Competing for Good
I am learning a lot about the Not-for-Profit sector this year and it has provided a range of insights.
Atop of founding one and becoming actively involved in another NFP organisation this year, increasingly my paid work is focussed on helping the social services sector through these incredibly testing times.
I want to say from the outset that one of the gifts of this experience are the countless amount of talented, courageous, generous, passionate and purposeful souls I have had the great pleasure of meeting and working with. These people have greatly influenced my journey this year and have been the nourishment for my own increasing clarity, purpose and passion.
I understand a lot of people do this, but I put signs behind my computer monitor to keep me on course, and one of those reads:
May your heart be the single source of your effort and your expression
This statement is so meaningful to me, and it only needs to be meaningful to me, but I want to keep reminding myself of my authentic intention to ensure I keep my ego intact and stay grounded in my own personal truth.
The reason for this is that all change is challenging and it can bring the best and the worst out of us. And in these extremely challenging times we currently face, these bests and worsts are amplified. Your social media feeds should provide a solid reference point here.
Surprisingly, as my interest in the sector has grown, I have become more attuned to some people who appear not as engaged in the work of helping others as I would expect. A few weeks ago I witnessed an incident involving a not-for-profit that I have to say was the trigger point for this article.
A lot of people, myself included, have been belting out this “better together” mantra. I’ve previously written about Doing Business #BetterTogether and further talked about the challenges and opportunities of partnerships in The Paradox of Partnerships.
I have always been a huge believer in the value of strategic partnerships and have spent much of my career building them. There is no more important time to work with others than when the challenges, opportunities and demands begin to exceed our capability. As Stella Avramopoulos, CEO of Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand said to me, “this is an opportunity to disrupt the old models and do things differently, to best support those in crisis. We need collaboration across the not for profit sector, corporate Australia and government.”
Just a few weeks ago (September 3rd) a Sydney Morning Herald headline read: “Charities dwarf mining and agriculture in our economy, but many face ruin” - they go on to say :
“Since COVID-19 hit, two-thirds of volunteers have cut back their hours. Donations are expected to fall 7 per cent this year, and a whopping 12 per cent next year. Yet while the supply of resources has plummeted, the demand for help has skyrocketed”
The increase in demand is also coming from new cohorts, those who have never asked for help before. Foodbank Australia CEO, Brianna Casey says, “Foodbank has seen an extraordinary increase in demand for food relief across our frontline charities since March. We’ve seen new demographic groups who have never had to ask for food assistance before including international students and casual employees no longer able to find work.”
The challenges faced by the social services and not for profit sector are without question, and by all definitions, both critical and crucial. According to the ACNC (Australian Charities and Not For Profits Commission), there are approximately 56,000 registered charities in Australia, a number expected to significantly diminish, ironically at a time of peak demand. Finding ways of coming together for good must surely be the priority for the survival of their organisations and the achievement of their now more challenging objectives.
As Stella Avramopoulos, CEO of Good Shepherd Australia and New Zealand mentioned:
“This is a crisis that has struck without warning. People are overwhelmed and many people who have never needed support before are now in distress. It’s important that we collaborate across the social welfare sector to ensure people get all the support they need and reliable information about the services available to them.”
The journey to facing such challenges begins with increasing awareness. To address this our team has been working with a collaborative group of talented individuals over the past few months to get a fix on the realities Australians are facing and will face in the coming months and years ahead.
What our team have developed is a data-driven model to objectively measure and anticipate vulnerable Australian communities; the Vulnerable Australia model. This model utilises a broad range of data to identify the key leading indicators and variables that identify and anticipate vulnerability in specific communities and suburbs.
Importantly, the model has been designed to be dynamic and is refreshed with new data as circumstances like government support, and lockdowns change.
As part of Anti-Poverty Week, we will be launching this model publicly in a free webinar on October 14th called Vulnerable Australia. The webinar is a presentation on the current and emerging Vulnerability in Australian communities, exacerbated by the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
As Toni Wren, Executive Director of Anti-Poverty Week commented this morning “Anti-Poverty Week is pleased to see more collaborations between for-profit and non-profit sectors as we work together to tackle the challenges brought on by this pandemic. Together we can solve poverty.”
Our authentic intention is to bring numbers to the challenge, to bring objectivity and to heighten the awareness of our new realities. As a team we came together for good - we built this as a means for ensuring more adequate support for all Australians when and where it's needed. We hope that this information will be a platform from which many more will come together for a common purpose and stop competing for good.
If you would like to attend the Vulnerable Australia Webinar, click here to register.
