A typology of civil society organisation activities: a multi-grounded theory approach to what CSOs do

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ organisations by ACNC registration status.

ACNC registration status	No. of CSOs^1
Registered	56(/82)
Income/Expenditure over $100 million	10
Large (annual revenue over $1 million)	39
Medium (annual revenue between $250,000 and $1 million)	14
Small (annual revenue over $250,000)	3

¹ Some individual participants were affiliated with more than one organisation. Others with none.

Table 2. Primary focus area of participants’ CSOs.

Primary focus/Activity area	No. of CSOs^1
Justice & Rights	13
Children & Youth	9
First Nations	9
Health	7
Migration/Multiculturalism	7
Housing	6
Emergency/Disaster Relief	5
Faith/Religion	3
People with Disability	3
People Seeking Asylum & Refugees	3
Trade Union	3
University	3
Domestic & Family Violence	2

¹ Not all CSOs have a clearly defined primary focus.

Table 3. CSO activities by main activity of participants’ CSOs and total participant references.

CSO activity	Participants mentioning	% of total participants	CSOs with primary activity	% of total CSOs
Advocate systemically	32	63%	12	14.12%
Build capacity	29	57%	13	15.29%
Deliver service	20	39%	22	25.88%
Engage community	26	51%	0	0.00%
Manage organisation	30	59%	0	0.00%
Work collaboratively	38	75%	0	0.00%
Conduct research	18	35%	12	14.12%
Coordinate network	23	45%	18	21.18%
Hold space	26	51%	7	8.24%
Provide funding	15	29%	7	8.24%

Table 4. CSO activities considered by activity typology and selected democratic and regulatory literature.

			Academic Literature				Grey Literature
Type	Activity	Description	Fung (2003)	Warren (2001)	Vromen (2005)	Garton (2009)	P.Comm (2010)	ACNC (2023)	CLASSIE
The ‘Big Three’	Advocate systemically	public/private activities aimed at directly shifting or influencing public policy	x	x	x	x	x		x
	Build capacity	coordinating and running training, leadership development and education activities	x	x	x	x		x	x
	Deliver service	providing free service delivery or material goods, including charity	x	x	x	x	x	x
‘Business As Usual’	Manage organisation	various activities to keep functioning, including self-governance, measurement and evaluation	x			x			x
	Engage community	coordinating, training or activating volunteer labour relating to other CSO activities	x	x	x		x	x
	Work collaboratively	working with other CSOs through formal and informal networks, alliances, coalitions, etc.		x			x		x
Enabling	Hold space	providing spaces where others can meet and conduct activities, whether virtual or in person					x		x
	Provide funding	coordinating, managing and distributing funding to community groups and other CSOs
	Coordinate network	facilitating/convening groups of CSOs working together, e.g. facilitator, peak, intermediary, etc.							x
	Conduct research	formal or informal research, for policy development, evaluation and advocacy, etc.			x		x	x	x

Figure 1. CSO activities by participant references.

Fung, Archon. 2003. “Associations and Democracy: Between Theories, Hopes, and Realities.” Annual Review of Sociology 29 (1): 515–539. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100134.

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Warren, Mark. 2001. Democracy and Association. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

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Vromen, Ariadne. 2005. “Political Strategies of the Australian Third Sector.” Third Sector Review 11 (2).

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Garton, Jonathan. 2009. The Regulation of Organised Civil Society. Oxford: Hart Pub.

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ACNC. 2023. Australian Charities Report [9th ed.]. Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission.

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