This March, Tauranga Moana hosted over 200 community development kaimahi from a range of organisations – from councils, to funders, to social service providers – at the Hapori Aotearoa Conference.
The conference spanned across two days that were jam-packed with inspiring keynote speakers, nitty gritty detailed workshops and some extremely tasty kai.
The atmosphere and energy of the room was one of hope, inspiration and celebration; there are some incredible initiatives out there in our communities doing the hard mahi and creating lasting change for those that need support.
On registering for the conference, aimed at those organisations and Councils working in the community development sector, the organisers asked every attendee to answer a question—‘What is the biggest challenge you face in your work?’.
To us at Strategic Grants it is no surprise when they shared that the unanimous answer was funding! We hear it from our clients and partners loud and clear every day.
The final session on the second day was to collectively discuss and workshop this key challenge that is impacting everyone’s work.
Strategic Grants’ Emma Redgrove participating in open discussion at the Hapori Aotearoa Conference. Photo credit: Inspiring Communities Facebook page.
Beyond the importance of having a strategic approach to fund-seeking (get in touch with us if you’d like to know how we can help), here are a few further take aways to keep in mind when working in community development:
Value’s Aligned Fundraising
As the competition gets harder, and government funding becomes more inconsistent, this seems to be becoming more and more important. There was some great kōrero and examples of how this approach has truly supported the sustainability of funding for some orgs. (There is a lunch and learn coming up with ‘For Purpose’ that delves into this further: Register here.)
Focusing On Partnerships
Similarly organisations spoke of the difference between securing funding from transactional, light-touch funders vs. building partnerships. Those that had intentionally and strategically built partnerships had more sustainable long-term support for initiatives and projects.
Diversifying Income
With an ever-changing financial landscape, it was unanimously agreed there is a need to avoid funder dependency and broaden revenue streams.
Storytelling
It’s clear that demonstrating impact is important in securing and maintaining funding, but we also discussed the importance of storytelling. That is, how you weave together impact and outcome data, client stories, organisation changes, new and changing initiatives and so on. The power of storytelling shouldn’t be over-looked.
Upskilling and Capacity Building
With every team feeling the squeeze on time and resources, there was a real acknowledgement that space needs to be created to ensure training and upskilling in fundraising is embedded in organisations – because they simply can’t afford not to.
There was so much richness in these conversations and much more to explore within the challenge of funding – and it was encouraging and inspiring to see organisations addressing this head on.
For those who are keen to invest in capacity building, watch out for our Grant-seeker Workshops that are being run around the motu this year! You can also sign up for a no obligation, free demo of GEMS (Grants Expertise Management System) – New Zealand and Australia’s largest and most current grants database that streamlines your entire grants process.