
How change happens (and why your theory of change is probably wrong)
Posted on 13 Mar 2025
In a February 2025 piece, Maria Chertok and Chandrika Sahai say there's a growing awareness within…
Posted on 24 Jul 2024
By Matthew Schulz, journalist
Australian grantmaking charities allocate $11.7 billion annually in grants and donations, according to the latest Australian Charities Report.
The newest figures track the spending of the nation’s nearly 60,000 registered charities in the 2022 reporting period.
The report, published by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), showed that charities around the country allocated $11.7 billion in grants and donations in the last reporting period.
This included Australian grants and donations, which rose on the previous year by a whopping $2 billion (up 26%) to $9.5 billion, with an average spend of $217,000.
Separately, grants and donations by Australian charities to overseas beneficiaries increased by 2.8% to $2.3 billion in the same period.
Large to extra-large charities spent the most on grants and donations, while extra-small charities actually recorded an 11% spending slump on grants and donations in that period.
The report noted that grant spending comes from various kinds of charities. In some cases, ancilliary funds and trusts are “primarily established to deliver structured philanthropy and focus solely on distributing grants and donations to other charities and charitable causes”.
For other charities, distributing grants and donations is just “one element of their operations”, the report says.
Separately, the report notes that charities are highly reliant on government funding, including grants, with revenue from that source reaching $103 billion for the first time. That funding accounts for 51% of charity revenue, the report says.
A breakdown shows that the smaller the charity, the less reliant it is on government grants, with extra-small charities drawing just 10% of their revenue from the government, compared to extra-large charities which draw 56.4% of revenue from that source.
Total revenue for all Australian charities surpassed $200 billion, a record high, the report found.
Posted on 13 Mar 2025
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Posted on 06 Mar 2025
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Posted on 06 Mar 2025
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Posted on 06 Mar 2025
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Posted on 06 Mar 2025
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Posted on 06 Mar 2025
The need for grantmakers to use impact measurement so they can improve their programs, confusion…
Posted on 05 Mar 2025
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Posted on 05 Mar 2025
Adam Ognall, executive director of partnerships and practice at Philanthropy Australia, considers…
Posted on 05 Mar 2025
Government tax reforms affecting community foundations are expected to significantly boost…
Posted on 04 Mar 2025
Australia is facing the largest transfer of intergenerational wealth in its history.
Posted on 25 Feb 2025
If American entrepreneur, author and fundraising legend Dan Pallotta was Australian, he would most…
Posted on 19 Feb 2025
Charities Minister Andrew Leigh writes about the Labor government's agenda in 2025, including plans…