I was privileged to recently co-present a series of three workshops for funders based in the Waikato recently alongside Peter Glensor from Hui-E Community Aotearoa. At the invitation of Trust Waikato, we first explored the nature of philanthropy and the community sector, then how philanthropy can do a better job of supporting communities organisations and…
Continue reading →If we are serious about impact and outcomes, Collective Impact seems a promising approach. I recently presented on the topic of “Collective Impact – the possibilities, pitfalls and Aotearoa NZ experience” at a funding hui in Taupo. You can view the presentation below, and a big thanks to Comet Auckland and to the Tow Foundation…
Continue reading →I have spent most of the last three months in Italy, France and Spain, which prompted me to reflect on our own culture and identity – a relevant topic perhaps for Māori Language Week. Our holiday was a kind of interlude between completing my role as Executive Director of Todd Foundation and starting my new…
Continue reading →Making social funding dependent on proving outcomes is a compelling concept – but one that is full of fishhooks. In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Social Bond pilot (also known as Social Impact Bonds) and the Ministry of Social Development’s Community Investment Strategy to Invest in Services for Outcomes are examples of this seemingly simple and…
Continue reading →We should have been celebrating a 21st birthday this month, but it wasn’t to be. In 1994, our baby boy Robin died in utero at 20 weeks from heart failure caused by severe Noonan’s Syndrome. Some months later, my composer sister Susan Frykberg recorded my story, from which she created a six-minute long composition for…
Continue reading →The following article was originally published in Australia’s “Generosity” magazine in 2015: What if we gave a $10,000 grant but only $9,000 was received? And what if our $100,000 funding programme delivered only $45,000 of community benefit? We’d probably be outraged. Unfortunately, due to a concept I call “funding burden”, this happens frequently – and…
Continue reading →Philanthropy New Zealand’s Philanthropy Summit 2015, held 15-16 April in Auckland, challenged us with nothing less than rethinking our philanthropic paradigm and embracing other cultural approaches to giving. And, in case that seems a little too ambitious for this week’s to-do list, we were also invited to consider impact investing and to take a hard…
Continue reading →Thursday April 2 was my last day as Executive Director of Todd Foundation, and here is my farewell speech: *** It is hard to know what to say in a farewell speech. There are hundreds or thousands of people I could or should thank – but that would take a long time and be somewhat…
Continue reading →What is funding burden, you ask? It’s the term I am using for the value of the time community organisations spend applying for and reporting on grants – a value which is often wildly out of proportion to the actual money on offer. This is a concept I have been exploring, developing and blogging about…
Continue reading →Four years on from the deadly February 22 2011 earthquake in Christchurch / Ōtautahi: I remember the 181 people who died and the many, many others who were injured or lost their homes. I acknowledge that the recovery is far from over, with swathes of deserted land, unaffordable housing and increased mental health issues. I…
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