Literature-informed definitions employed to define the scope and nature of small not-for-profit organisations in Australia

Abstract

A Productivity Commission report released in 2010 indicated that the not-for-profit (NFP) sector contributed $43 billion to Australia's GDP in 2006-07. Of the 600 000 NFPs, only 58 779 have an active tax role while the majority are small unincorporated organizations. Although there are many studies focussing on large and small companies and large NFP organisations, there is not much literature focussing on small NFPs. The four business structures above differ in their reporting requirements, make up and organisational structure. There is a distinct gap in literature for small NFP organisations. The Term NFP is somewhat misleading as it implies that the organisation does not make a profit. In practice, NFPs do make profits but the profits are not distributed to its members but channelled back into the organisation as surplus. This paper presents literature-informed definitions for NFP organisations employed to define the scope and nature of the organisations under study. This paper is the first part of a larger research with the final objective of proposing a model code of conduct for Directors and Officers of small NFP. Steps that will be taken to reach the above outcome is to review literature in the area, propose a model of best practice, carry out a survey of NFPs using a questionnaire and finally design a model code of conduct by analysing the data. The larger study will consider a sample size of 300 small NFP organisations in NSW based on the NSW Department of Fair Trading Tier 2 organisations.