
8
2. INTRODUCING AUSTRALIA’S SMALLEST CHARITIES
In this chapter we introduce some basic information about Australia’s smallest charities, including a
further breakdown of the size of extra small charities by their income, how old Australia’s smallest
charities are, where they are located, and the business structures they use.
How many extra small charities are there?
In 2015, there were 18,892 extra small charities (income less than $50,000). These charities made up
37.1% of all charities in Australia (50,908).
Examining the size of Australia’s smallest charities
Charity size is indicated by total income, based on a charity’s most recent financial data reported to
the ACNC in the AIS, where possible, or extrapolated using an estimation model as described earlier
and in the Australian Charities 2015 Report.
As noted in the introduction, some caution should be used when interpreting findings based on
income. This is because income does not reflect assets. A charity may, for example, have large
assets and no current revenue, or could have small revenue in the current year, but large expenses.
Future work should consider how the categorisation of charities by size may be improved.
Charities’ total income
Among the extra small charities in Australia, there is a wide variation in the amount of income
charities receive. Of the 18,892 extra small charities:
•
•
•
•
19.1% had an annual income of more than $25k, but less than $50k
38.4% had an income of between $10k and $25k
38.7% had an income greater than zero, but less than $10k
3.8% of extra small charities reported no income in 201510.
This is shown in Figure 2.1.
These four income categories are used throughout this report to explore some of the nuances among
Australia’s smallest charities.
Figure 2.1
Small charity size, 2015
Size
Noincomereported($)
n %ofextrasmallcharities
%ofallcharities
720
3.8
1.4
>$0–$10k
7,303
38.7
14.3
>$10k–$25k
7,255
38.4
14.3
>$25–$50k
Total
10
3,614
19.1
7.1
18,892
100.0
37.1
Charities may have reported no income if they have had no activity in the existing year, for example.
9
Figure 2.2
Size of extra small charities, 2015 (%)
3.8
19.1
Noincome
38.7
>$0-$10k
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
38.4
Notes: n = 18,892
How old are the smallest charities?
Years since establishment
On average, extra small charities in the dataset had been established for 31.0 years (median 20
years), which was younger than the average of 34.1 years across all charities (median 24 years).
Figure 2.3 shows that compared with all charities, slightly higher proportions of extra small charities
had been established in the last year, 1 to 5 years, 5 to 10 years, and 10 to 20 years. Nevertheless,
around a third of extra small charities (32.2%) had been operating for more than 20 and less than 50
years. Further, 14.3% of extra small charities had been operating for between 50 and 100 years,
and 4.7% had been operating for more than 100 years. This underlines how extra small charities
are not necessarily newly established, with more than half established for 20 years or more.
10
Figure 2.3
Years since established, 2015
45
XS
Allcharities
40
38.6
35
30
32.2
25
20
21.5
20.4
15
10
5
0
14.3
12.3
14.3 13.5
12.0
8.6
0.6
0.4
4.7
Lessthan1 1tolessthan5tolessthan 10toless
than20
year
5years
10years
years
20toless
than50
years
6.5
50toless 100yearsor
than100
more
years
Notes: n = 15,959 extra small charities, data was missing for 2,933 charities; n = 44,871 total charities, data was missing for 6,037
charities.
Figure 2.4 shows the mean age of extra small charities, by their detailed size category. Extra small
charities that had incomes between $10,000 and $25,000 were older, on average, than other
extra small charities (mean age of 37.7 years). This is an interesting finding, suggesting that a
higher income does not necessarily mean that a charity is more established.
Figure 2.4
Mean years since charity was established by detailed size, extra small charities 2015
40
37.7
30
20
28.1
26.2
31.0
21.5
10
0
Noincome
>$0-$10k
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
AllXS
Notes: Extra small charities n = 15,959, data missing for 2,933 charities.
Figure 2.5 shows the proportion of extra small charities in each age category, by main activity. It
shows that a higher proportion of extra small international charities were established less than 5 years
ago, compared to other extra small charities (41.8% compared with 12.1%). As noted above, one in
five extra small charities were established more than 50 years ago. When breaking this down by main
11
activity, the analysis found that more than a quarter of extra small charities with main activities in
religion or social services were over 50 years old (27.5% and 25.8% respectively). In contrast, among
extra small international and environmental charities, very few were over 50 years old (2.4% and
2.6% respectively).
Figure 2.5
Proportion of extra small charities in each age category by main activity, 2015
Under5years
5tolessthan20years
20tolessthan50years
41.8
International
Environment
46.7
25.0
DevelopmentandHousing
18.0
Health
17.0
Total(extrasmall…
12.1
Socialservices
12.1
Philanthropic
11.9
EducationandResearch
11.7
CultureandRecreation
9.6
Religion
7.1
Other
5.3
0%
9.1 2.4
44.7
22.9
LawandAdvocacy
Morethan50years
27.7
45.4
24.7
40.5
13.5
31.9
34.9
11.1
33.0
20.1
30.4
34.9
25.8
29.5
37.8
23.7
34.8
35.5
15.8
37.6
29.3
30.4
20%
7.1
28.1
40.0
31.8
2.6
40%
17.3
36.1
27.5
37.6
26.7
60%
80%
100%
Where are the smallest charities located?
The dataset captures two types of information about charities’ locations. These are:
•
•
Main or registered business address, including the state or territory and postcode. This shows
the locations in which charities were registered or based.
The Australian states and territories and the overseas countries in which charities’ conducted
charitable activities. This shows the jurisdictions in which charities operated.
Registered business address
Information about charities’ main business address includes their state and postcode. Of course,
many charities operate in multiple sites. Their registered business address indicates their ‘home’, but
does not necessarily represent the areas in which they conduct activities.
Distribution of charities across Australian jurisdictions
Figure 2.6 shows that the largest number of extra small charities had a registered business address in
New South Wales (6,722, or 35.6% of extra small charities), and 38.2% of extra small charities
operated there. A little over a quarter of extra small charities were based in Victoria (26.4%) while
29.3% of extra small charities reported operating there.
12
Less than 1.0% of extra small charities were registered in the Northern Territory (123 charities or
0.7%). However, 1,100 charities (5.8% of extra small charities) operated in that jurisdiction, indicating
relatively high servicing by extra small charities based in more populous states.
Figure 2.6
Extra small charities registered and operating in each jurisdiction, 2015
Extrasmallcharities’registeredaddressin
eachjurisdiction
Extrasmallcharitiesoperatingineach
jurisdiction
n
%
n
%
NSW
6,722
35.6
7,213
38.2
VIC
4,979
26.4
5,539
29.3
QLD
2,732
14.5
3,675
19.5
WA
1,973
10.4
2,902
15.4
SA
1,525
8.1
2,497
13.2
TAS
483
2.6
1,485
7.9
ACT
354
1.9
1,431
7.6
NT
123
0.7
1,100
5.8
18,892
100.0
–
100.0
Total
Notes: The number of charities operating in each jurisdiction adds to more than the total of charities, as a charity can operate in more
than one jurisdiction. Figures may not add due to rounding.
Charities operating in multiple states and territories
Many charities operate in multiple sites within the state or territory in which they are based, and
beyond. While the ACNC does not collect information about the exact locations in which charities
operate, the AIS asks which states and territories charities operated in. Reflecting the small size of
most charities, 79.7% reported operating in one state or territory only, while 4.5% operated in
every state and territory, and 9.2% did not have operations in Australia during the reporting
period (although they may have operated overseas). While these findings tend to be similar to the
findings for all charities, they are in stark contrast to extra, extra large (XXL) charities, where more
than 50% operate in two or more jurisdictions.
Figure 2.7
Number of states and territories that charities operated in, by income, 2015 (%)
9.2
4.5
Operatedinasingle
StateorTerritory
6.6
Operatedin2to7
Statesand/orTerritory
Operatedinevery
StateandTerritory
79.7
Nooperationsin
Australia
Notes: n = 17,156; data missing for 1,736 charities.
13
Size of charities in each state or territory
There were some differences in the size mix of charities operating in the states and territories. Figure
2.8 shows the proportion of charities which operated in each jurisdiction according to income. The
ACT (54.4%) and NT (59.1%) had the highest proportion of charities operating with less than $10k.
NSW had the highest proportion of charities operating with income between >$10k–$25k (40.3%) and
>$25k–50k (21.7%).
Figure 2.8
Proportion of extra small charities operating in each state and territory by size, 2015 (%)
Noincome
>$0-$10k
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
100%
90%
21.7
19.5
18.3
19.3
17.3
16.0
17.0
29.8
26.3
52.4
54.4
80%
70%
60%
40.3
38.1
37.2
34.1
33.7
13.6
24.3
50%
40%
30%
20%
59.1
35.9
40.2
40.6
44.1
47.1
2.1
2.3
3.9
2.5
1.9
1.8
2.4
3.0
NSW
QLD
VIC
WA
SA
TAS
ACT
NT
10%
0%
Notes: As charities could operate in more than one state the total number of charities is greater than 18,892: NSW n = 6,722; VIC n =
2,227; SA n = 1,990; WA n = 140; Tas n = 4,604; QLD n = 2,732; ACT n = 354; NT n = 123.
Charities registered in rural and remote locations
The ACNC does not currently collect information about the precise locations of charities’ operations.
However, charities which were registered in rural and remote locations can be identified using their
main business address. This is shown in Figure 2.9. Postcodes of main business address were coded
against the Australian Bureau of Statistics Remoteness Areas 2011, part of the Australian Standard
Geographical Classification (ABS, 2011). This shows the distribution of charities across major cities,
regional and remote Australia.11
Two-thirds of extra small charities were registered in major cities (62.8%), and a further 21.4%
in inner regional, and 12.6% in outer regional Australia. This reflects overall trends for charities,
with most registered in major cities regardless of size. Among all charities, extra small charities make
up the largest proportion in outer regional Australia, where they account for 44.1% of all charities
(regardless of size), compared to 34.3% in major cities. This may suggest that extra small charities
are particularly important outside the major cities.
11
For definitions, see ABS. (2011) Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5 – Remoteness
Structure, ABS Cat. No. 1270.0.55.005. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
14
Figure 2.9
Charities registered in major cities, regional and remote areas, 2015 (%)
%ofallXScharitiesregisteredinarea
70
60
%ofcharitiesinareathatareXS
62.8
50
40
44.1
40.4
41.2
38.9
34.3
30
20
21.4
10
12.6
0
Majorcitiesof
Australia
InnerRegional
Australia
2.2
OuterRegional RemoteAustralia
Australia
0.9
Veryremote
Australia
Notes: n = 18,113. Postcodes could not be classified for 779 charities.
Charities operating overseas
When charities were asked to report in which Australian jurisdictions they conducted activities, they
were also given the opportunity to select ‘overseas’, and were directed to select which overseas
countries the charity conducted activities in, or helped communities in. There were 1,342 extra small
charities that selected ‘overseas’. These charities make up 32.7% of all charities that operated
overseas in 2015 and 7.2% of all extra small charities.
Extra small charities reported operating in a total of 245 countries, primarily in the Asia-Pacific
region. The most common countries of operation were India (170), the Philippines (114), New
Zealand (101), USA (91), Nepal (90), Kenya (86), Cambodia (79), Indonesia (76), Thailand (75) and
Papa New Guinea (73).
A breakdown by size can be found in Figure A. 1. Detailed background information on Australia’s
charities operating overseas in 2014 can be found in Cortis et al. (2016b) and the Australian Charities
Report 2015.
What business structures are used by the smallest charities?
Charities’ business structures shape their legal identities, governance structures, financial
responsibilities and compliance obligations. Charities are required to declare their legal structure and
charitable purpose(s) when registering with the ACNC, and to the Australian Business Register when
they apply for an ABN.
Entity type
There was little difference in the entity types of extra small charities and all charities (see Figure
2.10). Of the 18,891 charities for which data was available, the majority (7,672 charities, or 40.6%)
were incorporated associations and 6,154 (32.6%) were unincorporated associations. This distribution
closely resembled the pattern for all charities. However, compared with the whole charity sector,
higher proportions of Australia’s smallest charities were trusts (15.1% compared with 12.3%) and
lower proportions were companies limited by guarantee (8.1% compared with 12.2%).
15
Figure 2.10
Entity type of reporting charities, XS and all charities 2015 (%)
Incorporatedentity
100%
Unincorporatedentity
Trusts
Publiccompany
Otherlegalstructure
3.2
90%
3.6
8.1
12.2
80%
15.1
12.3
32.6
31.3
40.6
41.0
XS
Allcharities
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Notes: XS charities= 18,891. All charities =50,792 (data was missing for 114 groups and 2 who did not record their entity type). See
also Figure A. 9.
DGR status
DGRs are organisations that are endorsed to receive tax deductible gifts.12 Although the criteria for
DGR endorsement does not specify size, larger charities were much more likely to have DGR status.
While 38.4% of all registered charities had DGR status in 2015, a smaller proportion (29.7%) of extra
small charities had DGR status13. By comparison, 85.2% of the largest charities (with over $100
million in annual income) had DGR status. This is shown in Figure 2.11. This is consistent with
previous research, which has shown that being a small charity (annual income of under
$250,000) more than halves the odds of having DGR status. Further research could continue to
unpack other factors affecting DGR status among extra small charities, and whether greater support
is needed to assist eligible charities in obtaining it.
12
DGR status can help charities to attract donations and can enable charities to receive distributions from some
charitable funds. Not all charities are able to be DGRs. To be eligible, an organisation must have its own ABN, fall
within a general DGR category or have a fund that is part of the organisation which falls within a general DGR
category, have acceptable rules for transferring surplus gifts and deductible contributions on winding up or DGR
endorsement being revoked, maintain a gift fund (if seeking endorsement for the operation of a fund), and generally,
be in Australia (ACNC, 2015c). Data about DGR status was obtained from the ABR.
13
This is slightly lower than the figure reported in the Australian Charities Report 2014 (40.4%), most likely because of
the use of the more comprehensive dataset in 2015.
16
Figure 2.11
Proportion of charities with DGR status by size, 2015 (%)
Allcharities
38.4
AlXScharities(<$50,000)
29.7
Morethan$100million
85.2
$10million- $100million
73.6
$1million- $10million
60.6
$250,000- $1million
48.8
$50,001-$250,000
29.4
$25,001-$50,000
22.8
$10,001-$25,000
29.2
$1-$10,000
43.5
$0
4.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Notes: n = 50,908.
DGR status and main activity
Figure 2.12 shows the proportion of extra small charities with DGR status in each sector of main
activity, compared with all charities. This shows that across each activity sector, there are consistently
smaller proportions of extra small charities with DGR status.
17
Figure 2.12
Proportion of charities with DGR status by sector, extra small and all charities 2015 (%)
Allcharities
XS
Health
LawandAdvocacy
46.0
DevelopmentandHousing
45.3
Environment
43.3
CultureandRecreation
40.4
Socialservices
39.9
36.8
Other
30.1
Total
27.9
EducationandResearch
26.5
International
26.5
PhilanthropicIntermediaries
24.1
62.4
62.3
77.8
53.7
57.7
52.7
57.6
38.3
36.0
45.6
40.7
10.6
7.1
Religion
0
20
40
60
80
100
Notes: n = 15,835 extra small charities; n = 46,831 total charities. Main activity was not available for 4,077 charities.
18
CASE STUDY: LIVING CHILD
There aren’t many extra small charities which operate overseas; in fact, only 7.2% of all extra small
charities reported activities outside Australia in 2015. Among those that do is Western Australian–
based charity, Living Child.
Living Child was created in response to alarming rates of maternal and infant deaths during
pregnancy and childbirth in remote villages of Papua New Guinea.
The charity’s volunteers offer professional, evidence-based reproductive health training and support
for village volunteers and health centre staff, as well as providing medical supplies and equipment to
health workers.
The training and resources Living Child provides enables locals to teach others in their communities
about the importance of reproductive health. The charity also conducts family planning training at a
village level, ensuring everyone benefits. In addition, Living Child also offers leadership training and
professional development support to healthcare staff. This builds staff capacity and helps them better
manage their health facilities and address other workplace issues.
Living Child’s impact in these communities has been evident, with improved outcomes for mothers
and their infants. And the charity’s volunteers find working overseas extremely rewarding, with the
positive impacts for local people both inspiring and motivating.
Operating overseas results in many challenges. For Living Child, those challenges are compounded
by working in extremely remote areas of Papua New Guinea. Recruiting volunteers can be difficult, as
there are often concerns about health and personal risk. Recruiting the right locals remains a constant
challenge as well.
Finding sufficient funding is an additional challenge. In 2015, Living Child’s total reported income was
$45,278. This income came predominantly from donations and other revenue, with no funding
received from government sources.
As a completely voluntary organisation, Living Child incurs no employee costs. Its 2015 expenses
totalled $38,609, and included $10,378 set aside for grants and donations outside Australia. Other
expenses sought to cover basic administrative needs, while insurance for volunteers working in
Papua New Guinea remains a significant additional operating cost for the charity.
Operating on such a small budget with no paid staff provides further pressures for Living Child. To
ensure it meets all governance standards, volunteers invest hours in managing its reporting
obligations to a number of different agencies.
With only 10 volunteers, time spent meeting these obligations means Living Child has less time to
meet its charitable purpose. Living Child would like to see greater support for charities in order to
meet their obligations, as well as further streamlining to support reporting at a national level rather
than through separate state-based systems.
Despite being a relatively young charity, Living Child has achieved much. The charity faced initial
resistance from local government while it advocated for greater support for mothers and infants in
remote villages. By winning the trust of local people and the local government, Living Child overcame
this barrier. The charity has now been officially invited into the Province in which it works, a milestone
which will provide it with more opportunities to expand. Living Child says this acceptance is its biggest
achievement so far.
While Living Child does not have any plans to become a big charity, it believes it will continue to grow
as demand for its services increases.
19
3. WHAT DO AUSTRALIA’S SMALLEST CHARITIES DO?
What activities do the smallest charities perform?
The AIS asked charities to select their main activities in the reporting period, as well as any general
activities they performed. AIS activity areas are based on the International Classification of Non-profit
Organisations (ICNPO).14 Activities are examined by grouped main activity areas, referred to as
sectors, as well as more detailed main activities. Figure A. 2 details the sectors and corresponding
main activity areas they include, as per the AIS15.
Charities which reported any activity
Overall, 91.2% of extra small charities reported that they performed some activity in the previous
year. This is slightly lower than the average across all charities (96.2%). The reasons for not
conducting any activity were not captured. However, it may indicate that the charity was either newly
established or winding down; that it did not perform activities every year; or that it may have
distributed funds and not considered this an ‘activity’ as such.
The likelihood of reporting any activity was strongly associated with income levels for extra small
charities. Among charities that reported no income in 2015, only 63.3% of charities reported
performing activities, increasing to 98.7% for charities with income over $25,000 (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1
Extra small charities reporting any activity, 2015
100
98.6
90
91.2
80
80.7
70
60
98.7
63.3
50
40
30
20
10
0
Noincome
>$0-$10k
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
AllXS
Notes: n = 17,334, activity data missing for 1,558 charities.
Extra small charities and their main activities
Information about extra small charities’ main activity was available for 15,835 charities.16
Sector of main activity for extra small charities, and for all charities, is shown inFigure 3.2. Consistent
with the whole charity sector, the most common main activities among extra small charities were
religious activities. This was the main activity for 4,851 extra small charities (30.6%) (close to the
14
The AIS categories had some minor variations from ICNPO, namely the inclusion of a category for aged care and
the exclusion of business and professional associations and unions.
15
For information about grouping of activity areas, see the 2015 AIS.
16
As per our method, where information from the 2015 AIS was unavailable, data from a previous AIS was used.
20
figure of 31.0% for all charities). Compared with all charities, there were lower proportions of extra
small charities in education and research. However, there were higher proportions of extra small
charities in social services. Relatively high proportions of extra small charities were in the culture and
recreation, and philanthropic sectors as well (see Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2
Extra small charities’ main sectors of activity, compared to all charities, 2015 (%)
Allcharities
XS
31.0
30.6
Religion
Educationandresearch
16.3
10.8
Socialservices
7.7
Cultureandrecreation
6.9
PhilanthropicIntermediaries
Health
6.5
DevelopmentandHousing
5.2
Environment
2.9
3.9
Other
1.2
2.0
Lawandadvocacy
1.4
1.2
International
0.9
1.1
0
20.3
13.9
10.5
8.8
9.0
7.8
10
20
30
40
Notes: n = 15,835 extra small charities; 46,830 total charities. Data was missing about activity for 3,057 extra small charities and
4,078 charities in total.
Figure 3.3 shows the detailed income size of extra small charities in each sector of main activity. The
vast majority of extra small charities whose main activity was religion had incomes over $10,000
(86.7%). In contrast, the environment sector and law and advocacy sector operated on relatively less
income. Around half of the extra small charities operating in these two sectors had income below
$10,000, including 3.7% of extra small charities in each of these sectors reporting no income at all.
21
Figure 3.3
Sector of main activity by size, 2015 (%)
Noincome
>$0-$10k
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
Other
2.5
Environment
3.7
44.9
30.5
20.8
Lawandadvocacy
3.7
44.4
30.5
21.4
40.7
34.0
20.0
51.7
21.6
24.1
Socialservices
5.4
PhilanthropicIntermediaries
2.5
38.5
32.1
27.0
Health
2.6
37.3
34.3
25.8
Cultureandrecreation
1.4
34.0
International
1.8
32.9
Educationandresearch
3.8
DevelopmentandHousing
Total
Religion
35.5
32.9
6.1
31.4
3.0
29.3
10%
39.4
25.9
36.1
27.2
34.8
27.7
45.2
1.6 11.8
0%
29.1
22.5
70.6
20%
30%
40%
50%
16.1
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
Notes: n = 15,835. Data on main activity was unavailable for 3,057 charities. See also Figure A.3
22
CASE STUDY: WOMEN’S FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE
AUSTRALIA
Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP) Australia is a chapter of WFWP International, and
aims to advance peace through supporting families and children.
WFWP Australia’s main charitable activities are categorised under the ‘development and housing’
sector. Only 5.3% of Australia’s extra small charities listed their main activities in this sector in 2015.
The charity has a large range of support and service projects within Australia and across Oceania.
For example, in 2015 the charity donated sewing machines to an Australian rural town to help newly
arrived migrants learn how to sew. In a separate project, it donated portable solar lights to families in
a remote village of Vanuatu with no access to electricity.
WFWP Australia is a multicultural organisation drawing members across all ages, abilities,
nationalities, faiths and cultural groups. This diversity of the charity’s membership is mirrored on its
Board.
The charity provides volunteers with many enriching opportunities. It has helped its volunteers to
connect with others, participate in meaningful community development projects and cultivate a range
of skills for their personal development.
WFWP Australia’s two main sources of income are its annual fundraising walkathon and its
membership fees. These membership fees support the charity’s project work and its ongoing
operation.
Like 83.4% of extra small charities in the ‘development and housing’ sector, WFWP Australia employs
no paid staff. This helps it minimise operating costs and, in doing so, demonstrate the money it raises
goes directly to the causes it supports.
WFWP Australia recorded total income of $12,543 in 2015. In the same year, it recorded $12,881 in
expenses – a figure which is lower than the overall average spent by extra small charities ($19,123).
WFWP Australia believes its structure as a small charity has clear benefits. Its reliance on volunteers
results in them feeling a very real connection to the charity’s visions and vision.
While it is small, the charity is part of a broader network under WFWP International. This means it is
able to work with other international chapters, and support them to meet the needs identified in their
local community. This provides WFWP Australia with further confidence that its efforts as an extra
small charity can help those most in need.
WFWP Australia has plans to grow, but realises there are challenges in finding sufficient funding to
support this growth. Given the charity is volunteer-based, it can be difficult to ensure sufficient time is
given to both its management and increasing the awareness of its charity’s purpose. The charity
hopes increasing its volunteer numbers should help to address this issue.
23
How do the smallest charities pursue their purpose?
Among extra small charities, the most common charitable purpose was advancing religion, reported
by 28.6% of charities, slightly less than the figure for all charities (31.2%). The next most common
charitable purpose was advancing education (16.9%) and advancing social or public welfare (11.8%)
(Figure 0.1). These correspond to the most common charitable purposes selected across all charities.
Figure 0.1
Charitable purpose, 2015 (%)
Allcharities
Advancing religion
XS
31.2
28.6
Advancing education
18.6
16.9
Advancing social or public welfare
12.0
11.8
Purposes beneficial to the general public and
other analogous to the other charity
Advancing health
10.4
11.0
6.4
6.1
Advancing culture
4.5
4.8
Advancing natural environment
1.9
2.1
Advancing security or safety of Australia or
Australian public
Promoting reconciliation mutual respect and
tolerance between groups of individuals
Preventing or relieving suffering of animals
1.5
1.7
1.7
1.4
1.0
1.4
Promoting or protecting human rights
Promote or oppose a change
government policy or practice
to
1.3
1.1
law
0.7
0.6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Notes: n = 18,891 extra small charities, data for one charity was missing.
How charities achieve their purpose
The 2015 AIS gave charities the opportunity to describe how their charity’s activities and outcomes
helped achieve their purpose. Responses to this show that the most commonly occurring words were
‘community’, ‘support’, ‘provided’, ‘activity’, and ‘people’, similar to the broader charity sector.
24
Figure 0.2
Word frequency: how Australia’s smallest charities pursue their purpose
The descriptions of how extra small charities pursue their purposes reflect their considerable
contribution in and beyond their local communities. Many extra small charities described some quite
specific and localised activities, for example:
Fundraising efforts to assist with the upgrade of the canteen and grounds and
garden group towards sustainable vegetable gardens throughout the school
(Economic, social and community development charity based in NSW).
The hall committee holds fundraising events to pay for insurance, water rates,
electricity and general up keep and maintenance of the Hall and Grounds. So the
community may have access to the facility whenever the need arises (Culture and
arts charity based in Queensland).
We liaised and co-operated with three local municipalities for the purpose of
snake relocation and the rescue of injured and orphaned wildlife (Animal
protection charity based in TAS).
Provided school starter kits to children from needy families. Provided refugee
welcoming kits to young new arrivals and school lunch boxes (Other education
charity based in WA).
25
Other extra small charities described pursuing a broader set of purposes, which could be expected to
make an impact beyond their immediate local communities, for example:
Promote the research and understanding of intellectual disability. Bring together
people with an interest in the field of intellectual disability. Promote high standards
of practice in the field of intellectual disability (Civic and advocacy charity based in
TAS).
Provided total $32,000 in grants to support women's legal services, women's
cancer research, and indigenous secondary school girls (Grant-making charity
based in QLD).
Notably, many extra small charities pursued purposes overseas. Some examples of how they did so
are as follows:
We conducted training and education in several African countries and provided
disability support and tutoring (international activities, based in SA).
Supporting an orphanage in the Philippines. Family support for families with child
protection difficulties (Social services charity based in WA).
During the year the Trust distributed wheelchairs to disabled Cambodians free of
charge (Other education charity based in VIC).
Assisted in maintaining an 850 laying hen house and a piggery at Leprosy and
Care centre. Assisted destitute women set up micro business with business
training and capital funding. Provided blankets to orphans (International activities,
based in QLD).
We supplied monthly food drops to families, helped with our families getting their
HIV treatment, built houses for some of our families, supplied school books and
uniforms for our children including bikes for them to get to school, supplied filters
for water drinking and storage tanks and helped with farming (Income support and
maintenance charity based in VIC).
Notably, 8.2% of extra small charities (1,434) reported that they were planning to change how they
achieve their purpose, which was slightly higher than the average (6.3%) for all charities. This
difference may reflect that some extra small charities are in the process of scaling up or
scaling down their operations, and may be more likely to report an intention to change their
purpose than larger, more established charities. Indeed, the very smallest extra small charities
were most likely to intend to change their purpose: 17.6% of those with no income and 11.4% of
those with incomes under $10,000 in 2015 reported an intention to change how they achieve their
purpose in the following year.
The nature of change is reflected in their comments, as some commented that they ceased part or all
of their operations during the period. For example:
We do not have any grant funding at this stage so we may have to cut back some
activities until we attain more funding (Social services charity based in NSW).
Op shop will be closed (Religious charity based in SA).
The charity will be wound down and closed (Religious charity in based NSW).
Our child-care centre closed… Future activity will be solely pursuing religious
activities (Other education charity based in VIC).
Another was unsure of their future as their activities would depend on organisational changes and an
associated review:
Through a proposed amalgamation, the project will be subject for review (Aged
care charity based in WA).
26
However, other extra small charities reported intentions to increase their activities, for example:
The number of programs and the size of the participant group will increase this
year (Culture and the arts charity based in VIC).
We are planning on starting more income generating projects in 2016
(International charity based in WA).
Introduce new mobile vehicles to help service outlying communities that require
help (Emergency relief charity based in VIC).
We will hold a number of public lectures in addition to those which are part of our
monthly meetings (Other education charity based in the ACT).
In addition to current activities the organisation will provide welfare support to local
secondary school community (Social services charity based in VIC).
Who do the smallest charities help?
The 2015 AIS asked charities about their beneficiaries with the question: “Who was helped by your
charity’s activities in the 2015 reporting period?” As charities may help multiple populations, they were
asked to select all that apply. Whether or not the charity was focused on a main beneficiary group,
and the extent to which their activities were aimed at this group, was not identified.17
On average, extra small charities selected 3.9 beneficiary groups, although the median was lower
(2.0 beneficiary groups). By contrast, among all charities, each organisation supported 5.1 beneficiary
groups, (median of 3). This shows that, as could be expected, extra small charities report supporting
a slightly narrower range of beneficiary groups. However, it should be noted that while 34.7% of extra
small charities selected only one beneficiary group, there were many extra small charities that
reported helping a wider range of groups. In fact, almost a third of extra small charities (31.3%) said
they support five or more beneficiary groups.
Figure 0.3 provides information on the proportion of extra small charities which reported that their
activities helped particular groups. Around half of extra small charities selected the category ‘general
community in Australia’ (48.7%), and around one in three (34.5%) selected ‘all ages’. Extra small
charities were less likely than others to report assisting women (31.8% compared with 41.1% of all
charities), and men (30.0% compared with 38.7%). These data reflect the smaller number of
beneficiary groups selected by extra small charities compared with others, as indicated above.
17
From the 2016 Annual Information Statement onwards, the beneficiary question will collect more specific information
from charities about their beneficiaries.
27
Figure 0.3
Proportion of charities helping particular groups, 2015 (%)
Allcharities
XS
50.9
48.7
GeneralcommunityinAustralia
36.3
34.5
Allages
Women
41.1
31.8
Men
30.0
Children- under13
29.3
Youth- 13tounder25
Elderly- 60andover
21.8
Adults- 25tounder60
21.7
26.9
28.0
20.5
17.1
Othercharities
15.9
17.6
Peoplewithchronicorterminalillness
12.9
18.3
Unemployedpersons
12.2
20.0
Peoplefromanethnicbackground
12.2
13.9
Communitiesoverseas
11.8
20.7
AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderpeople
11.7
9.3
Othersnotlisted
10.7
10.3
Veteransand/ortheirfamilies
10.3
15.9
Peopleatriskofhomelessness/thehomeless
9.8
14.4
Migrants,refugeesorasylumseekers
9.1
9.5
Victimsofdisaster
8.3
7.7
Gay,lesbian,bisexual,transgenderorintersex… 4.2
5.3
Victimsofcrime
3.4
5.5
Pre/postreleaseoffendersand/ortheirfamilies
3.3
10
38.9
35.1
26.9
Peoplewithdisabilities
0
38.7
20
29.7
30
40
50
60
Notes: n = 18,892 extra small charities, 50,908 charities in total. Charities could report helping more
than one beneficiary group. See also Figure A.4.
28
.
CASE STUDY: YARRA FOUNDATION
A group of Iranian immigrants were the driving force behind the establishment of the Melbournebased Yarra Foundation in 2013.
The foundation supports disadvantaged children in Iran to ‘escape the loop of illiteracy and poverty’
by helping them access good quality education in their home country.
There are many reasons why these children cannot access education, including poverty, child labour,
homelessness or disability.
Yarra Foundation supports them by offering to pay for tuition as well as helping with stationery and
uniform costs. The charity has also provided materials to schools in remote areas to ensure students
aren’t missing out.
The charity has supported thousands of children, many of whom were at risk of dropping out of
school.
Yarra Foundation is also making an impact locally. Its fundraising events have helped newly arrived
migrants and refugees develop new skills and networks, and have supported their integration into
Australian society. Yarra Foundation also conducts events to support the local community in
Melbourne, such as regular blood donations.
While there are very few extra small charities that operate overseas (1,342 in total), even fewer
operated in Iran. Yarra Foundation is one of only five charities that reported activities in Iran in 2015,
and is the only one whose main activities were in advancing primary and secondary education.
Working overseas has its challenges.
The time difference between Australia and Iran can cause problems when communicating with
representatives who work there. In addition, recent sanctions against Iran have made it difficult for the
charity to continue its work in the country.
Yarra Foundation is completely managed by volunteers. The charity views this as an advantage, as it
makes administration costs negligible, and allows the charity to demonstrate to its donors that the
maximum amount of funds is used directly to support beneficiaries.
However, the charity does find it challenging to manage volunteers’ commitment levels at times.
Extra small charities are often more reliant on donations for income. Yarra Foundation is one of the
30.5% extra small charities that gain more than half their income from donations and bequests. In
fact, 92% of Yarra Foundation’s 2015 income came from this source.
While its small size and volunteer-only profile helps attract donations, Yarra Foundation has found
some grant-makers or donors may perceive education as less important as other charitable causes.
Nevertheless, Yarra Foundation is firm in its belief that education is key to the alleviation of poverty
for families and the community.
And the foundation’s size remains something it is acutely aware of. While it is content to continue its
growth organically, becoming a larger charity may make management more difficult.
29
4. WHO WORKS IN AUSTRALIA’S SMALLEST CHARITIES?
Australia’s extra small charities conduct activities and pursue their purposes using a workforce of both
paid employees and volunteers.
Paid employees in Australia’s registered charities
The AIS asked charities to indicate the number of paid full-time, part-time, and casual employees who
worked for the charity during the last pay period of the 2015 reporting period. Charities were asked to
provide their best estimate, if exact figures were unavailable. The AIS did not ask charities whether
their casual staff worked on a full or part-time basis. Further, as the data is for one pay period only, it
does not capture fluctuations in staffing levels over the reporting period. Rather, it should be
considered a snapshot of the charity’s employment for that pay period.
While the whole charity sector employed around 1.2 million paid staff, extra small charities
employed 12,287 staff (1% of all charity employees). On average, extra small charities had less
than one employee (0.7 employees), whereas there were 25.2 employees per charity across all
charities. One-third of employees in extra small charities were employed on a casual basis (29.8%).
This was slightly higher than the average across all charities (25.8%), perhaps reflecting extra small
charities’ need for flexibility and inability to commit resources to permanent staff, given their size. This
is shown in Figure 4.1.
Figure 4.1
Staff
Full-time, part-time and casual staff, extra small charities, 2015
Mean
Sum
%oftotal
Full-timestaff
0.2
4,218
34.7
Part-timestaff
0.2
4,320
35.5
Casualstaff
0.2
3,932
29.8
Total
0.7
12,287
100
Notes: The sum of full-time, part-time and casual staff does not equal the number of total staff because some charities have only
reported total number of staff and their staff could not be disaggregated by type of employment
The proportion of staff employed in charities in each size category, and across the categories of main
activity are shown in Figure A.5 and Figure A.6.
Figure 4.2 provides a summary of the proportion of all paid staff according to the main activity of their
employer. This shows that among extra small charities, the sector with the highest employment rate
was religion, which employed two in five of all employees in extra small charities (39.5%). When we
look at employment across the whole charity sector, however, only 4.0% were employed by religious
charities.
It is also notable that charities whose main activity was health employed 29.4% of all charity
employees, but only 5.2% of employees in extra small charities. Similarly, while 40.3% of all charity
staff were employed in education and research, only 22.7% of employees of extra small charities
were employed in this sector.
30
Figure 4.2
Proportion of all staff employed by sector, extra small charities and all charities, 2015 (%)
Allcharities
XS
4.0
Religion
Educationandresearch
39.5
40.3
22.7
4.4
Cultureandrecreation
Developmentandhousing
Socialservices
Health
10.3
7.5
9.2
12.2
8.1
29.4
5.2
0.3
1.6
0.1
1.2
0.7
1.0
0.3
0.8
0.8
0.4
PhilanthropicIntermediaries
Other
Environment
International
Lawandadvocacy
0
10
20
30
40
50
Notes: Small charities, total number of staff= 12,287. All charities, total number of staff =1,212,097.
Charities with no paid staff
Most extra small charities had no paid staff (81.4%). This means that four in every five extra small
charities operate with no paid workforce. This is consistent with previous research that, although
the non-profit sector is a significant employer, employment is highly concentrated in a small number
of organisations, with the majority of Australian not-for-profits having no paid employees (Dalton and
Butcher 2014; Lyons, 2001). Figure 4.3 shows how in 2015, the proportion of extra small charities
with no paid staff differed by sector of main activity. Operating without paid staff was highest among
extra small charities whose main activity was classified as ‘philanthropic intermediaries and
voluntarism promotion’ (94.8%), social services (91.2%) and environment (90.1%).
31
Figure 4.3
Proportion of charities with no paid staff by sector, 2015 (%)
94.8
Philanthropicintermediaries
Socialservices
91.2
Environment
90.1
Other
87.7
Cultureandrecreation
87.4
Lawandadvocacy
86.1
International
85.9
Health
85.0
Developmentandhousing
82.9
Educationandresearch
82.4
Total
81.4
62.7
Religion
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Notes: n = 17,331, data about paid employees was missing for 1,545 charities. See also
Figure A. 7.
Volunteers in Australia’s charities
As described in the Australian Charities 2015 report, most charities draw on the efforts of unpaid
volunteers to perform their activities. The AIS asked charities to report the estimated number of
volunteers who worked for the charity during the 2015 reporting period.
The proportion of charities that engaged any volunteers is shown in Figure 4.4 by sector. Overall,
86.6% of extra small charities used volunteer staff. This is slightly higher than for charities on
average (84.1%). Across all sectors there was a higher likelihood of engaging volunteers in extra
small charities compared to average, with the exception of philanthropic charities. Among
philanthropic intermediaries only 30.7% of extra small charities had volunteers, which is less than the
figure for all charities (36.1%). The analysis found that in some sectors extra small charities were
more likely to engage volunteers compared to average for all charities. These sectors included
development and housing (89.2% compared with 79.5%) and education and research (88.7%
compared with 81.5%).
Figure 4.5 shows the proportion of charities which had any volunteers, and provides mean, median
and total numbers of volunteers by sector. Extra small charities engaged a total of 436,234
volunteers. This represents approximately 14.7% of the total volunteer effort across all
charities18. On average, extra small charities had 27.6 volunteers (median of 10), although this
differed by sector. The highest total number of volunteers were in the sectors of religion (133,811
volunteers in total), social services (100,920) and culture and recreation (50,901) (Figure 4.5).
18
Australia’s Charities Report 2015 identified a total of 2.97 million volunteers.
32
Figure 4.4
Charities with volunteers by sector, 2015 (%)
XS
Allcharities
95.8
92.8
95.6
92.5
95.3
94.2
95.2
90.2
95.1
93
91.9
86.4
91.3
90.5
89.2
79.5
88.7
81.5
86.6
84.1
84.1
84.7
Environment
SocialServices
International
Law,AdvocacyandPolitics
CultureandRecreation
Health
Religion
Developmentandhousing
Educationandresearch
Total
Other
30.7
36.1
Philanthropic
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Notes: n = 15,786 extra small charities and 46,649 total charities, as number of volunteers and sector of main activity were missing
some.
Figure 4.5
Proportion of charities with volunteers by sector, 2015 (%)
%withany
volunteers
Mean
numberof
volunteers
Median
Sum
%oftotal
Cultureandrecreation
95.1
30.6
14.0
50,961
11.7
Educationandresearch
88.7
18.0
10.0
46,200
10.6
Lawandadvocacy
95.2
22.6
10.0
4,233
1.0
Environment
95.8
39.3
15.0
24,223
5.6
Health
91.9
19.9
10.0
20,308
4.7
Developmentandhousing
89.2
34.4
10.0
28,014
6.4
Socialservices
95.6
45.9
11.0
100,920
23.1
Philanthropicintermediaries
30.7
13.1
0.0
18,195
4.2
Religion
91.3
27.6
11.0
133,811
30.7
International
95.3
18.5
9.0
3,124
0.7
Other
84.1
19.9
5.0
6,245
1.4
Total
86.6
27.6
10.0
436,234
100.0
Notes: n = 15,786, as number of volunteers and sector of main activity were missing for some. See also Figure A. 8.
33
Figure 4.6 provides a breakdown of volunteers by charity size. Among extra small charities it shows
that charities with an income of more than $10,000 and less than $25,000 were most likely to engage
volunteers (88.5%), although the number of charities engaging volunteers is relatively similar among
all extra small charities.
Figure 4.6
Charities with volunteers by size, 2015 (%)
100
90
80
85.7
83.0
88.5
87.4
86.5
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
AllXS
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Noincome
>$0-$10k
Notes: n = 15,844. Volunteer numbers were not reported by 3,048 charities.
Charities with both volunteers and employees
Figure 4.7 shows the proportion of charities with employees and volunteers. It shows that compared
to the average for all charities, extra small charities, were more likely to rely on volunteers only
(68.4% compared to 39.1%), while 2.1% of extra small charities relied on paid employees alone
compared to 7.5% of all charities.
34
Figure 4.7
Proportion of charities with employees and volunteers, 2015 (%)
XS
80
Allcharities
70
68.4
60
50
40
44.9
39.1
30
20
10
0
18.1
11.4
8.4
Hadneither
employeesnor
volunteers
2.1
7.5
Employeesonly
Volunteersonly
Employeesand
volunteers
Notes: n = 15,799 extra small charities and 46,813 total charities.
35
CASE STUDY: BRAVE FOUNDATION
Launched nationally in 2015, Brave Foundation is a charity that supports teenage parents and those
teenagers set to become parents. It is the first Australian organisation to address these issues
affecting teenagers at a national level.
Each year, about 24,000 teenagers benefit from the foundation’s work. With over 180 services
available on their directory, the charity acts as a central reference point for teenagers seeking
support.
The foundation has a firm belief that it takes ‘a village of support and acceptance’ to effectively help
each expecting and parenting teenager. To provide this support, the charity has established strategic
partnerships with health, government, education and community bodies and representatives.
Expecting and parenting teenagers are involved throughout this process to ensure the services
delivered genuinely support them in achieving their aspirations and ultimately reduce the risk of longterm welfare dependency.
Operating as a small charity has allowed Brave Foundation to develop credibility and hands-on
experience through a robust understanding of community needs.
Brave Foundation is one of very few extra small charities to be based in Tasmania. Only 2.6% of
Australia’s extra small charities are registered there.
It is also one of very few such charities to operate in all Australian states and territories; in 2015, only
4.5% of extra small charities reported this as being the case.
Brave Foundation is proud that its work has an impact on a national level. But it describes as
challenging meeting the different reporting requirements of Australia’s state and territory fundraising
regulators.
Supporting the charity’s work in 2015 was a team of 20 volunteers and two paid staff. Less than one
in five extra small charities reported employing paid staff (18.6%) and Brave Foundation is part of this
minority.
Brave Foundation’s total 2015 income was $13,141, a figure slightly lower than the average income of
all extra small charities ($15,945). The foundation acknowledges that finding sufficient funding can be
difficult – however, now it is more established, it has seen an increase in donations, including a
significant bequest that has supported the charity’s cause substantially.
It also plans to introduce a membership scheme to generate more income. Increasing its income
would allow the charity to develop and implement pilot programs aimed at helping expecting and
parenting teens continue their education in a flexible manner.
The foundation describes two of its achievements as particularly special.
The first is a partnership with another national organisation targeting issues related to depression.
This has resulted in increased recognition for the charity and its cause, as expecting and parenting
teenagers have a statistically higher incidence of depression than the general population.
The second came when the Brave Foundation and its work featured in research about social impact
investment. The research highlighted the significant social impact of the foundation’s work in
supporting teenage mothers, and will provide it with information to continue its advocacy and
awareness-raising efforts.
As it looks to the future, Brave Foundation hopes to increase the distribution of its services to all
secondary schools, hospitals and pregnancy support centres in Australia. Until now there has been a
lack of a nationally coordinated approach to keeping expecting and parenting teens in the education
system, and Brave Foundation hopes to fill this gap.
36
5. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FINANCES OF AUSTRALIA’S SMALLEST
CHARITIES
How do the smallest charities fund their activities?
The AIS requires most charities to answer questions about financial information, including the source
of their income for the 2015 reporting period. Income for basic religious charities and others for which
financial information was unavailable is estimated (see Appendix B: Further methodological details).
This information shows the composition of charities’ income, to help understand how they fund their
activities. Income in the AIS was captured in three main categories:
•
•
•
Government grants
Donations and bequests
Other income and revenue.
Total income
As found in the Australian Charities 2015 Report, Australia’s registered charities had $134.5 billion in
income in 2015.19 Extra small charities accounted for only a small proportion of this: $301.2
million, or 0.2% of charities’ total income despite representing 37.1% of all registered charities.
Among extra small charities, the average income was only $15,945. Further, half of extra small
charities had incomes under $12,526 for the whole year. While low incomes may limit the operations
of these charities or create barriers to sufficient resourcing needed to achieve their mission, this is not
necessarily always the case. As discussed previously, many extra small charities perform highly
specialised and localised activities in their communities, and there tends to be high levels of volunteer
engagement that helps to compensate for the lack of paid resources.
The composition of income among Australia’s smallest charities differed from that of the wider sector.
Compared with all charities, extra small charities relied less on government grants and more on
donations and bequests. Figure 5.1 shows that extra small charities received $17.2 million in
government grants, which constituted only 5.7% of their total income. By contrast, government grants
accounted for 41.4% of total charity income. For extra small charities, a very high proportion of
income came from donations and bequests (38.0%, compared with 8.3% across the sector). As
such, extra small charities are much more dependent on philanthropic income, and much less
dependent on government grants, than the charity sector as a whole.
Figure 5.1
Summary of income sources, extra small charities and all charities 2015
Incomesource
Allcharities($)
%oftotalincome
(allcharities)
Extrasmall
charities($)
Governmentgrants
55,664,078,556
41.4
17,291,625
%oftotalincome
(extrasmall
charities)
5.7
Donationsandbequests
11,169,158,530
8.3
114,510,674
38.0
Otherincomeandrevenue
67,682,720,868
50.3
169,504,957
56.3
134,514,292,173
100.0
301,236,103
100.0
Total
Notes: n = 50,908. Totals include estimated data for charities which had not provided financial reports.
Figure 5.2 reports the proportion of charities that received any income from each source, and the
mean income per charity from each source. The most common source of income was ‘other income
and revenue’, which was received by 91.2% of all charities. Slightly fewer extra small charities
(82.2%) received other income, receiving $8,972 on average. Donations and bequests were received
by 62.8% of all charities and 59.0% of extra small charities, with the average donations received each
year per extra small charity $6,061 (Figure 5.2).
19
This figure is higher than the figure reported in the Australian Charities Report 2014, because of the use of a more
complete data set in 2015. This does not reflect change.
37
Figure 5.2
Key indicators of income sources, extra small charities, 2015
Incomesource
Governmentgrants
Donationsandbequests
Otherincomeand
revenue
Total
%ofallcharities
whichreceived
income^
35.1
Allcharities–
meanpercharity
($)*
1,093,425
%ofextrasmall
charitieswhich
receivedincome^
12.7
Extrasmall
charities–mean
percharity($)*
915
62.8
219,399
59.0
6,061
91.2
1,329,641
82.2
8,972
98.1
2,642,302
94.5
15,945
Notes: ^Uses reported data: all charities n = 38,117, extra small charities n = 13,040 (reported data only). Due to discrepancies in
charities’ reporting of income sources and totals, figures for government grants, donations and bequests and other income and
revenue may not sum to the total.
*Uses estimated data n = 50,908, all charities n = 18,892.
Government grants
The total charity sector had government grants totalling around $55.7 billion, and government grants
accounted for 41.4% of sector income. However, for extra small charities, government grants
constituted only 5.7% of total income.
As an indicator of reliance on government grants, three categories were constructed, capturing those
with no government grants, those for which grants made a relatively minor (less than 50%)
contribution to total income, and those for which grants constituted a major (more than 50%)
contribution to total income.
The vast majority of extra small charities received no income from government. Figure 5.3 shows
that 87.3% of extra small charities (excluding those with no income) did not receive income
from government grants, and that this differed slightly across the detailed size categories.
Whereas 92.6% of those with incomes under $10,000 had no income from government grants, the
figure was 81.2% for those with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000. However, even among
charities with an income between $25,000 and $50,000, very few (5.8%) received 50% or more of
their total income from government.
38
Figure 5.3
Extra small charities for which government grants comprised more than 50% of total income,
2015 (%)
Governmentgrantswere50%ormoreoftotalincome
Governmentgrantswereunder50%totalincome
Nogovernmentgrants
100%
90%
4.0
3.5
5.5
5.8
10.8
13.0
83.7
81.2
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
4.7
8.0
80%
70%
60%
50%
92.6
40%
87.3
30%
20%
10%
0%
>$0-$10k
AllXS
Notes: n = 13,040, based on charities with reported income data only. Note that data for 720 charities which reported $0 in total
income are not included in the ‘>$0–$10k’ category. However, this group is included in the total ‘All XS’ category.
Donations and bequests
Among all charities, 62.8% received some amount of income from donations and bequests,
amounting to $11.2 billion, or 8.3% of charities’ total income. On the other hand, extra small charities
were relatively more dependent on donations and bequests. While around one in four of all charities
(26.0%) depended on donations and bequests for 50% or more of their total income, this figure was
higher for extra small charities (30.5%).
Across the detailed size categories there was little difference in the proportions of extra small charities
which depended on donations for more than half their income (see Figure 5.4). However, those with
incomes under $10,000 were most likely to have no income from donations: 45.5% of this group did
not report donations, compared with 33.3% of those in the $10,000 to $25,000 category and 32.3% of
those in the $25,000 to $50,000 category.
Extra small charities whose main activities were ‘international’ or ‘religion’ had the highest mean value
of donations and bequests ($13,378 and $11,936 respectively), whereas culture and recreation had
the lowest ($3,487) per extra small charity.
39
Figure 5.4
Proportion of total income from donations and bequests, by size, 2015 (%)
Donationscontributed50%ormoreoftotalincome
Donationscontributedunder50%oftotalincome
Noincomefromdonations
100%
90%
80%
32.0
33.5
31.6
30.5
70%
60%
22.5
50%
33.2
36.1
33.3
32.3
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
28.5
40%
30%
20%
45.5
41.0
10%
0%
>$0-$10k
AllXS
Notes: n = 13,040, based on reported data only. Note that data is not shown for 720 charities with total incomes of $0 in the ‘>$0–
$10k’ category. However this group is included in the total ‘All XS’ category.
Other income and revenue
Apart from government grants and donations, charities’ income was captured in three other AIS line
items called: ‘other income/receipts’, ‘other revenue’ and ‘other income’. We refer to these together as
‘other income’. Charities were directed to include all other income and revenue at this item that was
not from government grants, donations and bequests. Items within these AIS line items could include
a variety of income sources such as those from ordinary activities including sale of goods, user
contributions to services rendered, member fees, interest, dividends, as well as income earned
outside of ordinary activities, such as gains received from the sale of assets. As such, this can be
considered an indication of charities’ market or commercial income. Future development of the AIS
should provide more detailed breakdown of ‘other income’, given that this is the most commonly
reported source of income and comprises a significant portion of the sector’s total income.
Figure 5.5 shows that for more than half of extra small charities (58.0%), other income comprised half
of total income or more, while for 24.3% it made a less significant contribution to total income. There
was a relatively large proportion of extra small charities (17.8%) which had no ‘other income or
revenue’. This was more than double the figure for all charities (8.8%). While we do not know the full
circumstances of these charities, it may be that charities with no other income or revenue are in the
process of setting up or winding down. ‘Other income’ was highest for extra small charities in the
categories of culture and recreation ($12,675 on average) and education and research ($12,386 on
average) and lowest among international charities ($3,744 on average).
40
Figure 5.5
Proportion of total income from ‘other income’ by size, 2015 (%)
'Otherincome'contributedmorethan50%oftotalincome
'Otherincome'contributedunder50%oftotalincome
No'otherincome'
100%
90%
80%
70%
62.9
59.5
20.2
29.1
29.6
11.5
9.7
>$10k-$25k
>$25k-$50k
60.7
58.0
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
16.8
0%
>$0-$10k
24.3
17.8
AllXS
Notes: n = 13,040, based on reported data only. Note that data is not shown for 720 charities with total incomes of $0 in the
‘>$0–$10k’ category. However this group is included in the total ‘All XS’ category.
41
How do the smallest charities allocate their funds?
As part of the AIS, charities were required to specify how they allocate their funds. This is captured as
part of the income statement, under expenses/payments. Categories were:
•
•
•
•
Employee expenses/payments
Grants and donations made by the registered entity for use in Australia
Grants and donations made by the registered entity for use outside Australia
Other expenses / payments.
These were then added to indicate total expenses, and (in the following section) compared with total
income to indicate net surplus / deficit.
Total expenses
In total, Australia’s smallest charities spent around $361.3 million pursuing their purposes over the 12month period reported in the 2015 AIS (see Figure 5.6). Expenditure among extra small charities
accounted for only 0.29% of all charities’ spending. The main type of spending among extra small
charities was on ‘other expenses’ ($230.4 billion), or 63.8% of total spending. Around 11.3% of extra
small charities’ total spending was on employee expenses, while 24.9% was on grants and donations.
On average, each extra small charity spent $19,123. This differed across the detailed size categories
(Figure 5.7).
Figure 5.6
Summary of expenditure, 2015 ($)
Totalexpenses($)
Mean($)
%ofXSexpenses
Employeeexpenses
40,973,006
2,169
11.3
XSexpensesasa%
ofallexpenses
0.03
Grantsanddonations
90,000,101
4,764
24.9
0.07
Other
230,428,915
12,197
63.8
0.19
TotalXScharities
361,272,796
19,123
100.0
0.29
Totalallcharities
122,768,180,845
2,411,570
–
100.0
Expenditure
Notes: n = 18,892. Due to discrepancies in charities’ reporting of each expense source and totals, figures for employee expenses,
grants and other expenses may not sum to the total.
Figure 5.7
Mean total expenditure by size, 2015 ($)
Charitysize
Totalexpenses($)
Mean($)
%ofXS
Noincome
11,139,955
15,472
3.1
>$0–$10k
59,777,035
8,185
16.5
>$10k–$25k
154,720,742
21,326
42.8
>$25k–$50k
135,635,065
37,530
37.5
Total
361,272,796
19,123
100.0
Notes: n = 18,892.
Spending on employees
More than two-thirds of extra small charities had no expenditure related to employees (68.1%). This is
much higher than the average for all charities (49.5%), confirming data in earlier chapters that extra
small charities are generally much less reliant on paid employees than other charities. This reliance,
however, varied widely by sectors.
42
Figure 5.8
Charities for which employee expenses were zero, 2015 (%)
Philanthropicintermediaries
93.7
Environment
88.3
International
84.7
Socialservices
83.9
Developmentandhousing
83.4
Cultureandrecreation
82.8
Health
81.6
Educationandresearch
81.3
Lawandadvocacy
81.3
Other
76.2
Total
68.1
Religion
32.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Notes: n = 15,827, data missing for 3,065 charities.
By sector, extra small religious charities spent 17.1% of total expenditure on employees, which was
higher than for other extra small charities. Extra small international charities spent 13.3% of total
income, on employees, on average (although 84.7% had no employee expenses). This may indicate
higher employee costs associated with working internationally. For extra small philanthropic
intermediaries, employee expenses constituted a very low proportion of total spending (2.4%, on
average).
43
Figure 5.9
Proportion of expenditure on employee expenses by sector, 2015 (%)
Religion
17.1
International
13.3
Educationandresearch
12.6
Developmentandhousing
12.5
Lawandadvocacy
11.8
Total
11.4
Health
10.7
Socialservices
8.8
Other
7.9
Cultureandrecreation
7.0
Environment
6.1
Philanthropicintermediaries
2.4
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Notes: n = 15,827, data missing for 3,065 charities. See also Figure A. 10.
Spending on grants and donations
The AIS also asked about spending on grants and donations made by the charity for use within
Australia, and for use outside Australia. Spending on grants for use in Australia by extra small
charities totalled $77.1 million, while grants for use outside Australia totalled $12.9 million
(Figure 5.10). On average, extra small charities spent $4,764 on grants and donations, most of which
was for use in Australia ($4,082.5 per charity).
Figure 5.10
Expenditure on grants, 2015 ($)
Expenditureongrants
Totalexpenses($)
Mean($)
ForuseinAustralia
77,126,756
4,083
ForuseoutsideAustralia
12,873,346
681
Total
90,000,101
4,764
Notes: n = 18,892.
Among extra small charities, those in the philanthropic sector, not surprisingly, spent the largest
proportion of their expenses on grants and donations (71.0%). This was followed by international
activities (43.6%) (Figure 5.11).
44
Figure 5.11
Proportion of all spending on grants by sector, 2015
Philanthropicintermediaries
71.0
International
43.6
Educationandresearch
25.6
Developmentandhousing
25.0
Total
24.9
Health
22.2
Socialservices
20.3
Cultureandrecreation
17.8
Other
17.3
Religion
16.1
Environment
12.3
Lawandadvocacy
10.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Notes: n = 15,835, data missing for 3,057 charities. See also Figure A. 10.
45
The financial status of the smallest charities
Charities need to have sound financial health in order to sustain their activities and achieve their
purpose. This can be particularly important for small charities given evidence that they may be more
financially vulnerable than other charities (Backus and Clifford, 2013). However, there is no simple,
universally applicable way of assessing the financial sustainability of organisations (whether they are
charities or for-profit businesses).
Many factors can impact on the financial health of a charity. In this section we provide a snapshot of
the financial stability of Australia’s smallest charities. This analysis should be considered general in
nature. You can read more about the approached used to analyse the financial status of charities
within this report in chapter 12 of Australia’s Charities 2015.
Financial performance
Information about charities’ income and expenditure, and their assets and liabilities provides insight
into their financial status and performance. Based on income minus expenditure, 59.2% of extra small
charities made a surplus in the 2015 period and 38.4% reported a deficit result (the balance had nearzero net income, or broke even).
20
A charity’s Net Income Ratio summarises the ratio of the charity’s surplus or deficit to its total income in
the financial year. Extra small charities’ net income ratio was –19.8% (indicating an average deficit
equivalent to 19.8% of total income). By contrast, across the whole sector charities had an average surplus
equivalent to 8.7% of total income. Rather than poor performance, this may indicate a range of
circumstances, and should be interpreted in the context of a charity’s financial strategy, assets, and
growth.
Net income ratio by size
Net income ratio varied significantly by organisation size, as shown in Figure 5.12, with extra small
charities reporting the highest levels of negative net income across all charities. This was more
evident for extra small charities with income of less than $10,000 per annum (–55.3%).
Figure 5.12
Average net income ratio by size, 2015 (%)
21
-19.8
AllXS
-3.2
>$25k- $50k
-17.4
>$10k- $25k
-55.3
>$0- $10k
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
Notes: n = 12,091.
While this data alone makes it appear that extra small charities are unsustainable, the picture is likely
more complicated. This is because charity size is defined based on income. The smallest charity
category includes charities whose total income is either zero or small, but whose net income is
20
In the ACNC’s Annual Information Statement form financial data may have different labels; for example, ‘Net
Income’ is Net Surplus/Deficit; ‘Total Income’ is Total Gross Income for Medium and Large charities and Total
Income/Receipts for Small charities.
21
Calculated as the total of net income for charities in a group, divided by total income for charities in that group.
46
significantly negative (charities which didn’t have material income but did have significant expenses).
This may be the case for charities that are in the process of setting up or winding down. If, for
example, charities with a deficit of more than $100,000 are excluded from the calculation, the net
income ratio for extra small charities improves to –3.6%.
47
Figure 5.13
Net income ratio by size, 2015
n
<–25%
–25%to
–10%
–10%to
–5%
–5%to
0%
0%
0%to5%
5%to
10%
10%to
25%
>25%
<0
>0
>$0–$10k
4,909
30.9%
6.1%
2.5%
2.9%
2.9%
3.9%
3.7%
10.7%
36.5%
42.4%
54.7%
>$10k–$25k
3,633
18.7%
9.1%
4.3%
5.8%
2.3%
7.5%
7.5%
14.6%
30.3%
37.8%
60.0%
>$25k–$50k
3,549
13.3%
8.4%
4.5%
7.2%
1.9%
8.9%
8.0%
18.7%
29.1%
33.4%
64.6%
AllXSCharities
12,091
22.0%
7.7%
3.6%
5.0%
2.4%
6.4%
6.1%
14.2%
32.5%
38.4%
59.2%
Size
Notes: Detailed analysis of sustainability ratios is based on reported data only (n displayed the figure). ‘0%’ net income ratio is ±0.1%. The table values are percentages of charities in
each row (rows add to 100%). 720 extra small charities are excluded because they have zero total income.
Figure 5.14
Net income ratio by sector, 2015
n
<–25%
–25%to
–10%
–10%to
–5%
–5%to
0%
0%
0%to5%
5%to
10%
10%to
25%
>25%
<0
>0
1,544
19.4%
9.5%
4.7%
5.5%
1.3%
7.6%
6.9%
16.8%
28.3%
39.1%
59.6%
714
26.1%
9.2%
2.4%
5.3%
2.5%
6.4%
4.5%
12.5%
31.1%
43.0%
54.5%
2,257
21.8%
8.6%
3.0%
4.8%
2.3%
5.3%
5.5%
14.6%
34.1%
38.2%
59.5%
555
29.4%
8.8%
2.7%
4.9%
1.8%
5.2%
5.0%
12.3%
29.9%
45.8%
52.4%
Health
908
24.4%
7.2%
3.4%
4.4%
2.4%
5.4%
4.7%
12.0%
36.0%
39.4%
58.1%
International
154
20.8%
9.1%
3.9%
3.9%
3.9%
9.7%
3.9%
9.1%
35.7%
37.7%
58.4%
Lawandadvocacy
Philanthropic
intermediaries
Religion
164
30.5%
8.5%
3.0%
4.3%
1.2%
5.5%
4.3%
15.9%
26.8%
46.3%
52.4%
1,228
19.8%
5.7%
2.5%
3.7%
1.1%
4.6%
10.2%
19.5%
32.9%
31.8%
67.2%
1,919
15.9%
9.2%
5.2%
6.8%
4.8%
9.7%
7.2%
15.1%
26.0%
37.1%
58.1%
Socialservices
1,855
25.8%
6.0%
3.9%
4.8%
1.8%
6.3%
5.6%
12.6%
33.2%
40.5%
57.7%
794
24.3%
2.9%
2.8%
3.9%
3.0%
4.0%
2.9%
7.4%
48.7%
33.9%
63.1%
12,092
1.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.3%
0.2%
0.5%
3.2%
2.2%
4.1%
Sector
Cultureand
recreation
Developmentand
housing
Educationand
research
Environment
Other/Unknown
AllXScharities
Notes: Detailed analysis of sustainability ratios is based on reported data only (n displayed the figure). ‘0%’ net income ratio is ±0.1%. The table values are percentages of charities in
each row (rows add to 100%). 720 extra small charities are excluded because they have zero total income.
48
Figure 5.13 provides a detailed breakdown of the proportion of charities whose net income falls into
one of nine bands from –25% or less to +25% or more. There is significant variation by size:
• Charities with an income >$25k–$50k were more likely than the smaller charities to record a
surplus.
• 36.5% of extra small charities (>$0k–$10k) recorded a surplus of more than 25%, but were also
more likely to report a deficit of over 25% (30.9%).
Net income ratio by sector
Figure 5.14 summarises the average net income ratio by sector for extra small charities. It shows
that charities in the philanthropic sector were most likely to record a surplus (67.2% had a
positive net income ratio). In contrast law and advocacy charities and environmental charities
were most likely to operate with a deficit (46.3% and 45.8%, respectively, had a negative net
income ratio). These findings may be related to the analysis within Chapter 3 of this report which
found that extra small charities in these two sectors had the lowest levels of income compared to
extra small charities operating in other sectors.
Financial position
While analysis of net income tells us something about financial performance, the balance sheet
provides a clearer picture of a charity’s financial position. In this section we analyse indicative ratios of
charities’ long-term financial position (net asset ratio). It is not possible to look at short-term financial
positions, as small charities are not required to provide data about their current ratio in the AIS.
Net assets and net asset ratio
The AIS information on assets and liabilities provides insight into the financial position of Australia’s
charities. Australia’s smallest charities reported net assets of $4.5 billion at the end of the 2015
reporting period (Figure 5.15). That is, total assets minus total liabilities amounted to $4.5 billion.
The net asset ratio for this group was 89.9% (indicating that net assets were 89.9% of total assets).
This is higher than the 69.7% for all charities and higher than any other size segment. These data
may reflect how smaller charities are less likely to have significant liabilities, or because they report
using cash accounting rather than accruals accounting. For example, a voluntary organisation
providing local services may have a bank account and operating income and expenses, but no
liabilities; in these cases the net asset ratio would be 100%.
Figure 5.15
Summary of assets and liabilities, 2015 ($)
TotalAssets
TotalLiabilities
NetAssets
NetAssetRatio
$
5,006,385,542
505,283,251
4,501,102,286
89.9%
Notes: n = 18,892; figures may not add due to rounding.
Figure 5.16 shows that nearly 3% of all extra small charities had a negative net asset ratio in 2015,
meaning their liabilities were reported as more than their assets, while 92% of all extra small charities
had a net asset ratio of 50% or greater. In fact, it appears that the majority (85.2%) of extra small
charities had a net asset ratio of 90% or more.
49
Figure 5.16
Net asset ratio by size, 2015
22
n
<0%
0to
50%
Noincome
617
6.5
6.6
3.6
1.9
81.4
<$0–$10k
4,289
2.9
5.0
2.4
2.6
87.1
<$10k–$25k
3,242
2.6
5.4
3.1
3.6
85.3
<$25k–$50k
3,242
2.1
5.2
4.3
5.2
83.2
AllXScharities
11,390
2.8
5.3
3.2
3.6
85.2
Size
50%to75% 75%to90%
90%to
100%
Net asset ratio by sector
By sector, Figure 5.17 shows that among extra small charities, the net asset ratio varied widely.
Philanthropic charities were most likely to have a net asset ratio of over 90% (95.5%). International
charities were most likely to have a net asset ratio of zero (5.8%) or less than 50% (14.9%), followed
by charities in the development and housing sector (5.7% and 8.4% respectively).
While environmental charities and law and advocacy charities had the least positive net income
ratios, when assessed by their average net asset ratio, their performance improves: 90.7% of
environmental charities and 91.7% of law and advocacy charities reported a net asset ratio of 50% or
above.
Figure 5.17
Average Net Asset Ratio by Sector, 2015 (%)
n
<0%
0to
50%
50%to
75%
75%to
90%
90%to
100%
1,415
1.8
5.0
3.3
4.9
84.9
704
5.7
8.4
4.4
4.3
77.3
1,948
2.8
5.1
3.4
4.8
83.8
Environment
498
4.2
5.0
5.6
4.2
80.9
Health
845
2.4
6.4
3.2
4.6
83.4
International
121
5.8
14.9
2.5
2.5
74.4
Lawandadvocacy
155
2.6
5.8
6.5
6.5
78.7
Philanthropicintermediaries
1,218
0.9
1.3
1.1
1.2
95.5
Religion
1,760
3.1
6.5
4.3
3.6
82.5
Socialservices
1,795
2.0
4.2
2.2
2.4
89.2
931
4.4
6.7
2.1
2.3
84.5
11,390
2.8
5.3
3.2
3.6
85.2
Sector
Cultureandrecreation
Developmentandhousing
Educationandresearch
Other/Unknown
AllXSCharities
Note: figures may not add due to rounding.
Sustainability framework
The analysis in this section combines two ratios that compare charities’ net assets with income and
expenses to provide a more informative picture of sustainability. In brief, the sustainability framework
used in this analysis compares a charity’s asset years with their asset growth.
•
•
The net assets and total expenses are used to determine the asset years (or net asset
expenditure cover).
The net income and net assets are used to calculate the asset growth.
More information about this sustainability framework and how to interpret the findings here can be
found in Australia’s Charities 2015. Around 40% of extra small charities have negative net income (as
22
The strength of the shading in the figure relates to the relative prevalence of charities in each table cell.
50
a result their asset growth is less than zero). However, the sustainability framework shows that the
majority of these have reasonable net assets in proportion to their expenses, so may not be at
immediate financial risk (Figure 5.18).
Figure 5.18
Sustainability framework example: Extra small charities, 2015
Notes: n = 10,022.
51
CASE STUDY: HAEMOPHILIA FOUNDATION ACT
Haemophilia Foundation ACT (HFACT) supports people in the ACT and surrounding regions who
have a bleeding disorder. The charity offers mutual support and networking opportunities, and strives
to provide optimal health care services for its members.
Although the charity has been operating for over 30 years, HFACT’s still defines its biggest
achievement as its formation in the early 1980s. At the time, the charity was established in response
to the needs of the community affected with a bleeding disorder. Since that time, the charity has built
a close-knit community that has proved effective in supporting its members.
In addition to its work within its local community, HFACT is also part of the Haemophilia Foundation
Australia national committee and contributes to the discussion on policy, medical and advocacy
issues affecting its members.
HFACT’s small size reflects the small number of people in and around ACT that are affected by a
bleeding disorder. The charity plans to maintain its current size, but HFACT is always conducting
outreach work should new members seek to join.
One benefit of being a ‘smaller charity’ is the less onerous reporting requirements. HFACT has
minimal administrative costs so the charity is relatively easy to manage by volunteers. This means
that the charity is able to remain small and nimble, responding to changes as the need arises.
A second benefit of its size is that HFACT does not face dramatic fluctuations to its income base due
to changes in funding arrangements or donations received from year to year.
In 2015, HFACT reported a total gross income of $38,298. Of this, close to $33,000 came from
government grants. This makes HFACT one of only 4.7% of extra small charities that received more
than 50% of their annual income from government grants. The government grants have enabled
HFACT to employ a part-time counsellor to assist in the delivery of their health services.
In addition to government grants, the charity receives one-off grants for defined purposes (e.g. family
camps) from the broader Haemophilia Foundation Australia organisation. Donations also make up a
small part of HFACT’s overall funding.
There are a number of opportunities and challenges which HFACT foresee. The charity will continue
advocacy work to ensure that essential medical products and the latest advances in treatment options
are available for the local community.
HFACT will also endeavour to maintain an effective working relationship with its primary funders so
that long-term funding is secured. Expected changes to government tendering processes will likely
have an impact on how HFACT approaches this issue.
As a largely volunteer-based charity, it is a constant challenge for HFACT to ensure it remains strong
and well-supported. Maintaining the charity’s profile will assist with this. HFACT notes that this can be
challenging though, as bleeding disorders are rare and there are many other organisations competing
for the same funds.
52
6. HOW ARE AUSTRALIA’S SMALL CHARITIES CHANGING?
This section examines how Australia’s smallest charities changed from 2014 to 2015. It uses a
specially constructed matched panel dataset. This matched panel dataset was initially analysed for all
charities (see Australia’s Charities 2015) and consisted of 29,829 charities which reported financial
data in both 2014 and 2015.23 For this report, we use a subset of the dataset: 10,162 charities which
were extra small in 2014 and who also reported in 2015. Some of these charities may have moved
out of the extra small size category in 2015.
Change in total income
Financial change over time data is limited to the 9,372 extra small charities that reported financial
data in 2014 and 2015. Together, these extra small charities reported $162.5 million in total
gross income in 2014, which had risen to $224.8 million in 2015, representing a growth of
38.4%. This is much higher than the average growth reported across all charities (2%).
Figure 6.1 shows that among extra small charities in the dataset, mean income grew from $17,335 to
$23,994 (38.4% growth). Among charities with incomes under $10,000 in 2014, mean incomes more
than doubled from $4,006 in 2014 to $9,755 in 2015. Approximately 983 charities (10.5%) increased
their income from 2014 to 2015, such that they would no longer be considered extra small, i.e. their
income in 2015 was greater than $50,000.
Figure 6.1
Change in mean income among extra small charities, 2014 and 2015
$50,000
2014
$45,000
2015
$44,599
$40,000
$35,000
$36,447
$30,000
$25,000
$23,994
$23,420
$20,000
$15,000
$17,335
$16,966
$10,000
$5,000
$-
$9,755
$4,006
Incomeunder$10k(in2014)
$10k-$25k
$25k-$50k
Total
Together, extra small charities in the dataset reported 83.0% growth in government grants, 47.5%
growth in donations and bequests, and 28.4% growth in other income.
Change in main activities
Most extra small charities were doing the same activities in 2014 and 2015. For example, among
extra small charities whose main activity was religion, 97% remained in the same category in 2015.
Where a change in main activities was captured, the change was mostly a result of missing data in
2015 or resulted in a selection of a similar activity to the one chosen in 2014. Among extra small
charities with a main activity in law and legal services in 2014, only 77.8% retained the same main
activity in 2015. As for extra small charities whose main activity was international in 2014, 85.2% were
23
Further information on how the matched panel dataset was constructed is in Australian Charities Report 2015.
53
in the same category in 2015, and small numbers had moved into a wide range of other activity
categories.
Change in employment
There were 9,524 extra small charities in the matched panel dataset which reported employment
numbers in both years. Together, these charities, reported 18,471 employees in 2015, up from 17,307
in 2014 (an increase of 6.7%). As such, employment in extra small charities was higher than
employment among all charities (which had a modest net increase of 0.7%). The mean number of
employees per extra small charity rose from 1.8 to 1.9. However, staff numbers dropped from 2014 to
2015 by 13% for the very smallest charities (those with under $10,000) and by 6.8% among charities
with incomes between $10,000 and $25,000. This was offset by an 11.0% increase among extra
small charities with incomes between $25,000 and $50,000. That is, employment growth among extra
small charities was concentrated in the larger extra small charities.
It is important to note that employment growth was primarily among casual staff. Casual staff
employed by extra small charities grew from 14,181 in 2014 to 15,568 in 2015 (9.8%). Part-time staff
fell from 1,924 to 1,682 (a drop of 12.6%) while full-time staff grew only modestly, from 1,202 to 1,221
(1.6%).
Change in volunteers
Due to changes in the AIS, the way volunteer numbers was reported differed between 2014 and
2015. The AIS in 2014 asked for the numbers of volunteers in categories, while the total figure was
required in the 2015 AIS. As such, net increases and decreases in volunteers cannot be shown.
However, movement between categories can be analysed.
Among extra small charities who reported no volunteers in 2014, 78.0% reported no volunteers again
in 2015 (Figure 6.2). This same group of extra small charities, however, were also the most likely to
report an increase in volunteers in (22%) compared those that already had volunteers in 2014. In
contrast, extra small charities that had over 50 volunteers in 2014 were more likely to report fewer
volunteers in the following year.
Figure 6.2
Percentage of charities in the same or different category of volunteers in 2015 compared with
2014
Volunteersin2015
Fewervolunteers
Morevolunteers
(%)
(%)
–
22.0
Novolunteers
1,615
Samevolunteers
(%)
78.0
1–10volunteers
4,085
76.6
4.0
19.4
11–50volunteers
2,893
80.3
14.1
5.6
466
64.2
35.8
–
Volunteersin2014
n(2014)
>50volunteers
Notes: n = 9,059 charities. Data missing for 782 charities.
Change in overseas operations
In the matched panel dataset, there were 739 extra small charities which reported operating overseas
in 2014. Of these, 654 also reported operating overseas in 2015 (88.5%). Of those which did not
report operating overseas in 2014, only 0.8% had indicated extending their operations overseas in
2015.
54
CASE STUDY: THE SCHOOL VOLUNTEER PROGRAM ACT (SVPACT)
The School Volunteer Program ACT (SVPACT) is a small Canberra-based charity whose purpose is
to support ACT Government school students with their educational needs.
The charity is completely reliant on the efforts of volunteers. While the average number of volunteers
within extra small charities in the education and research sector is 18, SVPACT had 140 volunteers in
2015 that contribution thousands of hours to the charity.
SVPACT hasn’t always had this many volunteers. In 2006, the charity only had 12 volunteers, but has
progressively grown its volunteer base during the past decade.
SVPACT has a committee of 12 (also all volunteers) to help recruit, manage and train its team of
volunteer mentors.
Almost 40 ACT schools are part of the SVPACT program, which sees volunteers spend an hour each
week mentoring students on a one-on-one basis at their school. A unique approach adopted by the
charity is using Meccano building as a means to conduct their mentoring program, which has seen
much success.
Teachers choose students to participate based on who they believe will benefit from engaging with a
mature role model who takes a personal interest in their wellbeing. And the volunteer mentors, many
of whom are retired, report great enjoyment in witnessing the development and increasing self-worth
in their students.
The program’s positive impact on students, and the wider ACT community, was recognised in 2015
when SVPACT won Volunteering and Contact ACT’s Volunteer Team of the Year award in the
Education, Science and Technology category.
And while SVPACT may be small, its committee is content to remain a completely voluntary
organisation. Doing so means there is no need for paid staff, and less pressure to seek significant
funding support from governments or other sources.
SVPACT recorded income of $15,770 in 2015. This included a one-off grant from a government
agency worth $10,000.
Other donated funds helped SVPACT cover its annual insurance costs and other basic administrative
costs such as website maintenance and postage. Volunteer mentors cover travel-related costs.
One challenge SVPACT faces is gaining the support of teachers and schools to allow SVPACT to run
its program with their students. The level of enthusiasm with which schools and teachers welcome the
program varies considerably, often reflecting the fact that schools are extremely busy places.
In response, SVPACT has met with teachers to explain the benefits of the mentoring process –
especially in improving needy students’ self-esteem, and, in turn, enhancing their academic
performance.
Another significant challenge for SVPACT is to complete an ever-increasing amount of management
and administrative work without the need for paid support. The need to upgrade mentor training and
ensure close monitoring of their performance has become more urgent as mentor numbers have
grown.
A third challenge is that because many of SVPACT’s volunteers are retired and aged between 60 and
90, there is a relatively large turnover in mentors.
Despite these challenges, SVPACT has a number of new opportunities on the horizon.
The recent signing of a memorandum of understanding with the ACT Education Directorate has
formalised SVPACT’s partnership with the education authority. This is likely to mean further changes
for the charity, including greater visibility of its program in ACT Government schools.
55
7. CONCLUSION
The report provides the most comprehensive record to date of Australia’s smallest charities, those
which had an annual income of less than $50,000 in 2015. The report builds on the material
contained in the Australian Charities 2015 report. You can read more about the data and
methodological details in the main report. It is also complemented by interactive data resources
available at http://australiancharities.acnc.gov.au/.
The report provides an in-depth profile of Australia’s smallest charities, and underlines the important
contribution they make to achieving charitable purposes, through a range of activities, and in
particular, through engaging volunteers.
It has demonstrated that despite accounting for a relatively small proportion of total charity income
(0.2%), extra small charities are numerically and socially significant. They comprise over one-third of
all registered charities and are involved in a wide range of activities and support a wide range of
beneficiaries.
Extra small charities differ from the wider charity sector in some important ways. Compared with all
charities, extra small charities are more dependent on philanthropic income and less likely to receive
government grants than larger charities. This may be because they don’t require government grants
to pursue their purpose, or that they face barriers to obtaining government grants. The importance of
donations and bequests in the income mix of extra small charities also indicates that policies affecting
charities’ access to donations, such as fundraising regulation, may have a disproportionate effect of
smaller charities.
What is also noticeable about extra small charities, is that they are much less likely than average to
rely on full- and part-time paid employees – four in every five extra small charities operates with no
paid workforce. Instead extra small charities are more likely to depend on a casual workforce and
volunteer effort. While it is not possible to put a value on the contribution of volunteers using AIS data,
the contribution they make to this sector is clearly significant. The reliance on casual and volunteer
staff is also likely a reflection of the activities that extra small charities are involved in compared to the
average, which generally speaking may be less labour intensive (e.g. health and social services). It
could also reflect their financial status, which restricts their capacity to engage paid staff in an ongoing
way. For example, the data shows a net income ratio of –19.2% for extra small charities, which is the
lowest for all charity size groups. Nevertheless, data on extra small charities should be interpreted
with some caution and regarded as general in nature only, rather than indicative of the performance,
position and sustainability of individual charities. This is further complicated by our definition of charity
size which is based on income, such that a charity may report a zero or low income in one reporting
year for a specific reason that determines its size as extra small, despite having either expenditure or
assets well over $50,000. This may, for example, be true of a philanthropic charity that is spending
down its reserves. Subsequent research using the AIS should therefore consider adopting a more
nuanced definition of size, for example considering characteristics such as expenses and assets in
addition to income.
56
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57
APPENDIX A: SUPPLEMENTARY TABLES
Figure A. 1
Extra small charities operating overseas by size
Operatesoverseas
Totaln
Noincome
n
%
720
32
4.4
>$0–$10k
7,169
465
6.5
>$10k–$25k
7,255
526
7.3
>$25k–$50k
3,614
319
8.8
AllXS
18,758
1,342
7.2
Notes: n = 18,758, data is missing for 134 charities.
Figure A. 2
Sectors and main activity areas
Sector
Mainactivities
Cultureandrecreation
Cultureandarts
Sports
Otherrecreationandsocialclubactivities
Law,advocacyandpolitics
Civicandadvocacyactivities,politicalactivities*
Lawandlegalservices
Health
Hospitalservicesandrehabilitationactivities
Agedcareactivities
Mentalhealthandcrisisintervention
Otherhealthservicedelivery
Socialservices
Socialservices
Emergencyandrelief
Incomesupportandmaintenance
International
Internationalactivities
Educationandresearch
Primaryandsecondaryeducation
Highereducation
Othereducation
Research
Environment
Environmentalactivities
Animalprotection
Developmentandhousing
Economic,socialandcommunitydevelopment
Housingactivities
Employmentandtraining
Philanthropicintermediariesandvoluntarismpromotion
(Philanthropicactivities)
Grant-makingactivities
Religion
Religiousactivities
Other
Other
Otherphilanthropicactivities
* These activities have been combined for the purpose of this report due to low numbers of charities in these categories
58
Figure A. 3
Extra small charities’ main activity by size
Noincome
>$0–$10k
15
1.5
338
34.5
331
33.8
295
30.1
979
AllXS
%
(col)
6.2
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
Sports
Otherrecreationandsocialclub
activities
Civicandadvocacyactivities
1
0.8
39
32.8
43
36.1
36
30.3
119
0.8
8
1.4
190
33.3
219
38.4
154
27.0
571
3.6
6
3.7
66
40.5
54
33.1
37
22.7
163
1.0
Lawandlegalservices
Hospitalservicesand
rehabilitationactivities
Agedcareactivities
Mentalhealthandcrisis
intervention
Otherhealthservicedelivery
1
4.2
17
70.8
3
12.5
3
12.5
24
0.2
0
0
53
35.6
56
37.6
40
26.8
149
0.9
7
2.7
80
31.3
92
35.9
77
30.1
256
1.6
4
2.4
71
43.3
49
29.9
40
24.4
164
1.0
16
3.5
178
39.0
155
34.0
107
23.5
456
2.9
Socialservices
98
7.4
562
42.5
406
30.7
255
19.3
1,321
8.3
Emergencyandrelief
18
2.3
297
37.8
306
38.9
165
21.0
786
5.0
2
2.0
38
38.4
38
38.4
21
21.2
99
0.6
Cultureandarts
Incomesupportandmaintenance
Internationalactivities
>$10k–$25k
>$25k–$50k
3
1.8
56
32.9
67
39.4
44
25.9
170
1.1
38
3.6
287
27.2
425
40.3
305
28.9
1,055
6.7
Highereducation
6
3.1
74
38.3
50
25.9
63
32.6
193
1.2
Othereducation
37
3.3
413
36.5
398
35.1
285
25.2
1,133
7.2
Research
17
8.5
76
37.8
58
28.9
50
24.9
201
1.3
Environmentalactivities
17
4.4
211
54.2
100
25.7
61
15.7
389
2.5
6
2.6
67
29.1
89
38.7
68
29.6
230
1.5
36
5.4
212
31.7
241
36.0
180
26.9
669
4.2
10
9.9
27
26.7
28
27.7
36
35.6
101
0.6
Primaryandsecondaryeducation
Animalprotection
Economic,socialandcommunity
development
Housingactivities
Employmentandtraining
4
8.2
18
36.7
16
32.7
11
22.4
49
0.3
Grantmakingactivities
22
1.8
467
39.0
384
32.1
323
27.0
1,196
7.6
Otherphilanthropicactivities
13
6.8
67
34.9
61
31.8
51
26.6
192
1.2
Religiousactivities
76
1.6
571
11.8
3,424
70.6
780
16.1
4,851
30.6
8
2.5
165
51.7
69
21.6
77
24.1
319
2.0
469
3.0
4,640
29.3
7,162
45.2
3,564
22.5
15,835
100.0
Otheractivities
Total
Notes: n = 15,835, income or activity data is missing for 3,057 charities.
59
Figure A. 4
Main beneficiaries of extra small charities by size (column %)
Noincome
>$0–$10k
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
GeneralcommunityinAustralia
313
43.5
3,219
44.1
4,016
55.4
1,647
45.6
9,195
48.7
Allages
226
31.4
1,708
23.4
2,756
38.0
1,314
36.4
6,004
34.5
Women
145
20.1
1,589
21.8
2,834
39.1
1,433
39.7
6,001
31.8
Men
140
19.4
1,437
19.7
2,728
37.6
1,360
37.6
5,665
30.0
Children–under13
154
21.4
1,553
21.3
2,482
34.2
1,350
37.4
5,539
29.3
Youth–13tounder25
149
20.7
1,497
20.5
2,190
30.2
1,246
34.5
5,082
26.9
Elderly–60andover
78
10.8
1,066
14.6
1,956
27.0
1,009
27.9
4,109
21.8
Adults–25tounder60
78
10.8
938
12.8
1,795
24.7
961
26.6
3,772
21.7
Peoplewithdisabilities
97
13.5
1,120
15.3
1,710
23.6
938
26.0
3,865
20.5
Othercharities
Peoplewithchronicorterminal
illness
Unemployedpersons
70
9.7
709
9.7
1,365
18.8
620
17.2
2,764
15.9
70
9.7
660
9.0
1,172
16.2
543
15.0
2,445
12.9
77
10.7
554
7.6
1,092
15.1
583
16.1
2,306
12.2
Peoplefromanethnicbackground
65
9.0
603
8.3
1,069
14.7
563
15.6
2,300
12.2
Communitiesoverseas
AboriginalandTorresStraitIslander
people
Veteransand/ortheirfamilies
Peopleatriskofhomelessness/the
homeless
Migrants,refugeesorasylum
seekers
Victimsofdisaster
Gay,lesbian,bisexual,transgender
orintersexpeople
Victimsofcrime
Pre/postreleaseoffendersand/or
theirfamilies
Othersnotlisted
42
5.8
564
7.7
1,108
15.3
510
14.1
2,224
11.8
85
11.8
652
8.9
967
13.3
508
14.1
2,212
11.7
105
14.6
684
9.4
748
10.3
406
11.2
1,943
10.3
66
9.2
464
6.4
902
12.4
419
11.6
1,851
9.8
44
6.1
424
5.8
878
12.1
366
10.1
1,712
9.1
32
4.4
354
4.8
853
11.8
330
9.1
1,569
8.3
24
3.3
211
2.9
376
5.2
180
5.0
791
4.2
21
2.9
169
2.3
331
4.6
121
3.3
642
3.4
16
2.2
118
1.6
362
5.0
120
3.3
616
3.3
51
7.1
635
8.7
722
10.0
460
12.7
1,868
10.7
720
100.0
7,303
100.0
7,255
100.0
3,614
100.0
18,892
100.0
Total
Figure A. 5
Noincome
>$0–$10k
>$10k–$25k
>$25k–$50k
AllXS
Staff in extra small charities by size
Full-time
Part-time
Casual
Total
Sum
Mean
Sum
Mean
Sum
Mean
Sum
Mean
405
0.6
184
0.3
105
0.1
694
1.0
353
0.1
370
0.1
455
0.1
1,295
0.2
>$10k–$25k
3,004
0.5
2,846
0.4
2,126
0.3
7,976
1.1
>$25k–$50k
456
0.1
920
0.3
946
0.3
2,322
0.6
4,218
0.2
4,320
0.2
3,632
0.2
12,287
0.7
AllXS
60
Figure A. 6
Staff by main activity and size
Full-time
Part-time
Casual
Sum
Sum
Sum
Sum
Mean
85
273
613
971
1.0
0
12
115
127
1.1
12
49
90
151
0.3
6
16
17
39
0.2
0
3
3
6
0.3
10
8
8
26
0.2
43
172
116
331
1.3
9
39
15
63
0.3
28
102
77
207
0.5
Socialservices
122
158
112
392
0.3
Emergencyandrelief
348
118
88
554
0.7
21
18
5
44
0.4
Cultureandarts
Sports
Otherrecreationandsocialclub
activities
Civicandadvocacyactivities
Lawandlegalservices
Hospitalservicesandrehabilitation
activities
Agedcareactivities
Mentalhealthandcrisis
intervention
Otherhealthservicedelivery
Incomesupportandmaintenance
Internationalactivities
Total
27
36
29
92
0.5
665
457
295
1,417
1.3
Highereducation
37
42
78
157
0.8
Othereducation
Primaryandsecondaryeducation
219
436
484
1,139
1.0
Research
15
14
14
43
0.2
Environmentalactivities
17
32
52
101
0.3
4
6
11
21
0.1
614
160
189
963
1.4
7
4
11
22
0.2
Employmentandtraining
39
71
27
137
2.8
Grantmakingactivities
32
48
25
105
0.1
Otherphilanthropicactivities
37
23
33
93
0.5
1,804
1,976
1,024
4,804
1.0
15
44
91
150
0.5
2
3
10
132
0.1
4,218
4,320
3,632
12,287
0.7
Animalprotection
Economic,socialandcommunity
development
Housingactivities
Religiousactivities
Otheractivities
Missing
Total
Figure A. 7
Extra small charities with no paid staff by size
Totaln
Nopaidstaff
n
%
720
650
90.3
5,780
5,428
93.8
>$10k–$25k
7,280
5,188
71.3
>$25k–$50k
3,614
2,837
78.5
AllXS
17,331
14,103
81.4
Noincome
>$0–$10k
Notes: n = 17,331, income or staff data is missing for 1,561 charities.
61
Figure A. 8
Volunteers by main activity
%withany
volunteers
Meannumber
ofvolunteers
Median
Sum
%oftotal
Cultureandarts
94.5
33.1
15
32,343
7.4
Sports
96.6
30.3
12
3,550
0.8
Otherrecreationandsocialclub
activities
95.3
26.4
14
15,068
3.5
Civicandadvocacyactivities
95.1
15.4
10
2,518
0.6
Lawandlegalservices
95.8
71.5
10
1,715
0.4
Hospitalservicesandrehabilitation
activities
84.6
13.6
8
2,018
0.5
Agedcareactivities
92.6
22.4
12
5,706
1.3
Mentalhealthandcrisisintervention
96.3
20.9
10
3,420
0.8
Otherhealthservicedelivery
91.4
20.2
10
9,164
2.1
Socialservices
96.1
49.9
10
65,748
15.1
Emergencyandrelief
95.2
43.9
18
34,279
7.9
Incomesupportandmaintenance
83.8
9.0
5
893
0.2
Internationalactivities
94.7
18.5
9
3,124
0.7
Primaryandsecondaryeducation
89.4
19.3
11
20,206
4.6
Highereducation
70.5
8.5
5
1,641
0.4
Othereducation
90.6
19.2
10
21,693
5.0
Research
86.6
13.3
6
2,660
0.6
Environmentalactivities
96.1
44.6
15
17,261
4.0
Animalprotection
Economic,socialandcommunity
development
Housingactivities
94.3
30.3
10
6,962
1.6
89.5
40.1
10
26,647
6.1
85.1
8.4
6
853
0.2
Employmentandtraining
85.7
10.5
5
514
0.1
Grantmakingactivities
22.9
10.1
0
12,088
2.8
Otherphilanthropicactivities
79.2
31.8
7
6,107
1.4
Religiousactivities
91.2
27.6
11
133,811
30.7
Otheractivities
82.8
19.9
5
6,245
1.4
Total
86.6
27.6
10
436,234
100.0
Notes: n = 15,786, volunteer and activity data missing for 3,106 charities.
Figure A. 9
Entity type by size
Noincome
>$0–$10k
>$10k–$25k
>$25k–$50k
AllXS
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
n
%
Incorporated
212
29.4
3,120
42.7
2,477
34.2
1,863
51.6
7,672
40.6
Unincorporated
205
28.5
1,746
23.9
3,323
45.8
880
24.4
6,154
32.6
Publiccompany
119
16.5
825
11.3
327
4.5
261
7.2
1,532
8.1
Trusts
154
21.4
1,295
17.7
941
13.0
470
13.0
2,860
15.1
30
4.2
317
4.3
186
2.6
140
3.9
673
3.6
720
100
7,303
100
7,254
100
3,614
100
18,891
100.0
Otherlegalentity
Total
Notes: n = 18,891, data for one charity was missing.
62
Figure A. 10
Employee and grant expenses as proportion total expenses by main activity
Totaln
Total
expenditure
($)
Employee
expenses($)
Employee
expensesas
%total
Grant
Grant
expenses($) expensesas%
total
Cultureandarts
979
24,000,000 1,786,020
7.4 4,945,263
20.6
Sports
119
2,233,739
214,480
9.6 452,803
20.3
Otherrecreationandsocial
clubactivities
571
10,200,000 537,674
5.3 1,093,669
10.7
Civicandadvocacyactivities
163
325,757
12.8 284,163
11.2
2,544,875
Lawandlegalservices
24
298,668 9,241
3.1 9,013
3.0
Hospitalservicesand
rehabilitationactivities
149
3,131,506 281,494
9.0 1,558,812
49.8
Agedcareactivities
256
461,409
5.7 1,043,025
13.0
Mentalhealthandcrisis
intervention
164
2,876,700 312,333
10.9 514,160
17.9
Otherhealthservicedelivery
456
8,560,870 1,360,799
15.9 1,910,928
22.3
1,321
20,200,000 1,970,426
9.8 3,140,252
15.5
12,100,000
898,479
7.4 2,598,124
21.5
2,051,504 146,588
7.1 1,252,062
61.0
3,579,424
476,467
13.3 1,561,149
43.6
Socialservices
Emergencyandrelief
786
Incomesupportand
maintenance
99
8,051,358
Internationalactivities
170
Primaryandsecondary
education
1,055
21,100,000 1,683,614
8.0 5,685,305
26.9
193
4,380,070 675,046
15.4 2,001,668
45.7
1,133
24,000,000 4,077,687
17.0 4,613,249
19.2
Highereducation
Othereducation
Research
201
4,297,185
345,068
8.0 1,444,358
33.6
Environmentalactivities
389
5,751,842 551,943
9.6 854,071
14.8
Animalprotection
230
4,570,595 74,011
1.6 413,570
9.0
Economic,socialand
communitydevelopment
669
15,300,000 1,493,464
9.8 4,837,590
31.6
Housingactivities
101
4,239,930 253,023
6.0 289,411
6.8
49
1,969,076 938,610
47.7 253,061
12.9
1,196
26,500,000 647,170
2.4 19,300,000
72.8
192
3,590,520 67,919
1.9 2,061,067
57.4
4,851
113,000,000 19,300,000
17.1 18,200,000
16.1
319
4,540,789 359,927
7.9 785,122
17.3
3,057
28,100,000 1,708,367
6.1 8,936,586
31.8
18,892
361,000,000 41,000,000
11.4 90,000,000
24.9
Employmentandtraining
Grantmakingactivities
Otherphilanthropic
activities
Religiousactivities
Otheractivities
Missing
Total
63
APPENDIX B: FURTHER METHODOLOGICAL DETAILS
All quantitative data analysis was undertaken in Stata version 14.0.
Data inclusion
Charities in scope for this report are charities which were registered with the ACNC at the end of their
2015 financial year24, excluding:
•
Charities that report to Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC)
•
Charities that failed to provide both their 2014 or 2015 Annual Information Statements and
were liable for revocation at the end of the 2015 year (‘double-defaulters’).
For each charity, the most recent data was used in the following order of preference:
•
2015 Annual Information Statement – Groups Data
•
2015 Annual Information Statement
•
2014 Annual Information Statement
•
2013 Annual Information Statement
•
ACNC Register information.
In addition, data about tax concessions and entity type from the Australian Business Register, based
on a charity’s ABN.
Group data
The ACNC Act 2012 allows some charities to request group reporting. If approved, one Annual
Information Statement (AIS) report is provided for two or more charities. In the 2015 AIS data 114
groups reported for a total of 885 individual charities.
If at least one charity in each group had DGR status then the group was considered to have DGR
status. The ACNC also provided a location as the ‘head office’ for each group.
Some data cannot be inferred for the group as a whole, for example, type of entity. These are treated
as missing in the associated analyses.
Data cleaning – ACNC
Errors in AIS data for the 2014 and 2015 years were corrected by the ACNC as follows:
•
Errors/potential errors in financial data were identified; for example, where totals did not agree
with the data provided or where financial data provided was materially inconsistent with other
data (for example, reported charity size);
•
Charities were contacted by email and/or phone about the potential errors and invited to
correct errors. In correcting potential errors in the 2015 AIS (for example) 7,085 charities were
contacted and invited to complete an online form correcting one or more potential errors in the
submitted AIS.
Corrected/amended data was uploaded to the ACNC Register by the ACNC prior to data being
provided to the research team.
Data cleaning/omission – Research team
The research team received the data from the ACNC in separate data files (see Data inclusion above)
and combined the data into a consolidated dataset for analysis (see Data inclusion above).
24
Charities financial years vary; the end of the 2015 financial year may be 30 June 2015 for many, but can also be 31
December 2015 or any other date. Charities were included based on their registration status on the last day of the
Charity’s financial year.
64
The team then conducted an analysis to identify remaining errors and/or outliers:
•
Financial errors, where data provided did not match sub-totals or totals provided
•
Materially inconsistent data, for example, where a charity reported its size as small but had
total revenue over $10m.
Where one or more errors were identified:
•
Data was examined record-by-record for errors over $30m. Where data could be amended
with confidence it was corrected (for example, where an error in a sub-total could be
corrected, and the resulting sub-total agreed with both the data adding to the sub-total and in
the resulting overall total); otherwise the data was excluded.
•
For financial data errors below $30m, data was excluded based on its significance in relation
to the calculated size of the charity (generally excluded if the largest error was more than half
the minimum total income figure for the calculated size segment):
o
o
o
o
o
o
Error of at least $50m for XXL charities (income over $100m)
Error of at least $5m for XL charities (income over $10m)
Error of at least $0.5m for L charities (income over $1m)
Error of at least $125k for M charities (income over $250k)
Error of at least $25k for S charities (income over $50k)
Error of at least $5k for XS charities (income more than $0 but less than $50k).
In addition, the research team consulted with the ACNC data details for cleaning:
•
The ACNC advised the research team which fields contained blank, zero or ‘null’ responses
by default so that non-reporting could be separated from actual zeros in the data.
•
Data for volunteers in prior years was reported in ranges (for example, 1–10, and 11–50), and
the 2015 AIS as an estimated number (e.g. 36). Data provided in ranges was converted to an
estimated value using the midpoint of the range (e.g. 31 if 11–50).
•
Inconsistencies in reporting were amended for consistency; for example, reporting ‘Victoria’
instead of ‘VIC’ and binary data in the forms of Y/N and 1/0.
•
Some missing data was added where it could be inferred; for example, a missing state added
where the postcode was present.
Estimation model
The consolidated dataset includes over 50,000 records, of which 25% have no reported financial data
either because they have not reported financial data (e.g. Basic Religious Charities or other
exemption; have not yet submitted a 2015 or 2014 AIS, or had large errors in financial data and so
data was excluded.
For charities without reported financial data, financial data was estimated using mean values from a
two-dimensional segmentation model based on ‘sector’ (category of main activity e.g. health, social
services) and income segment (XS, S, M, L, XL or XXL):
•
Charities were allocated estimated values for financial data based on their reported size and
main activity.
•
In addition, charities within the ‘small’ size group were allocated at random into XS and S
income segments, and charities in the ‘Large’ group were allocated at random into L and XL
income segments in proportion to the segmentation model data.
Sensitivity testing was conducted on the estimated model. In spite of the fact that 25% of charities did
not report financial data, and so their data was estimated, a disproportionate number of these are
small. As a result, the contribution of the estimated financial data to overall sector totals is of the order
of 4–6% and so the uncertainty introduced by the model is very low. Averages (e.g. for total income)
by income size (XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) or sector of main activity (health, social services etc.) are not
affected.
65
Estimated model data is used to calculate sector and segment financial totals (estimating the value of
the whole charity sector) and averages (where the model does not affect the outcome). Reported data
is used to calculate medians and for categorical data such as staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries.
Change over time model
The change over time model used a specially constructed matched panel dataset consisting of the
41,908 charities which provided an AIS in both 2014 and 2015. This was constructed by matching
ABNs. Data was cleaned using the same methods described above, so data excluded from the 2015
dataset was also excluded in the panel dataset. Additional exclusion criteria were applied to financial
data. To summarise:
•
Charities with financial data in 2014 AND 2015 was used as the starting point (~31,000).
•
Charities whose 2014 data had errors above the same thresholds used in the 2015 analysis
were excluded.
•
Balance sheet data was excluded for any charity with all zeros in either year or both years.
The counts were 2,933 in 2014, 2,322 in 2015, and 3,388 excluded as a result.
•
Income statements excluded where the statement was zero in either or both years (346
excluded)
•
Then the size of the change was considered:
o The top 1% of changes in the income statement were excluded for each segment (XS,
S, M, L, XL, XXL) – the whole income statement for these was excluded, but the
balance sheet was retained.
o The top 1% of changes in the balance sheet were excluded for each segment – the
whole balance sheet for these was excluded, but the income statement was retained.
o For the largest segment, changes exceeding $500 million were also excluded (one
case).
66