Research shows more comfort advocating

By Sue McCabe, Chief Executive, Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa. 

Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa (PNZ) is a proud member of ComVoices. ComVoices aim to amplify the community sector to influence decision-makers. They lead the State of Sector research programme. 

The latest biennial State of the Sector report is out, providing a treasure trove of data as to the wellbeing of the community and voluntary sector. 

Looking at it through a philanthropy lens, two points of key interest are: 

• the increase in charities’ confidence to advocate without fear of repercussion; and  

• the changes in funding sources – including a drop in philanthropic funding as a proportion of revenue. 

The State of the Sector 2022 report said 19.5 per cent of responding community groups feared publicly criticising government policy – the lowest since the survey started in 2014. 67 per cent had no concerns and 13.4 per cent were not sure.  

Advocating for those they serve is a critical role for charities if we are to see change that will bring about improvements. The community and voluntary sector see a different side of society than Government. Therefore its voice into policy, funding and programmes - in addition to that of public servants - is important for effective decision making.  

The increased comfort around advocacy is of interest to philanthropic funders and grantmakers who recognise the importance of speaking out. That the demand for philanthropic and grant funding (and Government money) far exceeds the funds available highlights the need for changes to systems to improve people’s wellbeing. 

Advocacy is a critical input to systems change, and philanthropy is an obvious source of funding for these activities. With greater community advocacy and anecdotally increased philanthropic support for it, the next step is ensuring sufficient mechanisms for communities to contribute their unique wisdom into Government, business, and even into philanthropy itself. The report notes communities lack confidence that their voice is heard by decision makers.  

A second result of interest is charities reporting that funding from philanthropy/grantmakers and local Government has dropped as a proportion of their income, with greater reliance on central Government and public donations. The impact of Covid will have had an influence, with greater Government money flowing into the community sector for a period. Hopefully increased public generosity is also a reason and donations stay at elevated levels, as Covid highlighted the inequity in our society.  

The research also notes that self-generated funds no longer make the top four sources of income, likely to be due to the impact of Covid preventing charities from holding revenue-generating events like conferences. The team at PNZ, a registered charity, certainly experienced decreased ability to earn income and a greater reliance on grants and sponsorship in recent years due to Covid. 

Overall, the research report expresses concern about the vulnerability of the community and voluntary sector. Other findings include: 

• Continued overperformance by charities compared with what they are funded to deliver. Community groups report increased need for their services and needs becoming increasingly complex. 60 per cent of report working beyond their organisational capacity. 

• A significant drop in the number of responses to the survey, which in part is likely to reflect the high sector workload and the ongoing burden of requests to input into a range of different consultations and information collection exercises.  

• A dynamic and challenging human resources environment in terms of both paid staff and volunteers. This is due to a range of factors including the Covid lockdowns; vaccination certificates; skill shortages; and pay equity changes.  

We’d like to acknowledge the ComVoices team for running this biennial survey and the specific leadership of Community Networks Aotearoa in the 2022 survey.  

The State of the Sector programme is valuable as it reports on the wellbeing of a sector that focusses on the wellbeing of others. This blog presents just a few of the findings and is the view of PNZ rather than ComVoices. Read the full document here.