All good fund | Auckland News | Local News in Auckland

A Waitakere experiment shows how Auckland communities can find new ways to raise money - straight from their own pockets, Hayley Hannan reports.

Mikael Aldridge sits at a sleek table, flicking through a printout headed in large, bold type: Education, Health, Access, Economic Wellbeing.

"You know, these are the issues that are at stake," he says pointedly. "They are all kinds of majorly important areas but, without money, it's hard to do anything about them."

Come the elections and the council merger on November 1, many people are unsure how community projects will be funded and if initiatives will survive the transition.

The Titirangi resident and his company, Wow Communications, have decided to help insulate the West Auckland area against future council uncertainty by donating to the Waitakere Fund. In simple terms, the fund is a pool of money for the community, raised by the community.

Mr Aldridge says it mirrors successful foundations overseas and is a base on which Waitakere can become a more self-sufficient community.

"It's not about seeing outcomes today but about getting the fund going so that we can see a stronger community in the future, because the synergy with local government is no longer there.

"I'd like to preserve the way of life out here and even make it better but, in the first instance, preserve it."

The fund is donor-led, so the money goes where donors want it to go. What a community or organisation achieves depends on donors' contributions.

An advisory group is being set up for the Waitakere Fund, which will provide donors with options, insights and research on the needs of the area. Whether giving $10 or $1000, donors will receive feedback detailing where and how their money is spent.

Waitakere Fund steward Pat Watson says the move is necessary at a time when people are finding they're no longer eligible for funding.

"Community organisations are waking up to the fact that funding is getting tighter and tighter without traditional funds. It's about getting the community supporting the community," she says.

The fund is one of 11 launched by the umbrella group Auckland Community Foundation. Its chief executive, Mark Bentley, says the not-for-profit organisation aims to match donors and funds with other groups, organisations or areas through its network.

Other area-specific funds are the Manukau Fund and the Forever Fund, while donor-specific funds include the Diana and Dick Hubbard Fund and the Natural History Fund.

Mr Bentley hopes the Waitakere Fund will grow $5 million in five years and for Auckland Community Foundation to amass $30 million in 10 years. But, for now, the next few years are about building the Waitakere Fund into its own "Westie insurance policy," he says.

"It's one way in which we can insure against the future. It's power to the people, so to speak."

Community assistance

Auckland Community Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation  that undertakes research and connects donors with worthy community causes.

The Auckland network has grown out of the Manukau Community Foundation pilot scheme and a worldwide movement.

There are now roughly 1500 community foundations across the globe, with more than 30 in Australia.

Mark Bentley cites the Melbourne Community Foundation as enormously successful, with about $35 million under management and another $60 million pledged.

Examples of the foundation's grants include $30,000 to the Victorian Tapestry Workshop, $15,000 to Opera Australia, and funding for the Documentary Australia Foundation.

For more information see: www.aucklandcf.org.nz