Charities receive income from a variety of sources. Half of all charity sector revenue is from sales, member fees and user-pays services, with the next largest source of revenue being government grants (43%).
Each year charities provide their annual income in the Annual Information Statement and this information populates the graphs you can see on the Overview tab. The different types of income included in the graph are:
Revenue from government (including grants)
This includes all types of funding and financial assistance provided by Commonwealth, state, territory or local governments in the reporting period, even where there was no condition attached to the grant. For example:
- general purpose government grants or funding
- revenue received under a contract with government to provide specified services
- government procurement
- government rebates, supplements, subsidies or funded programs.
Donations and bequests
A donation is when a charity receives voluntary support (in cash or gifts in kind) and there is no material benefit to the donor. This includes donations from:
- public collections
- fundraising
- philanthropic trusts and corporations (including some types of grants from these bodies)
- members (but not membership fees)
- supporters
- employees
Also falling into this category are:
- bequests and memorials
- tax deductible donations and gifts from the public
- tax deductible donations from members, supporters and employees
- non-tax deductible gifts and bequests.
Revenue from providing goods or services
This includes:
- sale of items
- commercial activities
- fees and charges for services provided
- certain types of grants from non-government bodies like philanthropic trusts and corporations
- rental income (if earned as part of a charity’s ordinary activities)
- running lotteries and gaming machines
- receiving royalties
- membership fees
- corporate sponsorship or partnership revenue
- subscription fees.
Revenue from investments
Revenue from investments includes:
- revenue from interest
- dividends and distributions from investments and investment portfolios, and
- dividends and/or distributions from units held in managed funds which may contain real estate.
This does not include the increase in fair value of investments.
Other revenue
Other revenue can include:
- levies where there is no obligation to supply goods or services
- recoupments
- rental income (if not earned as part of a charity’s ordinary activities)
- other revenue not already captured in the above categories.