JBWere have published a groundbreaking report on the New Zealand Charity Sector. It covers changes over the past decade, the current shape of the sector and predictions for the future of this vital part of New Zealand’s overall society. It also provides a close look at the individual charity subsectors, made possible by the data collected and published by Charities Services from annual returns from the charities themselves.
One of the most important aspects of the report is to demonstrate how important the not for profit (NFP) sector is to New Zealand society. Not only is its scale significant in relation to the other 3 sectors of Government, business and households, but its interaction to those sectors is underestimated by many. The NFP sector is intimately connected to each of the others in that they are the funders of it, purchasers of its products, beneficiaries of its services and very significant employees and volunteers in its organisations. Despite this, it has only been in recent years that the scale and breadth of the sector has begun to be measured and still, these values don’t capture most of the social returns being achieved and certainly don’t put a financial value on them. It argues that there needs to be greater recognition that society works better with a strong and sustainable NFP sector.
The following observations are some of those based on the analysis in the report:
Predictions for the future of the sector
The report saw large growth in almost every measure for the sector over the last decade and many of the significant changes. The temptation then is to just ‘fill right” on the excel sheet into the future. This can’t and won’t happen as the trend in the current mix of sector funding is unsustainable. The report looks at some trends that will need to emerge to ensure the sector is able to continue to increase its impact.
To learn more about the JBWere predictions for the future of the sector and read the report please see: https://www.jbwere.co.nz/news-and-research/jbwere-nz-cause-report/