October Newsletter Entry - CNA Journal By Ros & Patrick

Communications Officer • October 4, 2023

Community Networks Aotearoa - October Journal Entries:

By Ros Rice, Executive Officer.

Me and my amazing team of two others have been talking about funding issues lately. For years and years our sector has had trouble accessing funding. We have had multitudes of solutions put in front of us. Social enterprise; funding forums; organisations trying to act as backbones for others; fundraising activities; hiring fundraisers; asking people to contribute through their bank accounts with regular payments; asking people to leave money in their wills; contracting of services; but still our sector is left always struggling to survive financially.

We are wanting to start thinking outside the box about this issue. Are there things we simply haven’t considered? Can we learn something from profit making organisations that we could put into practice? Are there place, spaces and people we could work alongside with, that enable us to grow our funding? How do our largest NGOs manage to survive financially? Have we considered a sector bank?

Just throwing out some of the questions we have posed ourselves. Do you have any ideas or thoughts? Send me an email eo@communitynetworksaotearoa.org.nz

Patrick's Hot Take! 🔥

It’s that time kia ora, Talofa…

Yup, a whole bunch of legislation will land over the next little while. The Incorporated Societies Act has begun – you can look at our webpage on what you need to do over the next 2 or so years; the Charities Amendment Act and the Financial Reporting changes all fall into place over the next 6 months with a number of changes starting in the new year.

Now, we aint no lawyers but we do know a number of very smart people in the Sector and around the Motu. CNA does its best to stay on top of all the changes and it’s a great comfort to be able to have such a plethora of excellent members who are great at sharing. One of our best resources is ourselves. CNA looks to lawyers and accountants for the finer details, but it's you who we look to for examples of employing protocols and processes that put these legislative changes into the real world.

Did you know that our Tick for Governance course is chocca-blocked with templates, policies, and examples that mainly come from our membership? Why recreate the wheel when we can share content that is road-tested already?

It's one of the ways that our membership helps us support and resource our Sector and our other members. That’s why we love it when you ring in for help or advice – because if we can’t help you, we probably know who can. Our membership is one big resource, and we’re always thrilled when we can connect you to each other to assist. Together we are stronger, together we can help.

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Hapori Aotearoa Conference Wrap-Up

By Community Networks • March 10, 2025

Last week Patrick represented CNA at the Hapori Aotearoa – Growing Communities Together in sunny Tauranga presented by Inspiring Communities and the Tauranga City Council. A two-day conference focused on providing practical resources amplifying community development. With each day having multiple concurrent workshops there were difficult (and esciting) choices to be made. The hottest topics were Social Return On Investments / Social Investment, Te Tiriti, and (no surprise) funding within the Sector. There were great speakers and a lot of table korero, spilling of tea, and sharing ideas and resources. Did you know there is a Regional Data Explorer on the Social Investment Agency website ? How might organisations use this to target their mahi and applications? “The Social Investment Agency’s Regional Data Explorer supports access to data for regional and sub-regional decision-making. It brings together 70 datasets or 'indicators' which can be filtered to meet a particular need." Another great workshop (Belinda Gorman ) looked into connecting with businesses to explore various ways of funding. Looking at alignment, how to approach and creating that relationship. One contribution we were able to make was a handy dandy doc on how to use the free version of ChatGPT to create a start – how to create a document that begins your journey on support, sponsorship and funding. Here it is – Using ChatGPT to Get $. And it was a great chance to catch up with Members – SociaLink (also a supporter of the conference); Volunteer Kapiti and Community Networking Trust. It was a time to catch up with friends from other organisations and to make new connections, both strengthening our reach around the Motu. Whilst conferences are expensive, attending can hit many birds with one stone and its important to get out of your own area, headspace to remind yourself that you are not alone in what’s going on; that there are people with ideas around you; and that (while it can be a draining experience) it is a fantastic way to recharge your spirit. We look forward to hosting our Members at our Members’ Only Hui on Friday, 7th November in Te Whanganui-a-Tara /Wgtn for exactly those reasons. Oh, did I mention it’s also our 50th Anniversary celebrations? Patrick Davies, Engagement Officer