The Australian Social Sector is made up of seven hundred thousand charitable organisations and makes an important contribution to the fabric of society. It fills gaps and reaches out to causes that need support, connecting them with others through giving.

As with all other sectors of our economy, Social Sector organisations need to work hard to be sustainable, thrive and continue to make a positive impact. Competition for the charity dollar is fierce and the operating environment of the sector is changing.

Now more than ever the Social Sector is in need of innovation.

While innovation may have been on the agendas of some Social Sector boards in the past, the imperative to innovate and change has never been greater. Why?

• The global community is moving away from the act of simply donating. Instead, people are wanting to engage, to be part of an experience, to feel genuine connection, to own a relationship.
• Much fundraising by the Social Sector relies on mail-outs. These paper-based, antiquated systems are becoming less relevant as the traditional postal service around the world is in decline.
• Over time, given the desire of Gen X/Gen Y and the Millennials to engage in an experience, the volume of traditional giving is likely to drop off significantly.
• Other models of ‘doing good’ are prevalent and growing. There is a very strong move away from traditional ‘charity’ (money to one entity) to newer models such as the social enterprise, for example 40K/Globe, and crowd funding such as Startsomegood.
• The inefficiency of traditional fundraising is apparent to the public who are reacting by turning to models that are more efficient and offer to multiply the money.

The 2016 Innovation Index is a study of the Social Sector’s current innovation capability. It is a major leading indicator of the capability of the sector to manage the challenges that lie ahead. Last year’s index is the outcome of a survey of more than 744 professionals working across the sector from every Australian state and territory. In 2015 the sector recorded an overall innovation score of 66 per cent from the index survey, indicating that while some organisations prioritise innovation in their day to day operations, there is significant scope for improvement across the sector.

In 2016, organisations will be measured according to their capacity to develop and deliver innovation according to seven key vectors:

• External collaboration
• Internal collaboration
• Innovation focus
• Openness of culture/vision
• Organisational velocity
• Rewards/recognition
• Stakeholder centricity.

The aims of the 2016 Innovation Index include:

• To draw attention to the diversity of the sector and its importance to the economy.
• To raise awareness of innovation in the Australian social sector.
• To highlight drivers and barriers to innovation, identifying issues that not-for-profits should address to optimise Australian innovation.
• To share best practice among organisations across the sector and spark an ongoing dialogue on effective routes to innovation that organisations can follow.
• To focus on the innovation capability of the sector as opposed to simply facts and figures of activity.
• To highlight the need for the different innovation capabilities needed for effective innovation.
• To spark debate within the sector around innovation.
• To provide a snapshot of the capability of the sector that can be used to measure innovation growth in the future.

As a thank-you for taking part in this survey, every participant will be sent a preview copy of the 2016 Innovation Index Report before its official release.

Every participant will also be sent persnal Innovation Index Scorecards for their organisation. These unique, customised reports offer valuable insights into the innovation performance within their organisation and how they compare with the industry as a whole.