| Survey 01 update |
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| Written by Hugh Morrow | |
| Monday, 06 August 2007 | |
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To date, over 800 people have responded to the first survey. As a group they appear to be highly qualified and knowledgeable. Not surprisingly , funding and resources is the top issue facing the sector. Most people think the sector is well run but are very divided on the issue of collaboration. Interestingly most people think it is more important to fund programs, even though they think that it is harder to run a Social Enterprise than a for profit firm.
 Responses over time
In exploring the information generated by the survey and in discussion with focus group participants, the initial list of priority issues have been reduced to seven areas. They relate to the ideas of:
 Top Issues Facing the Sector
Not surprisingly, for the education level, many people are employed in larger organisations.  Organisation Size
But when compared with the data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from 1999 (the latest data available?), we see that the survey sample is broadly in line with the sector as whole.  Organisation Size compared to Sector
The majority of respondents feel that the sector is well run. it should be noted that 44% of the for-profit respondents disagreed with this statement.  Leading & managing an organisation in the social economy is harder than running a similar sized for-profit organisation.
The issue of collaboration is divisive. In part, we suspect, because the topic is so complex and the opportunity very dependent on the specific operating circumstances of the organisation.  Australian non-profit organisations consistently achieve efficiencies through cooperation / collaboration.
Most respondents, disagree that funding programs is more important than general expenses and capability.  It is more important to fund programs that deliver direct benefit rather than to fund general expenses and capability. However the data is weighted heavily by the mix of respondents. When we split out the for profit and social economy respondents we see that there is quite a split. Many for profit respondents (29%) are indifferent, and 36% agree that it is more important to fund programs.
 It is more important to fund programs that deliver direct benefit rather than to fund general expenses and capability.
Significantly, most respondents agree that leading & managing an organisation in the social economy is harder than running a similar sized for-profit organisation.  Leading & managing an organisation in the social economy is harder than running a similar sized for-profit organisation. |
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