More people are turning to charities for help as the cost of living rises, but the increased demand for services is not being met with more funding or resources.
Key points:
- Charities say demand is increasing while donations are down
- Financial pressures make it harder for people to volunteer
- The productivity commission is conducting a review of philanthropy in Australia
Volunteering Australia chief executive Mark Pearce said community organisations and the not-for-profit sector were experiencing sustained demand for services.
“The demand is there and the demand is increasing, and yet there isn’t a commensurate increase in resourcing to ensure that those organisations are not just able to meet the existing demand but to be appropriately resourced moving forward,” Mr Pearce said.
“That pressure both ways is really significant.”
It is a reality for charity Country Education Foundation (CEF), which supports about 600 regional and rural students a year to go to university.
“The cost of living rising almost exponentially makes it really challenging financially, not just for the students, but also for the families that desperately want to support them to be able to do this,” head of engagement Nicole Wright said.
She said her charity’s costs had increased and it faced a lack of resources.
“Rising cost of living affects all of our charities and not-for-profit, social enterprise organisations, all of those costs rise for us, the increase in demand for services across the board,” Ms Wright said.
“Charities are really seeing a bit of a drop-off in terms of donations, and those general donations that charities get really are what helps them keep running.”
Saul Brady benefited from CEF funding to get to university and now volunteers for the organisation.
“It helped with a lot of the up-front costs of having to move out of home and buy a laptop, buy textbooks, and everything,” he said.
“I wasn’t as in need as some of the other students, but I have friends from my old high school who received a lot more money from CEF and without that they wouldn’t have gone and pursued higher education and there’s a lot of students out there who are like that.”
Volunteer pressures
Mark Pearce said financial pressure also stopped people from volunteering.
“People need to make choices around how they allocate limited resources themselves,” he said.
Mr Pearce said volunteers were particularly crucial in regional communities.
“Over half of all community organisations in remote, regional, and rural Australia have a turnover of less than $50,000,” he said.
“They don’t employ staff, and they are predominantly run by volunteers.
“They always face really significant funding pressures, so if they’re renting … if they’re having to pay for services to enable them to deliver on their mission, yes, it has a direct impact on their ability to do that.”
Australian Charities and Not-for-profits commissioner Sue Woodward agreed that rising costs were putting more demand on services.
“We’ve certainly heard from charities, particularly those providing some of the direct services like meals and food banks, and those that are delivering housing and mental health,” she said.
“And the other side of it is they don’t necessarily get more income in which to employ people to meet that demand.”
The federal government has asked the productivity commission to review Australian philanthropy with the goal of doubling donations by 2030.
But Mark Pearce said the corporate world should also be doing more.
“Government is part of the answer to this but equally so is corporate Australia, and so as philanthropic Australia,” he said.
“Those parts of the community can and should be doing more to assist in ensuring that the communities that they benefit from, the communities that they focus on, are strong and resilient.”