NFP poll finds more funds are needed for services, staff, training

Quizzed during the Not-for-profit Agenda news webinar last week, more than 250 attendees responded to the multiple-choice survey, which asked: “If you were able to get a 10 per cent bump in funding tomorrow with no strings attached, where would the money go?”

Respondents nominated these options as their spending priorities:

1. Expanding services or programs (41%)
2. Hiring additional staff (31%)
3. Increased wages for staff (26%)
4. Training and development for staff (24%)
5. Training and development for volunteers (21%)
6. Strengthening organisational capacity via better systems, strategic development, governance, finance (17%)
7. Improving fundraising efforts (16%)
8. Covering overheads and indirect costs (14%)
9. Creating a financial reserve (13%)
10. Digital transformation or IT upgrades (11%)
11. Additional advocacy and policy work (10%)
12. Impact measurement to help demonstrate to funders and others what we achieve (9%)
13. Events to thank our volunteers and supporters (9%)
14. Covering the costs of inflation (8.5%)
15. New capital works or infrastructure (facilities, vehicles, equipment) (5%)
16. Pay off debt (4%)
17. Other (2%)

The total of all percentages exceeds 100 per cent because participants could select multiple responses. Results demonstrated clear trends in immediate sector priorities, being services, staff and training. The need to boost organisational capacity, fundraising, finances and IT systems also featured prominently in responses.

Institute of Community Directors Australia executive director Adele Stowe-Lindner was among hundreds of leaders watching on.

“These numbers tell me that when NFPs get an extra dollar, they spend it first directly on the people or cause they feel matters most: those they are serving.

“But I am inspired to see that a close second is the attention on capacity building, which demonstrates a commitment not only to alleviating immediate problems but to a more long-term and strategic vision of what will help to grow their impact, an investment in improving the future.”

The Paul Ramsay Foundation’s chief alliances officer, Liz Yeo, who featured in a video report in the webinar, said the foundation had funded research for the Pay What It Takes campaign that had demonstrated that the true cost of overheads for NFPs was nearly 33 per cent, with a figure that did not match current funding arrangements.

“Many grants – particularly government grants – come with the expectation that you’re going to be running down in that sort of 10–15 per cent overhead,” Yeo said.“We have to challenge that notion from a philanthropic perspective. I would argue that government needs to really look at this as well, and of course the not-for-profit sector itself needs to be bold in saying what it actually will really cost to deliver on something.”

More information

Watch a replay of the Not-for-profit Agenda