Philanthropy mobilising in flood response
By Sue McCabe, Chief Executive, Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa.
A meeting of about 50 philanthropic and grantmaking funders today highlighted community need they’re hearing about and the action underway to complement Government and the civil defence response.
Philanthropy New Zealand | Tōpūtanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa (PNZ) convened the meeting, which also had government representatives in attendance.
The purpose was sharing information on what they are hearing from community groups they have relationships with; what funding is being released; and approaches being planned.
The philanthropic and grantmaking sector plays a variety of roles in emergency responses. Some release funds to help with the immediate aftermath, recognising that this is a time when there is usually consider additional central and local government funds and generous giving by the public.
Funders also take a medium term or longer term role, recognising that the needs will be there for years after the event. Other funders focus on learnings from events to support their funding into systemic change that will mean better community resilience to future events. For example, climate change and issues with housing are two ongoing topics that need significant focus to support community wellbeing.
Speakers at the online session this morning included the Auckland Council; the Department of Internal Affairs and Foundation North, while a range of other funders provided updates on their activity.
Funders spoke of the incredible community resilience and neighbourhood efforts. Key funders in the affected areas have been checking in with community leaders and groups on their wellbeing and what funding they may need. Some funders commented that the experience of offering more flexible Government funding and community initiatives established due to Covid meant a stronger response now.
On the other hand, the cumulative impact of the weather event on top of previous issues for communities, including Covid, was meaning they were also seeing considerable stress on the ground.
A list of some areas of need can be found here.
PNZ member funders will continue to meet, in smaller collaborative action focussed groups as well as coming together in a larger information sharing forum to progress both the immediate support they can deliver as well as the longer-term response that will be needed.
PNZ’s Match | Te Puna Taurite service has set up a 2023 Flood Recovery tag so that community groups needing funding for their response efforts can quickly highlight this to funders using this service. As part of this new service’s development, a funder forum will be in place next week to support funders sharing information and collaborating to help the response.
The value of fundseekers being able to make one application which reaches multiple funders was one of many points raised by funders as ways they can operate to make fundseeking easier for community groups.
Visit www.match.org.nz to join this community of funders and fundseekers.
See here for a list of useful flood response resources for funders and fundseekers.
PNZ members will receive ongoing updates of key sector activity. People can also keep an eye on our social media channels for information.