There’s almost $140 billion floating in the Australian economy through the not-for-profit sector, yet a lack of corporate expertise has been identified as a key risk to the industry in the face of challenging business conditions.
Business advisory firm Fifth Eagle says just because you manage a not-for-profit doesn’t mean that you are immune to the pressures that every commercial operation confronts day in and day out.
Partner Scott Richardson says not-for-profits need to make enough to not only reinvest in themselves in order to flourish, but also to do more of what they were originally set up to do.
“While there’s a lot of goodwill beating at their heart, without the right leadership team that may not be enough to save them and the good work they do. So, they need to adapt and adapt quickly,” he says
Latest estimates from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission reveal that the not-for-profit sector generated income of more than $142 billion in Australia during the 2016 financial year, with almost half of that coming from government funding.
Mr Richardson says the scale of the sector and its reliance on government funding makes it imperative that those funds deliver the best return on investment.
“The not-for-profit sector in Australia is huge, and while it is dominated by large-scale organisations there are thousands of smaller concerns that deliver exceptional social dividends,” he says.
“We’ve also found that some of the smaller-scale organisations are the ones most in need of help.
“That can be anything from the essential skills of a chief financial officer to create and implement an effective economic strategy to a chief information officer to oversee computer networks to drive the organisation’s growth.”
Organisations may also require strategic HR advice on important matters that arise from time to time, or new-age roles such as a chief digital officer.
FifthEagle is a market leader in outsourcing specialist executives such as these to businesses of all sizes through its C-Suite as a Service offering.
“Effective executive leadership is vital for the growth of any business, and C-Suite as a Service provides a cost-effective and scalable solution for businesses to access the expertise they need when they need it,” says Mr Richardson.
“This is not about an external adviser putting together a plan and hoping for the best but rather a collaborative effort where the executive stays on to deliver on the plan agreed to by management.”
Among the traditional roles offered by FifthEagle through C-Suite are chief executive officers, chief financial officers, marketing directors, human resources directors and industrial relations directors.
Next generation roles include chief transformation office, chief digital officer and chief experience officer.
