According to a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, organisations are spending far too much on fundraising.

“A Fairfax Media analysis of the financial performance of 15 well-known charities reveals some are spending 41¢ in every donated dollar on fund-raising. Others are spending less than 5¢.”

Visit the SMH site and use their interactive chart to see how the major charities performed/

Where does your organisation sit on the cost scale?

The article goes on to say that in many cases “no clear accounting guideline exist about which costs are classified as fund-raising expenses and administration.”  With the ACNC now gone and a new Charities Act in place, not for profit organisations might find themselves even more confused.

Probably one of the most important findings to come out of the SMH research was that charities and NFPs are often reluctant to share their figures with the public.  That may even mean that no Annual Report is published and statistics are not available online.

With public mistrust regarding the way donations are managed and used, the hiding of figures can only make the situation worse.

How transparent is your NFP when it comes to sharing fundraising data?