governance surveyIt is this time of the year again – the Not-for-Profit Governance and report study is out again and we can all see how the situation of Australian NFPs has changed over the last year and compare it with the data from last year and from before. The good news is that, according to the report, everything in the NFP sector is developing in the right direction. There are, of course, aspects which need to be improved and developed, but this cannot happen in a year, maybe not even in 5, so we must appreciate the great results shown by the survey report this year.

As for the survey itself, it is an idea of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, whose website offers plenty of resources for the Not-for-Profit sector. The survey is carried out by BaxterLawley and generously sponsored by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The efforts of these three organisations have amazing results – more than 2,700 NFP directors have agreed to participate in the survey this year, the combined income of their organisations being $15 billion. In other words, the results of the survey are bound to be really accurate with such level of participation and collaboration.

As for what the NFP Governance and Performance Survey Report includes – in its 40 pages it discusses: the continuing evolvement of NFP Governance; the areas targeted for future development by the boards; the agenda collaboration and mergers; the improvement of performance indicators; the relationship between boards and CEOs; the situation in Australian education; the NFPs offering care for the elderly; the contribution by the NFP directors to the sector; the need for certainty in government policy; and how the survey was conducted (with examples and some great appendixes).

For everyone who doesn’t have enough time to read the whole survey at the moment, the Australian Institute of Company Directors have helpfully summarized some of the key findings on their website:

  • According to the survey, evolvement in NFP governance continues – 80% of the directors who participated believe that the governance of their organisation has improved significantly for the last three years.
  • A merger is on the agenda for 30% of the boards participating, meaning that the Not-for-Profit organisations are collaborating.
  • More than 1/3 of the boards plan to change at least one of their governance documents by the end of 2015, meaning that governance keeps changing.
  • Boards need information that measures the effectiveness of their mission better.
  • 60% of the participating directors believe the relationship between the board and the CEOs is strong.
  • More work is needed in the area of education, the main aspects being dealing with the uncertain government funding, improving their reputation and achieving better performance levels.
  • Age care boards find it essential to achieve collaboration between the NFPs and the government.
               

As you can see, one of the most serious problem in the area of NFP is the uncertain and unstable policies on the side of the government and that is exactly what the participating directors promise to work on. Let’s tell them ‘Good job!’ for their efforts this year and hope for even better results in the next survey. If you want to find out more, you can download the full report in PDF here.