Social Cohesion Fund

The Gift Trust manages a fund on behalf of a group of New Zealand funders and individuals who have recognised a growing social division in Aotearoa, and an increase of misinformation and hate which is primarily spread online.

Information for charities and others seeking funding

The Social Cohesion Fund has been giving collaboratively for over a year, based on a set of criteria drawn from landscape research we have commissioned from experts in the social cohesion space.

We are proactively reaching out to organisations identified by that research, but will soon also be welcoming expressions of interest from New Zealand not-for-profits working in the space – keep an eye on our LinkedIn page for the latest updates.

The funders are concerned about how these things will impact our society (families, communities, businesses, including our economic and political spheres), and the fund will support work that aims to:

Strengthen social harmony and inclusion, participation, and trust in institutional democracy.

Ensure that our foundational document of Te Tiriti o Waitangi is honoured and upheld

Share correct and accessible information about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and wider constitutional reform to inform public debate.

Support communities to have respectful, compassionate and effective conversations.

Ensure “people in the middle” are not swayed by misinformation.

Curtail misinformation, disinformation and fear based rhetoric, particularly that which affects communities experiencing social exclusion.

Reverse Aotearoa’s current slip into global trends of intolerance and racism.

If you are a funder or donor interested in supporting the Social Cohesion Fund, please contact Yvonne Trask at The Gift Trust: yvonne@thegifttrust.org.nz

Woven Together

Woven Together is a report written by Lani Evans and Te Raukura O’Connell Rapira, and commissioned by The Gift Trust on behalf of a collective of funders who aspire to create a socially cohesive Aotearoa, where equity and inclusivity are prioritised, and every person feels safe, welcome, and valued. The work brings together insights from literature, media and interviews/hui with 80 subject matter experts to look at the state of social cohesion in Aotearoa, and how philanthropy can fund to strengthen it.

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