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Australian Giving Post-Tsunami: Australian Charities Financial Analysis 2004
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2 May 2005 Philanthropy and charity research consultants Givewell today released a comprehensive report Australian Giving Post-Tsunami on trends in giving and the financial indicators of the Australian charities sector. The report also includes an analysis of the impact of the Asian tsunami disaster appeals, which are likely to have an unprecedented impact on the level of giving in Australia. The Givewell study estimates that the Asian tsunami appeals, which raised over $300m, will increase overall levels of giving in 2005 by 10%. This is apart from any increase in giving that might result from an extension of a sustained increase in levels of giving in Australia reported by Givewell since 1998, including a 9% increase in fundraising in 2004. As part of its Asian Tsunami Appeals analysis, Givewell also surveyed charities for their opinions on whether the success of these appeals would impact on their own ability to fundraise in 2005. The study presents a statistical analysis and also summarises detailed comments from respondents about the impact of the tsunami appeals. One finding of some concern from this survey was that 39% of respondents expected the success of the Asian tsunami appeals to have a negative impact on their fundraising. A pleasing finding from the study was that, based on official reports of giving levels to the Asian tsunami appeals, the levels of Australian giving per capita was higher than both the United States and the United Kingdom. The Givewell study also released a comprehensive financial analysis of the Australian charities sector up to 2004. This study presents detailed statistics, trends and sector analysis on total income, government funding, fundraising income, bequests, surpluses, net assets and investments. The 2004 year repeated a familiar pattern with all major financial indicators-total income, fundraising revenue, operating surplus and investments-showing an increase that was well above inflation or the growth in the economy. The greatest concern that arose from the study was a decline in the number of charities that disclose a separate figure for their fundraising costs. While the average cost ratio for 2004 was stable at 22%, only 40% of charities surveyed report those costs. This compares with 59% in 2001, and has declined each year since. This decline in disclosure is in spite of new legislation passed in Victoria and existing laws and guidelines in New South Wales that require fundraising costs' disclosure and also a greater Media focus on charity transparency. It appears that some charities' response to this scrutiny is to be less transparent and many do not consider their annual reports/financial statements to be public documents. Australian Giving Post-Tsunami is the seventh annual study to be released by Givewell. The full report is made available to subscribers to the Givewell Research Centre. |
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