Nikau Foundation

As we come to the end of what has been an energetic and purpose-affirming year for Nikau Foundation, we wanted to take the opportunity to say a big THANK YOU. It’s said that it takes a village to raise a child – and it also takes a village to deliver positive change for our communities. To our volunteer trustees, local committee members, supporters, donors and advocates, we thank you for your continued support of Nikau. The Nikau team is taking a break with our offices closing from Friday the 20th of December and reopening on Monday the 6th of January. Our best wishes for a happy, healthy festive season and we look forward to connecting with you in 2025. Ngā manaakitanga, The Nikau Team ❤️

A big shout out to Craigs Investment Partners for their awesome tautoko of our communities this Christmas!     Each payday, members of the Craigs Investment Partners team contribute to the Craigs Community Fund. At Christmas time, this money is given out to organisations doing good mahi to support our communities. This year, we are honoured to be working alongside Craigs to make sure their giving made a meaningful and transformative impact for the people and places of our region.  This support includes funding given to: 🟢Presbyterian Support Central, Enliven and Family Works to purchase play therapy equipment to support children who have experienced abuse of trauma. 🟢Wellington Homeless Women’s Trust to deliver mana-enhancing support to some of our city’s most vulnerable. 🟢 Orange Sky New Zealand to provide mobile shower and laundry services, and social connection to people doing it tough. 🟢Home of Compassion to deliver wrap around support to people experiencing food or financial insecurity. 🟢 Pet Refuge NZ to provide nights of safety to animals affected by domestic violence. and... 🟢 Yellow Brick Road to offer support to families with loved ones experiencing mental health struggles.     Ka rawe, Craigs! 

Spotify Wrapped < Nikau Wrapped.    2024 has been a transformative, purpose-affirming and energetic year for Nikau Foundation.    As a small team with a big vision for our communities, we are very proud to have achieved so many milestones to grow generosity, build reliable funding streams, connect our communities and deliver meaningful support to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, the Greater Wellington region this year.    Our highlight reel includes...    🟢196 grants delivered to effect positive change for the people and places of our region. 🟢$1,157,325 in total funding distributed to support for-purpose mahi. 🟢Over $668,000 in funding delivered to support ‘the basics’, to keep the lights on, rent paid, and awesome people on board to do the mahi! 🟢11 new funds (new funds (7 established and a further 4 committed) to make a transformative impact in our communities, forever. 🟢$38m invested and growing invested and growing to support our region, long-term. 🟢$3.2 million in donations to new and existing funds; generosity which will continue to make a difference for our communities, forever. 🟢 Awesome, awesome feedback from for-purpose organisations doing good mahi to support the people and places of our region.    Feedback like:    “The funding has made us feel valued for what we're doing. It makes us feel like we're doing something that's respected and appreciated.” - Wellington Marine Conservation Trust    “This funding has allowed us to continue to offer our peer-led services to people in our community facing mental health challenges and those with disabilities. Our service reduced isolation in our wider community and encourages connection, provides support and teaches meaningful skills.” - Te Ara Korowai Inc.    “Funding from Nikau has helped our organisation deliver on our social impact aims, by increasing the amount of workshops and events we can run with diverse communities in different places around Wellington.” - Travelling Kitchen Trust    “Funding from the Nikau Foundation has been instrumental in addressing critical needs within the Pasifika community in Porirua. The demand for culturally-safe and non-judgemental mentorship for Pasifika youth is high, and the support has allowed us to create environments where young people can embrace their cultural identity.” - The Salvation Army _   It’s been a big year – for us, our communities and the for-purpose sector as a whole.    While our region continues to experience many challenges, we’ve been heartened to see so many remarkable examples of generosity, kindness and innovation across our communities this year.    We wanted to take this opportunity to say a big ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone who is working to make a positive difference every day – the volunteers, donors, advocates and for-purpose teams.    Together, we are creating a stronger, more supported region to pass on to future generations.   

Nikau made Forbes! We are so delighted to share that Sir Mark Dunajtschik’s bequest to Nikau Foundation has been featured on Forbes Asia's 2024 Heroes of Philanthropy List. Sir Mark’s significant gift will be transformative for the people of Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, the Greater Wellington region and Aotearoa New Zealand, and we are honoured to be the guardian for the next chapter of his generosity. What will become The Mark Dunajtschik Foundation is an example of strategic, forward-thinking, connected and locally-informed philanthropy, which will deliver positive change for people with disabilities for generations to come. To read more about Sir Mark’s bequest, and see who else made the list, please click below.

Last night at Nikau’s AGM, we farewelled and said a big THANK YOU a very special member of our Nikau whānau.   Having volunteered as a Nikau trustee since 2019 and as Chair of our Audit, Risk and Investment committee, Wendy Venter has brought a wealth of knowledge, expertise and insight to our mahi, and has made many valuable contributions to our mission of growing generosity to support the people and places of our region.   We cannot thank her enough for her time, energy and ideas over the past few years. Ka rawe, Wendy and best of luck for your next chapter.

We’re not putting a dollar value to our impact.     Why? Well, because it’s kind of...impossible.     Because, as Nikau is designed to exist forever, the impact of every dollar donated is truly infinite.     Take the example of our Sia Bloggs Fund (a hypothetical fund we established solely for LinkedIn content).    The fund was set up by Sia, a lovely lady who hypothetically had a passion for youth development, with a $75,000 gift left in her will.     This money is then responsibly invested, grown and protected with a portion of the fund balance given out in grants to for-purpose youth organisations every year.     While in the year after establishment, the fund gives out $2,651* in grants to support youth, it then goes on to give out over $75,000 over 23 years and over $221,000 over 50 years.     And as the real value of Sia’s (hypothetical) gift has been protected over time, it is STILL growing in the background so it can continue to support youth causes for generations to come.     So, when we talk about the impact of a dollar given to one of Nikau’s funds, it really is a bit tricky.     Because the impact will continue to grow, forever.     ✅  More funding for our communities.     ✅ Better outcomes for the things you care about.     ✅  More support for the people and places of Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, the Greater Wellington region.     To read more about our giving options, click below: https://lnkd.in/g5hrjB6D *Keeping in mind a few key variables and assumptions, such as investment returns, fees and inflation, as well as Nikau’s distribution rate. For more information on this, please see the case study below: https://lnkd.in/e3dCiN4a

It’s live! 🎉🎉 Our transformative giving campaign is now live in honour of this year’s Giving Tuesday. For this campaign, we really wanted to invite people to think differently about their giving. To think about their future vision for our communities; About the communities they want their great, great, great grandchildren to live and thrive in. And about giving in ways that contribute not only to the causes they love today, but to support the future resilience of our communities and actively grows the funding pool.  To find out more, click on our campaign page below.  https://lnkd.in/gsdTBpYc

Today, we launch our transformative giving campaign in honour of this year's Giving Tuesday. For this campaign, we went through countless taglines.  And...to be honest, quite a few ended up on the show room floor.  We wanted to make sure that we were really, truly sharing the benefits of endowment fund giving.  Call us biased...but we are fans. Because endowment fund giving offers soooo many benefits.  🟢It allows you to extend the impact of your dollar far beyond the here and now; 🟢To make sure the causes and organisations you love get the funding they need, long-term; 🟢To rest easy knowing that the next chapter of your generosity is taken care of; 🟢 And the comfort of knowing your generosity will continue to create change locally, forever. But, perhaps most special of all, it allows you to play a meaningful part in the next chapter of our region; It allows you to contribute to an asset that will support local causes, forever; That will ensure that the places that make Wellington special can continue to be enjoyed for generations to come; That will truly contribute to the future resilience of our communities; And, to give in a way that will impact your great, great, great grandchildren. So, with that in mind, enter a preview of our final, final, final V21 creative, which you may see around from later today... Endowment fund giving.  It truly is the gift that gives back for generations.

Last week, we were so delighted to connect with donors, for-purpose organisations and locals who are passionate about our communities at our ‘in conversation with’ event hosted at Ngā Manu Nature Reserve.     This year, more than ever, we know that philanthropy is not a ‘nice to have’, that generosity is the lifeblood of our communities and that building reliable funding streams is pivotal in aiding the future resilience of our communities.     But we also know that nurturing connection, encouraging conversation and bringing our communities together is an important part of effecting positive change.    We were so delighted to welcome Pat Stuart, Chair of the Ngā Manu Trust, Margaret Nixon, Nikau Foundation donor and Denis Wood, Founder of The Shed Project to join us in a conversation about generosity and its role in their mahi, and their passions and aspirations for our community.  A big thank you to Kāpiti Coast Deputy Mayor, Lawrence Kirby for hosting such an inspiring and energetic conversation.  

We were so delighted to visit the lovely crew at L'Arche Kāpiti a few weeks ago. With a kaupapa to celebrate the unique value of every person and to nurture a more diverse, humane and loving society, L’Arche provides housing and support services to adults with intellectual disabilities and serves many people in the wider community by offering a place of belonging and growth. Located in Paraparaumu, L’Arche’s site spans seven suburban sections. To enhance the beauty around the homes, involve the community in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, and to create moments of joy for the residents, L’Arche embarked on a garden development project. Hoping to upscale their gardens, increase the size of their nursery and fruit trees, and continue the development of their irrigation systems, they sought funding support from Nikau earlier this year. For L’Arche, securing this funding meant they could begin construction of a large, robust nursery area so they can upscale propagation of their vegetable seedlings as well as natives and other plants, and develop four new garden beds. “The creation of the new garden beds has already built social capital, with a range of people being involved in removing the original grass, hoeing the land, placing retaining blockwork, distributing and ‘working in’ of good quality soil, planting fruit trees and berries, and appropriate mulching,” says Garden Co-ordinator, Ingrid Shepherd. “As the trees continue to grow and the garden beds are gradually populated with other edible plants and flowers, we anticipate that they will nurture joy and mental health, both by facilitating community and in the process of gardening; enhance the beauty around the homes; and produce ‘spray-free’ fruit and vegetables that can be used in the homes and donated to those in need in the local community via the organisations we partner with - St Vincent de Paul, Mary's Guest House, St Luke's Friday Foodshare and Cancer Society.” Ka rawe, L’Arche Kāpiti! We are so delighted to help your mahi to grow (literally!)