The Good Data Series turns the hundreds of thousands of data points held by Charities Services into something useful for small non-profits. This data already exists, but it’s rarely translated into something clear and practical.
Through simple analysis and plain-English explanations, the series helps small organisations and their supporters understand:
what “typical” looks like
how they compare to others like them
what healthy (and risky) financial patterns look like
The goal is to build confidence, context, and better decision-making, because your numbers don’t exist in isolation.
Returns analysed
Each year, approx 14,000 Tier 4 charities and 9,000 Tier 3 charities file returns.
Tier 4 charities spend $140,000 or less per year.
Tier 3 charities spend up to $2,000,000 per year ($5m from March 2024).
2025 returns are not all due yet, so aren’t included in this report.
Year
Tier 4
Tier 3
2018
13,894
8,988
2019
14,074
9,111
2020
14,337
9,268
2021
14,523
9,209
2022
14,588
9,367
2023
14,563
9,609
2024
14,259
9,746
Analysis and data
Tiers 1 and 2 are not considered because their returns materially differ to tiers 3 and 4. There's also much fewer tier 1 and 2 charities.
Generally, the Good Data Series uses the median to report and analyse data from the sector. This is because median represents the “middle of the pack”:
50% of charities will be equal to or below the figure
50% will be equal to or above it
For many types of data, median provides a better picture of the charities you are actually likely to encounter than using an “average”.
An average is calculated by adding everything together and dividing it by the number of charities.
Where the average differs greatly from the median, it usually tells us that a small number of charities have a much larger amount of whatever is being analysed — for example, income, assets, paid staff hours, or volunteer hours. These larger charities can pull the average upwards, even if most charities are much smaller.
In some parts of this series, the difference between median and average revealed interesting patterns in the sector. Where this occurred, we have included average figures alongside the median to help show the spread and concentration within the data.
Limitations
Relies on self-reported data. Charities Services themselves state that up to a third of Tier 4 respondents in 2024 were non-compliant.
XRB reporting standards have changed twice from 2018 to 2024. The charities API has also undergone changes in this time. Best efforts have been made to ensure comparability over time.
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