September is Wills Month - Blog Series
Miriama Kamo
CFANZ Ambassador
28 August 2024
The cost of living and the job market are biting New Zealanders. The charity sector is working hard to plug the gaps but there aren’t enough donations to meet all needs. And for those that can donate, it can be difficult to know where to give. Who do we support? Where will our giving make the biggest impact?
No one wants to fund the proverbial ambulance, it’s stopping those at risk of toppling over the cliff that we want to catch.
So, it’s thoughtful giving that’ll have the most impact. This is one of the reasons I’m an Ambassador for New Zealand’s Community Foundations network. It’s a young and growing network offering the opportunity to give back to communities in an informed and strategic way. The network offers insight and advice to help achieve impact across your interest areas – for me that’s Te Ao Māori, environment and education. I love that giving can be so specific to the things that matter to me and can work for the future of Aotearoa.
Community Foundations match community need with donor interests, and they offer options to give for the long term. Some of the larger gifts – and these often come from people’s estates - set up invested funds that are dedicated to tackling a particular cause area. So, you can actually set up your own named fund to be invested in perpetuity - it’s a bit like having your own trust that gives out grants to cause areas of your choice, without all the hassle.
Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ talk about the 500-year plan, growing funds in communities, funds that are grown by the community, for the community. This resonates for me as it’s how we operate in te ao Māori, with an intergenerational and collective outlook that seeks to raise up everyone.
September is Wills Month so it’s the perfect time to assess where and how you’ll give. Perhaps it’ll be a gift in your will and invested for the benefit of your local community. Karawhuia e te whānau, use this upcoming time to invest in our future, together.
Dame Fran Wilde, Chair of Nikau Foundation (the Wellington region's community foundation) writes how donors are now thinking more strategically: "They are thinking about the future and want to make sure that they are maximising the impact of their philanthropic dollar..."
Read moreWith the cost-of-living crisis, the ongoing impacts of the global Covid pandemic and with increased natural disasters around the country in recent years, more New Zealanders are not only looking to support locally they are also leaving bequests in their wills to benefit their community...
Read moreRecent research in the UK shows how crucial professional advisors are in growing philanthropy. Eleanor Cater writes of some of the findings from this research...
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