Last month, the Catalytic Foundation distributed $513,393 to 113 community charities throughout Aotearoa. 

These grants were possible because of generous donations made by the Tindall Foundation, Otago Polytechnic, Mercy Hospital, individual donors and payday givers throughout the country.

We are beyond grateful for the support of these people and organisations because we recognise and understand how reliant communities are on small charities to fill voids where other services fall short.

The grants we award to our community charities are highly valued because we allow them to cover their operational costs, like staff wages and electricity bills, with this money. Currently, there is a trend by funders to support projects, which is great, but it ignores the fact that charities need some basic foundations to enable them to operate, like administrative assistance, power, and water. Without these basics, the charity cannot function and the essential support the community needs cannot happen. Our grants fill these voids.

We award these grants to local small community organisations because they are the ones who understand the needs in their local area and are directly providing help to the community they serve. Unfortunately, these charities, while being the backbone of their community, are severely underfunded because large charities are taking more than their share of donations. It is hard for small charities to find the resources to compete for funding against the big guys.

Did you know that 91% of all donations in New Zealand go to just 9% of the charities? That leaves smaller charities fighting for just 9% of all donations made in New Zealand. We think it is time to turn the tables on this and ensure that community charities are well funded. 

At the Catalytic Foundation we understand that donors want to ensure their money is put to good use. To provide our donors with confidence that the charities we provide grants to are highly respected in their communities, we send volunteer Catalytic Ambassadors to speak to every charity before they are awarded a grant. These ambassadors thoroughly examine each charity's financial situation, reporting and management procedures, role in their community, and their outcomes and impact. The charities who meet these criteria are then eligible for the Catalytic Foundation's endorsed charity status. This status is reviewed annually. 

We are now accepting contributions into our 2025 donation pool. We would love you to join us so that we can support local community charities across the country please CLICK HERE.

For the last 46 years, charities throughout New Zealand have applied to the Catalytic Foundation for grant funding. Through this process we have identified key stresses on organisations that can prevent or take them away from their core community work.

We are often told about the need for coaching and specialist services, such as fundraising, organisational development, IT and HR, for community organisations, so we have decided to help.

The Catalytic Foundation professional team and our skilled volunteers have set up Hearts@Work programme to provide services that can build capacity, strong foundations and networks for charities, often at no cost to the charity.

Applications are currently available for this service, please contact us today for further information

Because of a generous donation made by The Tindall Foundation, we were able to award the following Southland charities with grants for 2024:

• NZ Council of Victim Support
• Lighthouse Southland
• Kahu Youth Trust
• Southland Beneficiaries and Community Rights Centre
• YMCA of Invercargill Charitable Trust
• Flying Geese Trust

These charities all do amazing, and much-needed work in their community. We are proud to be able to support them with both a financial grant and the Catalytic Foundation's endorsed charity status.

Catalytic Ambassador, Liz Shea, kindly hosted a lunch for the recipients of the Catalytic Foundation's community grants for 2024.

The recipients of these grants were:

• NZ Council of Victim Support Groups Inc. South Canterbury
• English Language Partners Aoraki
• Geraldine Family & Youth Trust
• Citizens Advice Bureau South Canterbury Inc.
• Centrecare Counselling Waimate

Thank you to The Tindall Foundation and individual payday donors for making these grants possible!

Thank you to Cavell Leitch for hosting our Community Grant Awards event in Christchurch. It was an amazing event and we heard from each charity we support about the important work they do in Canterbury. 

Through the generosity of our donors including The Tindall Foundation, and payday donors from Christchurch businesses such as Pinnacle & Co. Ltd, we were able to award 34 charities in the Canterbury region a total of $136,277 in funding.

Thank you to our volunteer ambassadors who met and assessed the community charities that we supported. All community organisations received an endorsement from the Catalytic Foundation to help their fundraising. 

Congratulations to the recipients.

* Project Esther Trust
* Queenspark Community Trust
* Adventure Specialties Trust
* Community Development Network
* Phillipstown Community Hub
* Rowley Community Centre
* Lyttleton Community House
* Women's Centre Incorporated
* Moral Compass Trust
* Spreydon Youth Community Trust
* Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Canterbury
* The Hope Community Trust
* Pathway Trust NZ
* Compassion Trust
* Shirley Community Trust
* 24-7YouthWork
* Big Brothers Big Sisters of Christchurch
* Rachel's House Trust
* Youthline Central South Island
* Papanui Youth Development Trust - PYDT
* La Vida Youth Trust
* Waimak Open Door
* Life Education Trust - Canterbury
* The Loft Charitable Trust
* Graeme Dingle Foundation Canterbury
* Battered Women's Trust
* Victim Support NZ
* Kidz Need Dadz Christchurch
* English Language Partners Christchurch
* Strengthening Linwood Youth Trust
* Crossroads Youth With a Future Trust - Stay Real
* Birthright Canterbury
* Wainoni Avonside Community Services Trust
* PIPS Pregnancy Infancy Parenting Support

This month the Catalytic Foundation, with the help of our donors and volunteer ambassadors, we have distributed over $120,000 in donations to 19 community charities across the Manawatu, Horowhenua and Whanganui regions.

We would like to thank the Palmerston North City Council and Mayor Grant Smith for the wonderful function they put on for our community charities. It was great to hear from the hardworking and passionate charities we are supporting.

Thank you to Catalytic Foundation Payday donors from Gallagher Insurance and Palmerston North City Council.

And thank you to The Tindall Foundation for your generous contributions towards this community fund over the last 25 years!

The Community Charities we supported are:

Unlocking Your Potential this International Women’s Day 

As a way to say thank you for your support of the Catalytic Foundation, we invite women in business to join us for a special morning tea this International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March, 10-11.30am at Huami, SkyCity, Auckland.

This event will be a celebration of women in business and a morning of inspiration as we delve into the topic, “Unlocking Your Potential”.

Teresa Moore our CEO will be facilitating a lively discussion with four exceptional women over refreshments, coffee and specialty teas.  Our guest speakers are leaders of community organisations that are making an outstanding impact in their fields: 

• Michelle Blau, Fair Food General Manager (Food rescue) 
• Tamara Grant, Xabilities CEO (Neurodiversity and inclusion advocacy) 
• Barbara Williams, Kindred Family Services Executive Director (Women’s refuge and support services) 
• Cat Percy, Crescendo CEO (Supporting rangatahi through music) 

This event is our special way of saying thank you to 40 of our supporters, donors and friends, and is hosted by Catalytic Foundation and proudly supported by SkyCity. 

Please click here to RSVP by Tuesday 5 March for you and your colleagues to attend.  

The Catalytic Foundation Hearts@Work programme provides mentoring and capacity building support for community charities in specialist areas of need. 

For the last 46 years, charities throughout New Zealand have applied to us for grant funding. Through this process we have identified key stresses on community organisations that can prevent or take them away from their core community work. We are often told about the need for mentoring and specialist fundraising services, so we have decided to help through our skilled staff and Hearts@Work programme. 

We are grateful to the charities we support, who put their hearts on the line for their local communities. The collective effort of volunteering, donating and giving back time and resources is vital for our communities wellbeing. We are keen to facilitate this support. 

We are currently looking for sponsors for Hearts@Work projects in 2024.  

Please contact me for further information. 

Teresa Moore
Catalytic Foundation - CEO