Managing the Downturn – researching the effects of the economic downturn on Australian charities

Managing the Downturn

FIA would like to invite you to participate in a survey FIA is running in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Centre for Social Impact to assess the effect of the economic downturn on Australian charities and nonprofit organisations. It is the only comprehensive research in Australia that will capture how charities and nonprofit organisations are coping with the economic downturn.

A similar survey was run in the UK in November 2008 and this has been useful in informing the decisions policy makers and charities must make to ensure their organisation and nonprofit sector is buffered from the economic downturn if income streams dry up and the demand for services rises. In Australia, early indications are that charities are anticipating a drop in their donations and have begun to reduce the number of services offered.

The survey will close on Monday 4 May 2009.

Click here to participate in the survey.

Who should complete this survey?

This survey should be completed if your charity or nonprofit organisation provides services to the community (arts, human rights, advocacy, welfare, health, family etc) and is predominantly funded by donations, grants or government funding.

This survey should be completed by a senior member of staff who is overseeing and managing all fundraising projects or the CEO. To ensure the results from this survey are accurate, please ensure this survey is only completed once by your organisation by forwarding this link to the most appropriate person in your organisation.

Please feel free to distribute this survey to your colleagues or other interested parties.

What do I need to complete this survey?

Managing the Downturn survey will be assessing the projected increases and decreases in fundraising and other income streams. You may find it useful to have your most recent annual report on hand.

How long will the survey take to complete?

This survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. As a participant, your organisation will receive a copy of the report.

When will the report be released?

The report will be released in mid-June 2009.

Australia’s charities and the economic crisis

FIA would like to hear your views on how the economic climate is affecting your charity. Share your stories and opinions with other members and tell us how your organisation is preparing for the lean times. Post a comment to share your story.

FIA is looking into conducting a survey into how the economic crisis is affecting charities in Australia. Watch this space for more information.

Chairman’s welcome to FIA’s new CEO, Chris McMillan

From Lesley Ray FFIA, Chairman, Fundraising Institute Australia

After almost five years as FIA’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Sue-Anne Wallace has resigned from her position. FIA has thrived under Sue-Anne’s leadership and expertise, and the organisation is now positioned as a key reference source and significant influence in the shaping of fundraising regulations and standards. Working with five Boards and leading and developing a terrific team across two states, Sue-Anne has achieved significant results for FIA, in particular building FIA’s reputation and authority, increasing membership and income and enhancing our professional standards. As evidence of Sue-Anne’s contribution and FIA’s increasing relevance, membership has increased significantly since 2004 and our professional development programs now engage an unprecedented number of fundraising professionals. Sue-Anne should be justly proud of the enduring mark she has made on fundraising in Australia and also at an international level.

FIA staff, Board, Committees, Chapter Executives, Members and colleagues will miss Sue-Anne’s energy; her vision; her ability to see possibilities; and the leadership she has provided to FIA during her time as our CEO. Sue-Anne has been a great leader for FIA during this time of growth and relevance in the sector. She has engaged with our members, governments, businesses and the wider nonprofit sector to enhance FIA’s role as the peak national body for professional fundraising. We thank Sue-Anne for the contribution she has made in advancing professional fundraising in Australia and extend our very best wishes for the future as she takes up her new role as Managing Director, Global Philanthropic.

It is with pleasure that I introduce Chris McMillan as FIA’s next Chief Executive Officer. Chris will take up her position on 24 March and comes to FIA with a depth of expertise in peak body and member-based nonprofit organisations. This experience has been drawn through senior executive roles with the Australian Institute of Management, Australian Business Limited, Securities Institute Australia and the Financial Planning Association.

Having commenced her career within the health care sector, specialising in neo-natal and paediatric intensive care nursing, Chris has worked across many other industry areas including: information technology; learning and development; human resources and management consulting; and most recently as the Chief Executive Officer of Variety, the Children’s Charity (NSW).

Chris’s human resource and management consulting experience includes major projects for BORAL Ltd., P&O Ltd., Shell Australia, Fauldings Ltd, BHP, Sony Australia, Unisys Australia and Telstra.

Chris’s board appointments include serving on the Board of the Open Learning Institute (1995 – 1997) and Board of Vocational Training NSW from (1999 – 2001). Her professional associations have included acting as a business mentor for Postgraduate students from the Queensland University of Technology, participating as a judge in the Young Australian of the Year awards (1996 &1997, member of Advisory Committee – Financial Literacy Skills IBSA (2005), Sectorial Advisory Committee for Financial Services Education (2006) and the Course Review Committee, Faculty of Business and Law, Victoria University (2006).

She holds a Master of Business (Knowledge Management) from the University of Technology Sydney, a Bachelor of Business from Queensland University of Technology and a Diploma of Applied Science. I welcome Chris to her role and look forward to working with her.

How is your organisation faring in the current economic climate?

How can you keep abreast of what’s happening? How should you review your organisation’s strategies right now? Should you change your fundraising tactics?

We compile below a list of resources that may enhance your ability to manage through difficult and challenging times. At least you’ll know you’re not alone.

FIA subscribes to Third Sector – www.thirdsector.co.uk – it comes out of the UK and while the UK is officially in a recession and Australia is not, there’s very useful advice that drops into our mailbox each day. Some examples of the past few days – focus less on fundraising and more on relationship mamagement during a recession; review your investment strategies; respond to change or be bypassed; credit crisis ‘won’t deter rich givers’; review your direct debit donors – ‘consumers prepared to cut charity direct debits’.  Highly recommended.

The Institute of Fundraising (UK) www.institute-of-fundraising.org.uk  is working with PricewaterhouseCoopers to ‘Define Impact of Credit Crunch’ – a study worth watching.

CASE, based in the US, has issued a statement on the economy and educational fundraising ( www.case.org ) and advised – redouble your efforts; reframe your conversations; recalibrate your expectations.

FIA members are entitled to become an e-member of AFP, our sister organisation in the US. You will receive their weekly e-wire - and there are a number of useful articles on their website – www.afpnet.org . In particular check out their Resource Centre, ‘A survival kit for fundraising in a bad economy’; theirs may be worse than ours but the article is replete with helpful strategies.

Association for Healthcare Philanthopy (US) – www.ahp.org has an economic white paper (payment required for non-members – could be worth it!).

The Australian Institute of Company Directors may have more of a focus on business than charity but their advice is entirely relevant to proofing your charitable business www.companydirectors.com.au

Philanthropy Australia held their conference last week and Chairman Bruce Bonyhady gave an excellent address. You can find a summary on www.philanthropy.org.au

Fundraising Recession Watch: a space for ideas, articles and research based on whether the recession is having an impact on fundraising in different countries http://recessionwatch.blogspot.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/giving Most articles require free registration to be read.

=mc Global Fundraising Confidence Survey Report was undertaken at the International Fundraising Congress (13 - 17 October 2008 in Holland) addresses the implications fo the global financial crisis for fundraisers.

www.managementcentre.co.uk/knowledge_base_get.php/…/mc_ra_global_fundraising_confidence_survey_final_23.10.08.pdf

 

Have you seen how political candidates in the US are raising funds?

Barak Obama collected thousands upon thousands of mobile numbers and promised he would send to them first his choice for vice-presidential running mate. Obama has garnered extraordinary financial support through e-fundraising.

John McCain developed a different strategy to increase his fundraising capacity. We may call it engaging a champion – someone who can spruik your cause. McCain employed Sarah Palin and look how successful that has been.

Are you thinking about these strategies as you further develop your fundraising skills?

Senate inquiry into disclosure regimes for charity and nonprofit organisations

The nonprofit sector is too important to Australia’s well-being and the well-being of Australians to allow it to languish any longer under myriads of contradictory, conflicting and complicated legislation which purports to regulate the sector but because of exemptions and other legislative issues fails in both its regulatory and public duties.

 

FIA welcomes the Senate’s current interest in charities and the nonprofit sector and hopes that the current inquiry will lead to action. We will be urging the Senate to act on the body of evidence put to its inquiry and not to allow it, like previous inquiries, to fall into oblivion.

 

FIA would like to see further work put into ‘model’ fundraising legislation, the shape of a national regulator and the elements of a compact to underpin the values and funding of the sector.

 

We’ve consulted our members – unanimously they agree that the current disclosure regimes are manifestly inadequate. The majority of Australians (in fact 86%) are committed to helping others through the charitable and nonprofit sector. We hope governments will support this huge community effort by addressing regulatory issues and enabling charities to deliver their work and benefit our communities.