Philanthropy in Christchurch – Not Just About the Money

Perspectives
Philanthropy in Christchurch –
Not Just About the Money
Helena Francis
Helena Francis is Chair of the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, which is a member of the Canterbury
Recovery Funders Network – a collaboration of philanthropists and funders who came together in the
immediate aftermath of the February 2011 earthquake.
Organised by Philanthropy New Zealand, that first, urgent meeting has now become a quarterly
event where both members and others funding Christchurch’s recovery can collaborate on how to best
help those affected.
Here, Helena reflects on how it is well-placed people who are making the difference between
effective and ineffective philanthropy in Christchurch – often in unexpected ways.
In Christchurch over the past year, Philanthropy New Zealand has
been bringing people together, through the Canterbury Recovery
Funders Network, to identify and have conversations around needs.
We’re trying to avoid duplicating our resources as we reach out to the
community.
One example of this is the Todd and
Tindall Foundations, which have worked
together to engage a Christchurch-based
project manager, Bede Martin (of Interact
Canterbury), whose role is to inform their
funding decisions.
But this has also had a whole other,
unintended effect. In the course of his
work, Bede makes new connections and, as
he talks to people and groups, is discovering Bede Martin
other areas of need.
For example, when visiting a small church group to discuss a
youth recreation centre in a hard-hit suburb of eastern Christchurch, it
soon became evident that the church had uncovered wider issues. The
area lacked social support networks and the group described it as a
“community in name only”. The focus then moved to assessing the needs
of families and the elderly, working with local groups to prioritise need.
This resulted in funding for two part-time positions to facilitate these
community priorities.
Without face to face discussion, the initial need for a youth facility
might have led to the wider and deeper needs of the area remaining
unsupported.
So, while that wasn’t intended, having a person like Bede talking to
community groups has turned out to be a great source of information for
all grantmakers in our network, and is helping us to reduce any duplication
of our resources.
This has been a positive by-product for the grantmakers – Bede has,
in a good way, infiltrated the NGO (non-governmental organisations)
sector!
You can chuck $5 million
at the problem, but if you
haven’t got the wisdom,
the intellect and the
conversations behind it, you
won’t maximise its impact.
The importance of staff
After the earthquakes, there was an immensely generous influx
of funds. But for those trying to direct the funding, this needed to be
supported by having people at the frontline, talking to the community.
One of the things we are learning is that the money is great but we
also need the people capacity behind that money. You can chuck $5
million at the problem, but if you haven’t got the wisdom, the intellect
and the conversations behind it, you won’t maximise its impact.
I don’t want to dwell on negatives, but some organisations have
found this out the hard way.
What we now know is we need the staffing capacity – foundations
need to invest in their people, because it is essential to have good people
on the ground if they are to direct their funding effectively.
It’s also valuable to have the financial support, through Philanthropy
New Zealand members, to fund these post-quake meetings. Members
have put their money where their mouth is and supported us by providing
a space for us to come together and be informed. Because without these
people paying for it, Philanthropy New Zealand wouldn’t be able to
sustain this forum.
12
Philanthropy New Zealand Toputanga Tuku Aroha o Aotearoa

Perspectives
This makes it less expensive to fund. We just have to make sure we’re
striking a balance between cutting out bureaucracy and ensuring services
are still being delivered responsibly.
Some of our ideas and relationships are completely new and
experimental – but we have nothing to lose. It’s now or never!
Sister Clare Lyons of the Beatitudes Catholic Community delivers food parcels
with the help of volunteers in Aranui, Christchurch, March 2011.
Photographer: David Alexander 2011
As a result of this support, we are working with groups who are not
our usual alliances.
For example, the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, Rotary, Ministry of
Youth Development, the Human Rights Commission, Todd Foundation,
Department of Internal Affairs and Vodafone NZ Foundation (through the
White Elephant Trust) are all working together to support the youth voice
in Canterbury through the Otautahi Youth Council.
Our role, at the Wayne Francis Charitable Trust, is to convene these
meetings; to bring the people together. The group is hoping to fund a
co-ordinator for the youth council, to support them, and to also give its
members media training so they have the skills to speak on behalf of the
young people of Christchurch.
Young people are going to benefit from our city and they need to be
considering their contribution, so it’s really valuable that they are heard.
This is also a great chance to build strong, healthy communities. So,
we’re listening to the people in a community, supporting young people,
and looking for evidence-based indicators to build our work on.
A new approach?
I think that Christchurch is almost fast-tracking all the stuff we
knew was of value, but which wasn’t necessarily happening before the
earthquakes. It’s sort of like a pressure cooker – if we don’t do it now,
we never will.
The quakes created an opportunity to deliver social services in a more
effective, efficient and cohesive way, with closer collaboration between
funders, community groups and social service providers.
For example, victims of domestic violence will soon be able to go
to police and access other social services through a one-stop shop in
a couple of hours. Before, a person had to go to multiple agencies to
get help.
Christchurch has seen amazing neighbourly support, social inclusion
and communities coming together. We keep hearing from people, “we
want that sense of community, but we don’t want the earthquakes!” I
think we’ve already got positive results and untraditional partnerships –
but this is definitely an opportunity to try new things, have new alliances
and new ideas.
Wouldn’t it be great if the credibility and strength of the philanthropic
sector is raised because of the effective work that is being done in
Christchurch?
It would be particularly great if this was recognised by the Government
– that philanthropy in Christchurch is about more than monuments.
We have a real opportunity to have a huge impact, with thoughtful
and effective outcomes.
Of course, it is also a great opportunity to promote corporate giving,
if businesses can see what good work we’re doing in Christchurch.
Hopefully, the results from the Otautahi Youth Council project will
be undeniably positive and if it works really well then its model (of youth
training) can be translated into other parts of New Zealand.
I would definitely like to see the voice of the young people in
Christchurch being heard and acknowledged, and something done
about it this year – why not? Not everything has to take forever!
Perspectives invites a grantmaker or philanthropist to give us, in their own
words, a personal perspective on giving.
A co-operatively built office in Christchurch, by Gap Filler a charitable trust in
Christchurch set up to temporarily fill vacant spaces, which collaborates with a
wide range of funders, volunteers and community groups.
13