As all our donors know, there are a lot of options out there for your philanthropic giving, and it’s hard to know who to give to if you want to affect change in a particular area of impact. Some people like to do their own research, and we’ve given plenty of tips for that in another blog post, but an increasing number of people are utilising our philanthropic research services to help them get straight to the answers.

Some donors come to us with a few issues they’d like to address, some of them have one in particular. Some have come to us with a goal and we’ve helped them achieve that goal through their giving. Three of our clients have let us share their stories below of how The Gift Trust’s research has helped them plan their giving. 

International impact for women and girls

Jill approached us two years ago with a goal to keep as many girls in school around the world as possible. An avid traveller, Jill had visited some specific countries where she had seen the lack of education opportunity for girls and was keen to do all she could for those communities. Engaging with some of our colleagues in Aotearoa and around the world (including our friends at Move92), we along with Jill have created a remarkable suite of giving to support her cause. Jill gives through her Gift Account called Feminista Fund. We can honestly say that she has made a huge change to numerous girls’ and womens’ lives.

Some of Jill’s chosen charities: Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Humans for Abundance, Just Peoples, Partners Asia

Inspiration for equity

Simon and Julie* had been fortunate enough to hear the remarkable American speaker and blogger Vu Le speak on the impact of funding on equity-focused organisations on his recent trip to Aotearoa. As existing Gift Account holders, they asked us to help them find out which organisations were working in the equity space in NZ, and how they could best support them. We talked to some of our philanthropic colleagues who specialise in the equity space and scoped out ten organisations we were pretty sure they would like. Sure enough, Simon and Julie* chose two of those organisations and we’re delighted to see the beginnings of their impact already.

Some of Simon and Julie’s chosen charities: Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective, E Tipu E Rea Whānau Services

Building a solution

Jacob and Barbara* offer a remarkable insight into their giving. They have experienced the issue they are seeking to address, raising a child with a disability. Jacob and Barbara* found the lack of respite care available to families of children with physical disabilities frustrating and exhausting when they were raising their daughter. They have chosen to give their funds to an organisation seeking to address this.

And that is where things became tricky – there were no organisations addressing this particular issue. There were a number of organisations doing exciting work on the periphery of respite, and who acknowledged the gap in the sector, but we had to find someone willing to take on this challenge that affects so many families every day around the country.

After almost a year of reading, meetings with people in the sector, and a great deal of thought, we found that the national disability charity Parent to Parent had the connections and the skills to offer additional assistance to families who needed more help. The strategic planning work continues on whether the funding should be best used to purchase a property for families to use as respite, or whether individual grants should be given to families to spend as needed. Whichever way this goes, it’s going to be a remarkable project that will help many families sleep easily in the coming years.

Jacob and Barbara’s chosen charity: Parent to Parent

Getting started

We’re in a unique position at The Gift Trust. Our team have worked in the philanthropic sector here and internationally for a number of years and have a lot of great connections. We are confident that if we don’t have the information to hand, we know someone who does. How are you feeling about your giving? Would you like to ramp it up to warp speed? Drop us a line – we’d love to see how we can help.