It’s a good time of year for looking back and reflecting… Earlier this year I stepped down from my Executive Director role at Todd Foundation to become an independent consultant. Here is an article I wrote recently about the lessons learned in my 10 years with Todd Foundation. (This was originally published in the December…
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…
Continue reading →I will be leaving my role as Executive Director of the Todd Foundation on April 2 this year (more on this below), so if you are looking for a really great role in New Zealand philanthropy, check out the job ad, or talk to recruitment agent Annabel McCallum from Jackson Stone. Applications close on Monday…
Continue reading →Funders, both government and philanthropic, often have a strong focus on measuring the outcomes, impact and effectiveness of the initiatives they fund. Which is great – but is that focus equally directed at measuring the outcomes, impact and effectiveness of ourselves as funders? Often the answer is no – and there’s some good reasons for…
Continue reading →In my spare time I sing in a small world-music choir called Womansong. Last week at practice, Karen, one of our members, suggested that we add simple dance moves to an Arabic song we sing (Lamma Bada Yatathanna). We followed and quickly picked up Karen’s graceful arm movements, which were perfect for the song. But…
Continue reading →Community funding often isn’t as transparent as it should be; games get played and thorny issues are sometimes unacknowledged and often unaddressed. I explored some of this recently at a breakfast meeting with the Fundraising Institute in Auckland: – here is my presentation: “Beyond the game, through the thorny issues and towards thriving communities.” The…
Continue reading →I was part of a story on TV1’s Seven Sharp programme today asking “are kiwis givers?” See the clip here. Journalist Emma Keeling did a very nice job of talking about philanthropy and the Todd Foundation funded Y-men project, (which gets unemployed young men into work and training as ECE teachers in kindergartens), was inspiring. …
Continue reading →Four experts share their approach and strategies Positive social change can start at the kitchen table – family by family, community by community. It can also start in the legislative chamber – law by law, policy by policy. Best of all is when they occur simultaneously, informing and reinforcing each other. At the Todd Foundation’s…
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