Community Foundation Has Granted Over $3m to Auckland

In just four short years the Auckland Communities Foundation has distributed over $3.3 million dollars in grants to the Auckland region. Over 240 separate grants have been made to support charitable organisations work in and around the region. From small gifts to significant ongoing donations, mainly from individuals, Auckland Communities Foundation has made grants to all sorts of charitable activity.

The Foundation, which was established as a donor services organisation to grow place-based philanthropy in Auckland, has been active in grant-making and is now pushing ahead to create a large endowment fund for Auckland. The endowment fund will use the income from the capital each year to support the highest community need of the time.

With almost $10 million currently bequeathed and an active grant making programme the Foundation is only in its formative years and is considered a mere infant when compared to those in the USA where the model started. “Community Foundations really take about 20 years to mature, so it’s long term community development we are talking about,” says Chief Executive, Hilary Sumpter.

Donors appreciate the support and services on offer from the Foundation to make their giving easy and effective. Hilary Sumpter says, “People wishing to make donations like the fact that we can pair them with organisations who match their values or what they care about, while we take care of all the administration and compliance. Our donors get the reward of knowing their giving is going to the right place for the right reasons and without them having to set up their own charitable trust.”

Many donors set up Endowment Funds which means they grow their funds over the first years before they start granting. Other donors are leaving a portion of their estate in their wills to support Auckland in perpetuity. As the endowment fund grows over time the grant-making will continue to increase.

This year the Foundation launched two initiatives which are making philanthropy accessible for everyone; the JAPhA Fund (Just Another Philanthropic Aucklander), a monthly granting programme of $1,000 and The Funding Network NZ, a live crowd-funding event. Each of these have met with a positive uptake; combining donations to achieve a collective impact in helping small or grass roots organisations.

Auckland has been fortunate in that the Foundation has been highly active in grant-making so the community has benefitted hugely already, as evident by the fact over $3M has been granted. The Auckland Communities Foundation will be realising their potential over the coming years so as to support the needs of Auckland both immediately and for the very long term.

Community Foundations were started in the United States 100 years ago. Internationally there are now over 1800 Foundations with 75% of those having started in the last 25 years. The annual granting distributed was just under $5B in 2013 and is continually increasing.

ENDS

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