Indifference and apathy, the red flags threatening Australian charities’ future

The charity sector is at a crucial juncture. Long reliant on the goodwill of donors, charities are now facing an increasingly disengaged population, with the traditional virtues of equity and fairness no longer resonating with your average Australian in the way they once did.?

The Community Compass report, published last week, offers a crucial snapshot of attitudes towards our sector and it’s a picture that demands our attention.??

It found that while most Australians value our work, and we continue to receive strong support, there is a less engaged and supportive group emerging.?

The report has dubbed this group of Australians the ‘Indifferent Uninvolved’ – they make up 20 per cent of our population.??

The motivators of morality and shared humanity don’t resonate with them. They struggle to see the importance of our sector for ‘people like them’. There is a lack of understanding of how helping others benefits society.??

I echo the concerns of David Crosbie, CEO of the Community Council for Australia, who has called this group’s indifference a threat to our sector, and Dr. Rebecca Huntley, the lead researcher of the report, who has highlighted it as a “red flag” for our future.?

This change, however, makes sense considering the current socio-economic climate. With the cost-of-living crisis and growing economic inequalities, people are preoccupied with their immediate concerns. They’re increasingly dismissing general appeals for support as disconnected from their daily struggles.?

Increasing pessimism about society and its issues is further shaping their views towards our sector. As the report highlighted, many Australians feel powerless.??

So, it's easy for our sweeping, idealistic statements to lose their appeal.???

This growing group of disengaged Australians makes it imperative to demonstrate our impact and effectiveness in practical, quantifiable terms. Because, whether we like it or not, impact is the new standard for defining value.?

Our value as a sector needs to be proved based on the impact delivered, not promises made.??

At SSI, we've witnessed this shift and understand the need to show our results to the public. That's why we introduced our impact strategy last year, replacing our traditional non-profit (NFP) business plan.?

An impact strategy differs from typical NFP strategic and business planning mechanisms by extending measurements of success beyond financial sustainability to consider an organisation’s core purpose: creating meaningful impact.?

Impact strategies are designed to showcase outcomes and real-world impact, unlike the outputs and activity metrics that many in our sector currently use to demonstrate their value.?

As a sector, we need to focus on clearly demonstrating how we directly contribute to the economy, productivity, and the overall wellbeing of Australians. We must demonstrate that we’re vital community assets that deliver tangible outcomes to individuals and communities.??

Recalibrating our sector to measure and demonstrate effectiveness based on impact will be crucial for future-proofing our sector against prevailing challenges.?

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