The community and voluntary sector is the glue that holds our communities together. We feed the hungry, care for the ill and injured, provide necessities to those without, nurture the environment, educate, empower, and bring people together in a thousand ways.

The problem

The sector has been historically underfunded and now our services are facing rising demands due to the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis. A lack of sustainable funding means we are struggling to meet the growing need in communities.

We rely heavily on government funding

• The aftermath of the pandemic and economic downturn have squeezed income sources including philanthropy, our ability to fund raise and sales of goods and services and
• Other sources of income such as Local Government funding are under heavy pressure due to pressure on the rates base and their own increased costs
• Many of the services we provide are funded or devolved from central government (such as care work and social services).

However, government funding is often inadequate

• Funding is often only provided for service delivery and doesn’t cover basic and ongoing expenses (like premises and staffing costs)
• Costs have risen significantly without equivalent funding increases
• The sector struggles to pay skilled staff adequately with resulting recruitment and retention issues
• Funding doesn’t match need because of capped delivery, inadequate forecasting, in addition community organisations receive referrals from government agencies such as Te Whatu Ora and NZ Police without accompanying funding
• Many organisations continue to deliver services they aren’t fully funded for
• Many organisations are relying on Covid bridging funding that will soon or has already expired.

And securing funding is too difficult, particularly for small or volunteer-run organisations

• Short term and rollover contracts with no CPI increases are common
• The grant application and reporting treadmill is complex, difficult and keeps organisations from their core mission and
• There is a lack of culturally-appropriate funding models including models suitable for Kaupapa Māori organisations and other diverse organisations to effectively meet the needs of Māori and ethnic populations.

Because of these factors, we are reaching a tipping point where many community and voluntary organisations are cutting back services or are close to collapse.