Room for improvement

A landmark report has revealed the most innovative not-for-profit (NFP) organisations in Australia, while the sector overall received an innovation index of 66 per cent, indicating there is significant room for improvement.

The 2015 Innovation Index - The Australian Not-for-Profit Sector, unveiled by Australia Post and digital giving provider, GiveEasy, surveyed 700 professionals working in the sector.

It used a peer-based ranking to name Movember, Oxfam and Charity Water as the top three most innovative NFPs and also found a direct link between how innovative an organisation is and how much revenue it raises.

Small to medium-sized organisations were revealed to be the most innovative as they are more likely to be “nimble and market-responsive”, the survey said.

It found organisations with between 11- 25 employees tend to be the most innovative, while innovative performance appears to decline in line with an increase in employee numbers beyond this size.

Although 83 per cent of respondents to the survey said they felt it is worthwhile being innovative in their organisation, and 67 per cent agreed that innovation is central to their organisation’s success, only 18 per cent said that funding was available for testing innovative initiatives and only one third of respondents believed they would be promoted faster for being innovative.

While internal collaboration was identified as an important determinant of innovation, relationships and networks between NFP organisations and external stakeholders were highly valued as a way of stimulating and supporting innovation.

The survey also found that NFP organisations concerned with the environment, youth and education areas were more likely to have a clearly defined innovation strategy.