AKIPRESS.COM - Australia has the largest number of charities per capita in its history, with one charity for every 422 people, according to Pro Bono Australia.

The new report tracked the growth of the now $200 billion per year sector over the past 20 years. It found that the number of charities was doubling every two decades, with 56,894 charities in Australia.

Australia’s charity concentration was compared to the U.S., where there is one charity per 648 Americans. Australian charities also face more significant donor funding challenges, with only 0.23 percent of individuals giving as a percentage of GDP, compared to 1.44 percent in the U.S.

Wealth management firm JBWere released the Cause Report on Tuesday, the major in-depth look at the state of Australia’s Not for Profit industry from the corporate sector. JBWere CEO Justin Greiner said Australia’s charity sector needed to innovate to remain relevant.

“There is no question that Australia’s charity sector, which helps the most vulnerable and needy people in Australia and overseas, is crucial to our country’s future prosperity,” Greiner said.

“But after two decades of strong growth, the sector is fast approaching a crossroads. With overall spending growing at about 8.4 percent a year since 1996, and the sector facing potentially tighter funding models, something has to change,” he noticed.

The report found that the sector also faces a shrinking and aging volunteer workforce, with many charities struggling to attract younger people.

“The report shows us that charities and Not for Profits are not operating productively as they could be within the sector, leading to the uneven distribution of assets and services for worthwhile causes,” Greiner went on.

But he said that one of the biggest opportunities for the Not for Profit sector lies with corporate Australia, and that charities need to “rethink” the way they engage corporates.

The report said that the charity workforce included more than one million people, representing 8.5 percent of Australian employees, which is consistent with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission’s Annual Charities Report findings released late last year.

In addition, the Australian charity sector’s income sources were 38 percent from government, 54 percent self-earned income and 8 percent philanthropy.