Despite recent growth of high-net-worth individuals giving large sums publically, JBWere’s Giving Trends Report found that overall giving has stalled.
Generosity Magazine interviewed the author, John McLeod, who reported that “Despite thirty years of steady growth in Australian philanthropy, overall giving appears to have plateaued following the Global Financial Crisis and that the latest report revealed that the proportion of people earning between $50,000 and $1 million who claim donations was at its lowest level since records became available in 2000.”
At the same time, the JBWere Report highlights that the number of charities is at an all time high, with an additional 1,451 tax concession charities bringing the total to 57,730.
With donations plateauing and the number of beneficiaries increasing, there is likely to be some volatility in the years ahead for the not-for-profit sector.
Delving further, what could be causing all of this?
- High-net-worth donors giving publicly are making donors feel that the sector is well supported;
- Too many charities; crowded market is confusing donors;
- Too many requests and fundraising tactics putting off donors;
- Uncertain job market and redundancies, without job security donors may be opting to allocate assets to savings rather than donations; or
- Lack of affordable housing in Australia leading families to cut back on spending all over in order to enter the housing market and as a consequence donations are also being cut?
There may very well be a multitude of reasons why Australian giving is leveling-off. The big question is, what are we going to do to kick start giving again?