Kia ora koutou
Lockdown life is back! The CSI team and network now have plenty of experience on pivoting from working and meeting kanohi ki te kanohi to using Zoom and the rest of our online tools to stay connected to our partners and clients. So while our office is likely to remain shut for some weeks, CSI will be available as usual throughout the lockdown. Where meetings and events were planned, these will go ahead remotely.
We are also looking at what we can do to support our wider social impact community during this time. We have some existing resources available from our Kia Whiti Tonu workshops on wellbeing, and an updated guide to available funding sources. Details are outlined below. We also have some inspiring short videos from sector leaders about how they and their organisations managed during the long lockdown of 2020. These are rich sources of information and much that was learnt will be relevant to today.
Please let me know if there is anything you think CSI can do to support your organisation or our wider community over the coming weeks.
Ngā mihi nui
Karinia Lee, Head of Centre, Centre for Social Impact
Community governance
Update on the National Strategy for Community Governance and National Plan actions and initiatives, developed with support from the Community Trusts NZ and Community Governance Steering Committee
Programme director Rose Hiha-Agnew says good progress is being made in delivering on the plan’s actions and initiatives. “We regularly hear from boards, trusts and organisations from the NFP sector that these tools and resources are needed and wanted. In particular, our mentoring programmes are generating a lot of interest as these will provide invaluable support to lift the capability of our community governance sector.”
Current priorities include the development of the website and knowledge hub to support the national action plan, and the extension of the mentoring programme.
Website - knowledge hub: The development of a website / knowledge hub to support community governance is underway. This will provide on-going learning opportunities and easy access to basic governance knowledge. A November go-live date is the goal.
An online hui to co-design the website was held in July. An engaged group of people with community governance experience helped identify priority topics, and resources governance members already use and recommend. The co-design process also considered how the information in the hub should be presented for reference and easy access.
The website will provide a platform for delivery of the wider range of action plan activities to inspire, engage and educate. These will include sharing case studies; providing opportunities to connect with leaders and take part in roundtable discussions with experts and thought leaders; online panel discussions, think tanks and co-design workshops; and a range of tools and templates, and easy to follow guides.
Mentoring: The pilot mentoring governance programme, with Volunteer Kāpiti and Mentoring Foundation NZ, began in June. A long-term partnership to deliver the national programme for up to 100 community governors will soon be announced, with the national programme due to start in February 2022.
Also in development is a Tuakana-Teina Chair Mentoring programme. This will facilitate mentoring support for 25 not-for-profit chairs across the country and build a community of support.
Regular updates on the national action plan are available through Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also sign up for occasional email updates. A recent e-pānui with further information is available here.
Environmental regeneration
The Centre welcomed Miranda Cassidy-O’Connell to our associate network in May. Miranda brings to our team expertise on environmental issues and how we can act collectively to make a difference. Two recent workshops have drawn on Miranda’s considerable experience to plot strategic pathways for environmental impact.
Working with Chloe Harwood, Miranda supported SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton’s to re-imagine their contribution to the oceans via a highly diverse and interactive workshop that explored their strategic direction. The workshop, which was held in July in Okahu Bay, attracted around 50 participants all committed to caring for the oceans. Dan Henderson, general manager of SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's, said he was really impressed by the experience, with Miranda and Chloe delivering “on everything you said, and then going beyond with your stakeholder engagement and contacts you introduced us to. It’s really been an excellent experience.”
In August, Miranda supported Environment Network Manawatu (ENM) in a strategy day for their members. ENM is a charitable umbrella organisation for formal and informal grassroots environmental organisations in the greater Manawatū River region. The facilitated workshop guided an update to ENM’s 10-year strategic action plan and enabled participants to identify the top seven priorities moving ahead. Feedback from the event indicated that participants found the day to be productive as well as a good opportunity to network. The CSI facilitation provided by Miranda was variously described as ‘excellent’, ‘dynamic’, ‘assertive’, ‘positive’, ‘active’, ‘open and warm’.
We are glad to have you as part of the team Miranda!
COVID-19 wellbeing
Wellbeing: As we settle into a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be important for us all to remember to maintain our wellbeing. Three of our Kia Whiti Tonu online workshops on wellbeing are worth revisiting; The Ora of Self, The Whare of Hauora and Kua haehae ngā hihi o Matariki. Further details on each workshop, and supporting kete of resources, are available here, alongside information on our other Kia Whiti Tonu workshops.
These workshops were facilitated by our associate, Tuihana Ohia. To sustain us over the coming weeks, Tuihana is producing some ‘moments of stillness’ resources – brief meditations on health and wellbeing that will provide a chance to pause, reflect, and renew our sense of purpose. One of these inspiring wellbeing aides will be available on our website each week from next week. We will also promote them through our LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts.
COVID-19 response funding
Our report on government and philanthropic funding support available for COVID-19 response was updated again last week, and additional resources and information added as we settled in for another Level 4 lockdown. The report can be accessed here.
Please email info@csinz.org if you know of additional funding sources not currently listed.
Kia Whiti Tonu
More of our free online capability building workshops, funded by Foundation North, will be offered over the next quarter. The first, to be facilitated by CSI associate Suzanne McNicol, will address how community organisations can communicate effectively in a COVID-19 world. We are currently finalising the details of this workshop and we will advise when registrations are open.
Combined Community Trusts' professional development programme
The programme of workshops continued to roll out over June, July and August. June saw Introduction to Community Trust Governance workshops in Auckland and Christchurch. Designed for trustees who had been in their trustee role for 18 months or less, the workshops familiarised participants with the community trusts and wider philanthropic environment. June also saw the conclusion of the Advanced Community Trust Governance Practice Workshops. This series of interactive on-line sessions were for trustees who had been in the role for more than two years. The sessions provided opportunities to hear from panels of experts, and for discussion and sharing information on best practice governance.
Two ‘whole of board’ workshops have recently been held, for Wellington Community Trust and for Community Trust Mid & South Canterbury. CSI Associate Judy Whiteman, who was a facilitator for one of the workshops, said the response from the boards was very positive.
“The purpose of these workshops is to support each board to develop as a high-performing governance team, to create a board that “hums”. The workshops provide the opportunity for trustees to spend quality time with their fellow trustees to focus on effective governance and board dynamics.”
For the remainder of this year CSI will be delivering Whole of Board workshops for three trusts. The remaining six trusts’ workshops will be held across 2022 and 2023.
From our community
Community organisations doing more with less - again
From Hui E! – feedback from their Mema Whanaungatanga network last week on this latest lockdown. The feedback - people are feeling more confident about what they need to do but are still struggling. Five tips are included on things we can all do to support community organisations and the people they’re working with.
Te Tihi o Ruahine: Digital dreaming and supporting the aspirations of Māori
From JR McKenzie Trust, this inspiring profile of Tihi o Ruahine, an alliance of nine iwi, hapū and Māori organisations who work collectively to deliver whānau-centred services.
Match - an accessible, collaborative and equitable funding system
From Philanthropy New Zealand, an overview of Match, a new service PNZ is developing to help both those seeking and distributing philanthropic funding in New Zealand.
A strong connection - digital training for seniors in South Auckland
From Foundation North, a story from South East Auckland Senior Citizen's Association about their digital training programme to help seniors build their capacity to identify and respond to their own needs, foster community connections to reduce social isolation and improve their overall resilience in a lockdown situation.
Four things businesses can do to combat climate change
From Ākina, a range of ideas about what businesses could focus on as they work out how to operate in a way that’s better for the planet.
White-flippered penguins put marine education in the spotlight
From Rātā Foundation, this digital story on Ōtautahi-based charitable trust, Blue Cradle Foundation, and its mission of making marine science more accessible to everyone.
Amplify Insights: Financial Wellbeing
This report from Australia’s Centre for Social Impact, Amplify Insights: Financial Wellbeing, shows that a person’s financial wellbeing is driven by a complex system of factors that, more often than not, are outside of an individual’s control.