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Technology falls victim to NFP funding starvation cycle
Posted on 19 May 2025
By Greg Thom, journalist, Institute of Community Directors Australia
The charity and not-for-profit (NFP) sector’s greatest strength – its laser like focus on purpose – is also its biggest weakness when it comes to funding technological innovation, according to one of the sector's most senior leaders.
Community Council for Australia CEO David Crosbie said this challenge is largely due to the “starvation cycle” where organisations attempt to deliver frontline services on shoestring budgets.
“There’s a real squeeze on in most NFPs,” said Crosbie, citing the latest Australian Charities and Not-forprofits Commission (ACNC), which shows that while charity income increased eight per cent in 2022, costs surged 11 per cent.
“The very thing that makes us strong which is our focus on purpose, also makes us weak in this (IT) area,” said Crosbie.
“Because if I’ve got to choose between providing that extra frontline service, that extra housing place, that extra meal, and putting money into IT, what will I chose?”
Speaking at the recent Infoxchange Technology for Social Justice conference in Melbourne, Crosbie said the effects of the starvation cycle made philanthropic support of IT projects particularly important.
“I think it’s incredibly important to the sector, this idea of philanthropy and IT,” he said.
“You can make the argument about efficiency and effectiveness, and that we should be making the upfront investment to get the benefit in the longer term, but most of us work in the real world in our own charities, trying to make a difference and that difference is what drives us.
“So, I think it’s very difficult to find the capacity to do the kinds of fantastic things that can be done with IT.”
Crosbie, who served for the fifth consecutive year on the judging panel for the Infoxchange Australian Not-for-profit Technology Awards, said he was struck by the fact that almost every finalist’s project was funded from outside their own organisation.
“More often than not, they’ve been funded through philanthropy. It’s money that’s come from outside the organisation, outside their core purpose and core operations.”
Crosbie said the sector’s failure to invest in IT solutions is as important as discussions around inadequate government funding and ongoing campaigns such as Pay What It Takes.
“We also have a responsibility in our own organisations to think about how our resources are being used and think longer term, about the benefits to the communities we serve through this kind of investment.”
Crosbie made the comments while moderating a panel discussion at the conference titled Funding Technology for Sustainable Impact.
Panellist’s included CEO of the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation Peter Walton, chief alliances officer of the Paul Ramsay Foundation Liz Yeo and senior program manager from the Ian Potter Foundation Dr Alberto Furlan.
Crosbie began the session by posing the same question to each member of the panel: what gets an IT funding proposal over the line for a not-for-profit organisation?
“We want to make sure that we are focused on what we call ‘democratising data.’ We want to find ways to be able to influence data being more accessible to those people, places and community organisations that need it, to be able to make good decisions, to understand what’s happening in their community, to bring that data alongside their lived experience of what’s going on in their community.”
“I think it’s fantastic that we are seeing more philanthropic organisations recognise that if you are really serious about impact, pay what it takes to deliver impact and effectiveness. Don’t have a competition of ‘cheapness’.”
“To the core question about what resonates when we consider grants that imply technology from our applicants, we look at a couple of things for all our programs and it’s whether or not it achieves the social mission of the organisation and whether or not it makes sense. If technology is the best solution for the thing they want to achieve, then we fund technology.”
Watch the video of the full panel discussion below.
Invest to impress
In a recent example of the power of investing in new technology to do good, Foodbank Victoria was recognised with an international tech award for using smarter data to improve how 25 million meals are sourced and distributed to Victorians each year.
Foodbank Victoria, Applied Research and Innovation Manager Kennie Greagen, said innovative use of Qlik Cloud Analytics had transformed its operations, slashing 15 per cent per kg from the cost of food it sources to help people in need.
"Foodbank Victoria's data transformation made us more efficient at what we do," said Greagen.
"We've significantly improved how we get the right food to the right areas using data driven decision making - and we are now doing it at a lower cost."
Greagen accepted the Global Impact Award at the Qlik Global Transformation Awards 2025, on behalf of Foodbank Victoria, the first time an Australian organisation has claimed the international award.
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