What’s Behind the Worry? Exploring The Roots of Sustainability Concerns in The Charitable Sector
The Charity Insights Canada Project conducts weekly surveys with charities across Canada, exploring a wide range of operational and governance topics. In 2024, we asked organizations how confident they feel about their long-term sustainability, and the responses were revealing.
While many charities expressed concern about their future, the reasons behind these concerns can go beyond financial instability.
To better understand what’s driving this uncertainty, we compared survey responses from charities that are highly concerned about their sustainability with those that are not concerned, focusing on key areas such as financial stability, staffing, and service capacity.
The findings show a clear link between financial stability and confidence in the future. However, even some financially stable organizations still report sustainability concerns, suggesting that other pressures, like workforce challenges and rising service demands, may also be contributing to the strain.
Financial Stability Is a Strong Predictor of Confidence
The most evident pattern in the data is this: financially stable charities are far more likely to feel confident about their future.
- Over 90% of charities not concerned about sustainability describe themselves as financially “stable” or “very stable.”
- In contrast, only 35% of highly concerned charities report financial stability.
Other financial indicators reinforce this link:
- Charities with predictable funding are significantly less likely to worry about sustainability.
- Those with high concern are 6x more likely to report very unpredictable funding.
- Reserve funds matter too:
- 55% of charities not concerned say their reserves are adequate or highly adequate.
- Only 22% of highly concerned charities say the same.
But It’s Not Just About Money
Interestingly, some financially stable charities still express concern about their future. So what else may be driving this worry?
Staffing Challenges
- 45% of highly concerned charities report high employee turnover.
- Surprisingly, turnover is also high among those not concerned (41%), suggesting that turnover alone doesn’t explain sustainability concerns, but it may contribute to organizational stress for some charities.
Rising Service Demands
- Over 70% of highly concerned charities say demand for their services exceeds their current capacity.
- Charities not concerned report similar levels of demand.
This suggests that how organizations manage this pressure may be just as significant as the pressure itself.
Leadership Planning: The Overlooked Risk
One of the most striking findings relates to succession planning:
- Only 3.7% of highly concerned charities have a well-defined succession plan.
- Even among those not concerned, just 12% have one.
Most charities either handle leadership transitions informally or don’t plan at all. As one respondent put it:
“It is one of those tasks that our organization knows needs to be done, but there are always higher priority tasks that get done first.”
Sustainability Is Not a Fixed Destination
Sustainability isn’t a static achievement; it’s a dynamic process that requires ongoing attention. Even charities that feel stable today may face volatility tomorrow, especially when considering growth or innovation.
As one panellist shared:
“In our current format, we are very sustainable, but we are exploring a major expansion that could make our situation more volatile.”
This underscores a key insight: sustainability must be actively maintained and re-evaluated as circumstances change.
Our analysis supports this view. While financial health is a strong predictor of confidence, it doesn’t guarantee long-term security. Factors like staffing challenges, rising service demands, and the absence of succession planning can all introduce volatility.
To truly support the sector, funders, policymakers, and community partners must recognize that sustainability requires more than operational efficiency. It demands consistent, flexible funding, investment in leadership development, and support for long-term planning. Strengthening the charitable sector today means building the foundation for a more resilient and responsive charitable sector.
Author
Want to receive our blog posts directly to your email? Sign-up for our newsletter at the following link, and follow us on social-media for regular project updates:
- Newsletter sign up: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/t/3D0A2E268835E2F4
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cicp-pcpob/
- Socials: @CICP_PCPOB
5 min read
Stable on Paper, Strained in Practice: The Workforce Crisis in Canadian Charities
4 min read
Digital Fundraising in Canadian Charities: What’s Working, What’s Next, and What’s Holding Us Back
5 min read