The effects of the global financial crisis (GFC) may be subsiding in Australia but charities are still feeling the impact according to Perpetual, one of Australia’s largest managers of charitable trusts.
Perpetual says that the financial demands resulting from the GFC have continued unabated from last year. This is demonstrated by the continued increase in the amount of funding requested by charities and other non-profit organisations in its 2010 round of funding grants.
Over the past two years there has been a significant increase in the number of applications received.
The amount of funding requested this year is 66% higher than in 2008, when charities first began to feel the effects of the GFC.
The major growth in demand has come from the social welfare and medical research sectors, with application amounts increasing 88% and 104% respectively since 2008.
Perpetual’s General Manager of Philanthropy, Mr Andrew Thomas, said that over the last couple of years charities and other non-profit organisations have seen demand for their services increase while they compete for ongoing support from corporations and individuals.
Mr Thomas welcomes the Productivity Commission’s report on the Contribution of the Not-For-Profit Sector. The recommendations include a national registrar which would provide a single portal for corporate and financial reporting, in addition to the requirements for an annual community purpose statement.
“These steps will provide donors with much greater transparency than the current requirements which will be great for the sector,” he said.
Perpetual is one of the largest managers of private charitable foundations in Australia, with over $1 billion in funds under management, as at 30 June 2009. Perpetual is trustee of more than 450 charitable trusts which support cultural, medical, social, environmental, religious and educational causes.
