A recently forged partnership between Eastern Central Community Trust (ECCT) and Hawke’s Bay Foundation is set to enhance the impact of philanthropic funding in the region, now and into the future.
Two of the region’s major charity funders have entered an alliance, agreeing to share resources, knowledge and on the ground community connections, to sustainably grow Hawke’s Bay’s funding capacity.
For Hawke’s Bay Foundation Executive Officer, Amy Bowkett the commitment means greater equity, better health and well-being, and stronger more resilient communities.
“Collaboration between funders is imperative if we are to accelerate transformational community change. This shared vision by ECCT and Hawke’s Bay Foundation ensures there is both short-term and long-term funding available for Hawke’s Bay.”
In return for operational funding assistance of $50 thousand per year from ECCT over the next three years, Hawke’s Bay Foundation will provide on the ground support in Wairoa and share expert sector knowledge.
Amy Bowkett adds “operational funding is critically important to Hawke’s Bay Foundation until we can become self-sustaining but it will take us some time to get there. We are extremely grateful to ECCT for believing in our model, and their support shows the value we (as a community foundation) can add.”
ECCT Chief Executive David Clapperton says his organisation’s strategic plan through to 2030 is to sustainably grow Hawke’s Bay’s funding capacity. He sees Hawke’s Bay Foundation’s unique growth-based endowment funding model as an effective means to help achieve that.
“Right now, the philanthropic funding capacity in Hawkes Bay is between $5 million to $7 million per annum. ECCT would like to see that amount double in the next ten years and by supporting Hawke’s Bay Foundation, we see that target becoming more achievable.
“By Hawke’s Bay Foundation growing their investment base and becoming self sustainable, they can distribute significant levels of funding from investment returns to community groups in the Bay. From our perspective, the greater the overall pool of philanthropic funding for Hawke’s Bay, the greater the impact of transformational change.”
David Clapperton believes in better outcomes through working together.
“The philanthropic sector is not a competitive environment. Why shouldn’t we share resources, our knowledge, our connections, and our systems to allow a greater focus on those organisations on the ground supporting the delivery of services to our communities.
“I strongly believe that collaboration amongst funders, both government and philanthropic, is the only way we will see transformational change in the communities we serve. Funders working in silos is untenable and unsustainable. Funders have similar objectives around improving the wellbeing of communities so why not work together to achieve better outcomes?”
