Waikato Business News RECAP 2019

HELPING HAND FOR
CHARITIES
Business woman Annah Stretton could see a need for
charities and not-for-profits to be supported to build
sustainability, so she decided to do something about it.
THE STORY THEN:
Jan 31 - A business-led initiative that will give
Waikato charities access to high-quality advice
and support launches in April.
The Good Collective, founded by Annah Stretton,
represents a first for New Zealand with
its strong business lens and comprehensive
bureau-style approach.
It will launch on April 11 with the aim of helping
not-for-profits and charities build robustness
and sustainability.
The Good Collective engages service providers
to deliver member organisations with
discounted business services. Members can
use their services for capability building, crisis
management or ongoing business services.
“There’s a very diverse offering we have but
we see the main offering as building that
capability into charity, so giving more of a
business sensibility around the way that charity
and not-for-profit approaches its operations,”
Stretton says.
That might include encouraging them to look
at employing people, to boost their long-term
future.
When The Good Collective launches in April, it
will have a range of service providers already
on board, offering everything from IT support
to legal advice.
It intends to play an active role, including
vetting and advising both providers and
members, while building membership during
the first year.
THE STORY SINCE:
The focus this year has been on building the
network and membership through one-onone
engagement, the development of collaborative
partnerships, and hosting networking
events for charities and businesses to build
new connections, founder Annah Stretton says.
At the end of November 32 charities and community
organisations have joined The Good
Collective and it’s on target to reach 50 by
March 31, 2020.
To date, 47 business providers, from one person
businesses to large corporates, encompassing
29 business categories have joined the
network.
Since launching, The Good Collective has hosted
two well attended networking events, with
speakers Lisa King from Eat My Lunch talking to
the journey of developing a successful social
enterprise and Sir Bill English on his new initiative,
Impact Lab, which can measure an organisation’s
return on investment or social impact.
The Good Collective has formed an Advisory
of leading charity CEOs who are providing
invaluable input into the challenges and opportunities
community organisations are facing
in 2020. “With this input, we are exploring
collaborative opportunities to partner with
other Waikato organisations to develop and
support the growth and sustainability of our
community organisation sector,” says Stretton.
She also says conversations are well advanced
to seed the model in Southland and potentially
Bay of Plenty in 2020.
The big challenge facing The Good Collective
is funding. “The services of The Good
Collective are provided free of charge as our
focus is growing the sustainability of the community
sector, not burdening it with another
cost. While we received philanthropic funding
in 2019 from Trust Waikato and WEL Energy
Trust, we were the recipients of EMA’s Golf
Day. Moving forward, The Good Collective is
looking to corporate sponsorship and licensing
DAVID HALLETT, ANNAH STRETTON
AND HEATHER CLAYCOMB WANT TO
GIVE CHARITIES AND NOT-FOR-PROF-
ITS ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY BUSI-
NESS SUPPORT. PHOTO: PETER DRURY
of the model to other areas of New Zealand to
supplement existing income streams,” Stretton
says.
“The challenge for every charity operating
in Waikato is how to diversify their income
stream, how to remain relevant in our rapidly
changing world and how to be sustainable.
The Good Collective can help with all of these
challenges, but especially how to be sustainable.”
www.thegoodcollective.org.nz
Wishing you a
happy and healthy
holiday from your
local experts
For urgent
inquiries please call
Deidre Morris
027 228 8442
The team at Waikato Business
News wishes you all a safe and
happy festive season.
Waikato Business News office
will be closed from:
Friday December 20, 2019
until Monday January 6, 2020
26 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS - RECAP December 2019