Not everyone with a great idea for positive change has the capacity or desire to incorporate, register, and manage their own charitable entity, but without one, you’re locked out of funding opportunities.

That’s where Gift Collective comes in. Backed by the skills, experience, and charitable status of The Gift Trust, and running on the simple and transparent Open Collective platform, Gift Collective is a fiscal hosting service that lets unincorporated charitable groups get on with their mahi, while we handle the financial administration.

In this blog we’re sharing the stories of three of our Collectives, each of which is using Gift Collective to achieve important mahi in their communities.

Te Ohu o Onekiritea

Based in Hobsonville (Onekiritea), north-west of Auckland, Te Ohu o Onekiritea has been with Gift Collective since 2023. They aim to create opportunities for Māori to come together and foster a sense of belonging in their area, and to create cohesive community relationships between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti.

Through Gift Collective, they’ve received more than $70,000 to support their work hosting educational and community events, including te reo Māori classes, Te Tiriti o Waitangi workshops, art programmes, and Matariki celebrations. Aligned with mana whenua Te Kawerau ā Maki, they’re the ‘go-to’ for cultural advice and advocacy on a range of local issues.

Their ability to bring their community together was recently epitomised, when a sign – declaring a piece of whenua as belonging to Te Kawerau ā Maki – was vandalised. Rather than simply taking the sign down, Te Ohu o Onekiritea worked with a local high school to turn it into an art installation, which showed the community’s dismay for the crime and their support for mana whenua.

Find out more about Te Ohu o Onekiritea, and their work strengthening their community, at opencollective.com/te-ohu-o-onekiritea or onekiritea.co.nz

Girls who Grow

Girls who Grow was founded in 2021 by Catherine van der Meulen (UN Women Aotearoa NZ, Entrepreneurial Women with Purpose) and Aimee Blake (Future Farmers NZ), with an aim of growing the hearts and minds of young women to connect back to the land. Their pilot programme launched in Otago schools in 2023, the same year they joined Gift Collective, and is now running across the motu.

The programme runs in four stages: imagination-centred workshops encouraging creativity about the future, imagination challenges developing a ‘design thinking’ framework, on-farm experiences with regenerative philosophies and principles, and a twelve-month group mentorship. In an era when young people often experience climate anxiety, and a sense of hopelessness, Girls who Grow enables them to be part of the solution.

Girls who Grow has been supported by a number of funders and partners, including One NZ, through their One Good Kiwi initiative.

Find out more about Girls who Grow, and their work engaging the next generation of educated female change-makers, leaders, and environmental guardians, at opencollective.com/girls-who-grow.

Te Ariroa Evolutions Charitable Trust

Ōpōtiki, a small town in the eastern Bay of Plenty, is trying to break a cycle of intergenerational challenges, and one of our Collectives – Te Ariroa Evolutions Charitable Trust is helping lead this change.

Their creative workshops, educational programs, and community activities promote self-discovery, growth, and resilience for tamariki and rangatahi. With offerings as diverse as mentoring and
open-mic poetry nights, their approach is grounded in kaupapa Māori values and trauma-informed practice, recognising the impact of intergenerational harm and supporting healing through connection, consistency, and care.

The wide range of programmes they offer has made Gift Collective an ideal solution for their financial administration. By creating projects within their Open Collective page, they’re able to separate out their funds, and ensure that grants for a particular kaupapa are spent only on that kaupapa.

Their kaupapa Māori approach is as inclusive as it is nurturing, sharing matauranga Māori with young people keen to connect with their whakapapa and their whenua. Bit by bit, Te Ariroa Evolutions Charitable Trust is helping to change their community’s narrative.

Find out more about Te Ariroa Evolutions Charitable Trust, and their latest projects in Ōpōtiki, at opencollective.com/te-ariroa-evolutions.