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Too many charities, not enough donors according to new report

Australia's charity sector is approaching saturation point according to a new report released by JBWere.

The report reveals that there is now one charity for almost every 400 people living in Australia.

The market is increasingly crowded with the report also revealing that there are more than 2000 organisations seeking donations for breast cancer alone.

Most surprisingly the report states there are more than 56,000 registered organisations currently available for the public to donate to.

The surprising results of a new report. Source: 7 News.
The surprising results of a new report. Source: 7 News.

Statistics show only one in three of us donates to charitable causes, however.

The average amount donated is estimated to be around $500 each financial year.

The report also reveals charities will have to consolidate in order compete successfully for limited donor dollars.

Australian women are also ahead with greater levels of participation in philanthropy in greater numbers than their male counterparts.

Australian women are also choosing to donate a greater percentage of their income when they do donate.

“The number of charities has doubled in the last 20 years and, what that means is, there's an increasing number of charities all chasing the same dollar,” according to the CEO of the JBWere, Justin Greiner.

“And that starts to put the sustainability of a number of charities at risk in the future.”

Australia's charity sector is ‘approaching saturation’. Source: 7 News.
Australia's charity sector is ‘approaching saturation’. Source: 7 News.

According to the report the survival of Australian charity rests on Generation-X and Y.

The increasing challenge will now be motivating a new era of younger people.

“Philanthropy has come a long way in Australia since 1979 and even in the last decade we have seen dramatic changes,” said report author, John McLeod in 2014.

“However, more needs to be done.”

“Despite 30 years of steady growth in Australian philanthropy, overall giving appears to have plateaued following the Global Financial Crisis,” McLeod says.

“The 2014 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.”

News break – March 26