Community Foundations of New Zealand Incorporated

Chairman's Report: April 2014

Two years ago at our National Workshop in Rotorua our guest speaker was the inspirational Monica Patten from the Community Foundations of Canada. It was Monica who inspired us to establish a steering group with a view to establishing our own national association. On 23 October 2012 our association was formally registered as an Incorporated Society. We developed our logo and applied for registration of our name and logo as a trade mark. On 11 April 2013 we held our inaugural AGM in Wellington to coincide with the Philanthropy NZ conference. As Chairman of the Board of Management, it now gives me great pleasure to report on our first year of operation.

Board Membership
Acorn Foundation Geyser Community Foundation Nikau Foundation Auckland Communities Foundation Advance Ashburton Aoraki Foundation Acorn Foundation

The board consists of the following members Bill Holland, Chairman Margriet Theron Brian Burge Steve Chaney Trevor Croy Stacey Scott Nicky Wilkins

Meetings

Regular meetings were held using the video conferencing facilities of BNZ partners. This proved to be very workable with Board members from throughout New Zealand. There was absolutely no cost for these meetings and we are very grateful to the BNZ for this support.

Business of the Board

The CFNZ Board and its members have spent time in assisting existing Community Foundations and assisting groups considering establishing Community Foundations. We were delighted with the establishment of the Momentum Foundation in Hamilton, in November 2013. Interest has also been expressed in establishing Community Foundations in Dunedin and Thames. Taranaki and Gisborne have also set up Community Foundations this year and we wish them well with their endeavours. We continue to encourage Community Foundations to support one another and share information at all levels. This workshop has been arranged by the Board and special thanks go to Nicky Wilkins who has played a lead role.

Philanthropy New Zealand

One of our roles as Community Foundations is to promote and facilitate philanthropy or generosity. This is very similar to the role of Philanthropy NZ. It follows that we should try to work in with this organisation.

-2With the recent visit of Allan English from Queensland, and now the visit of Faye Wightman from Canada we have worked closely with Philanthropy NZ to the benefit of us all. Ideally all Community Foundations should be members of Philanthropy NZ but all of our members are struggling with meeting operating expenses. Many simply cannot afford the additional cost. We are currently in discussions with Philanthropy NZ to see if a special arrangement can be reached as to subscriptions that will enable all of our Community Foundations to benefit from membership of Philanthropy NZ.

Financial Accounts

You will see from our financial statements that they are very simple. Our annual subscription is only $250. We have been very frugal and you will see we have managed to keep expenses to a minimum. As Community Foundations develop, a key issue will be deciding just what we want CFNZ to do for us. It is simple: the more services we want, the more it will cost us. From the outset we have all been clear that we do not want the expense and inconvenience of a large bureaucratic "head office". Having said that, as we continue to live on a shoestring, our development will be limited. It will be up to all of us as members to decide on the appropriate level.

Tindall Foundation

We continue to be extremely grateful to Sir Stephen and Lady Margaret Tindall and the Tindall Foundation. The Foundation provided the seed funding which enabled many of our Community Foundations to become established. Although that seed funding programme has now been fully utilised, The Tindall Foundation has continued to support us at a national level. Without its sponsorship of this workshop we would be struggling to deliver on what is a very important function of our association. In this regard I particularly want to thank Trevor Gray who recently stood down from his role as Chief Executive of The Tindall Foundation but remains involved in a special projects basis. Trevor's help, guidance and support for me in my eight years as Chair of the Acorn Foundation was hugely appreciated by our Acorn Board and by me in particular. This same support has continued for Community Foundations all over New Zealand, and now for our Association at national level. Thank you Trevor.

The Future

We need to change New Zealand's attitudes to giving and the more Community Foundations we have, the easier this is going to be. I look forward to the day when we will have Community Foundations covering each region in New Zealand. I finally believe that Community Foundations have huge potential to be of enormous benefit to our communities and to our country. It is up to all of us to work towards realising that potential

Bill Holland Chairman Community Foundations of New Zealand 8 April 2014