On this page, Hui E! have included the latest updates, links and resources relevant specifically to charities and not-for-profit organisations. Please get in touch if you have any resources or updates you can share with the wider sector please email us at panui@huie.org.nz.
GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
COVID-19 Government information in one place
For all COVID-19 Government Information, click here.
Advice for NGOs and charities
Advice for NGOs and charities, as well as information about how you can support your workers and your organisation is available here.
Charities Services have provided a FAQ page on their website to help registered charities access information. It includes information around delaying your annual reporting or AGM, how to run an audit at this time, and what boards need to be thinking about. You can view it here
COVID-19 Māori Response Action Plan
The Ministry of Health’s initial COVID-19 Māori Response Action Plan establishes a framework to ensure the health and wellbeing of Māori is protected during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the plan here.
Information on deaths, funerals and tangihanga
Information for funeral directors on deaths, funerals and tangihanga is available here.
COMMUNITY INFORMATION
Working with Maori communities?
Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā has developed information and resources specifically for Māori about the COVID-19 pandemic. This information has been developed by leading Māori medical experts for whānau Māori. Read more
Do you work with whānau in financial hardship due to COVID-19? They may be eligible for government funding. Click here for more info and check eligibility.
Working with multilingual communities?
Multilingual fact-sheets are available here.
The Office of Ethnic Communities released multi-lingual videos on Helpline information and COVID-19 information to help people understand what is happening. Videos have been released in Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Persian/Farsi, Spanish and Urdu with more to come. Please share with your community members. You can view the videos here.
Members of your community who are on temporary visas might be eligible for foreign nationals relief assistance from the Salvation Army. Click here for more info and check eligibility.
Working with multilingual parents & children?
The Health Literacy Project has published factsheets explaining COVID-19 to children in 35 languages. All of the materials were reviewed and vetted by physicians and medical school faculty members at the Harvard hospitals. These materials are freely available for download and distribution without copyright restrictions. Access them here
Working with the deaf community?
Platform Trust have a new role supporting the mental health of the Deaf community. Platform is excited to support this work with Jo Witko leading the programme in collaboration with the MoH, the mental health sector and the Deaf community.
They have loaded a COVID-19 page with links to resources for the deaf community
Working with young people?
The team at Ara Taohi, the peak body for youth development, has developed a digital youth sector hub for you as a response to COVID-19 and NZ alert levels. The digital youth sector hub supports people who work with young people with a central space for good information for your mahi, easy access to great ideas for youth development, the support you need, and to know where to go if you are concerned about a young person’s safety. Visit the Digital Youth Sector Hub.
FUNDING
What funds are available?
Wondering what grant funds are open or closed? Strategic Grants has a page where you can find information about what’s available. Read more.
It complements information Hui E! has collated on government and philanthropic funding that is available specifically to organisations and groups who are delivering front-line services during Covid-19.
Worried about the impact of this period on your funding?
Give yourself peace of mind and contact your funders early to discuss any concerns you have about not being able to meet your funding obligations. Be upfront about your organisational challenges – changing community needs, cancelled events, reduced project delivery, loss of income, staff changes etc. Most funders are quickly adapting their funding models to cover this period and the following months ahead. Examples include Wellington Community Trust and Nikau Foundation.
Philanthropic Sector Response
PNZ have also published an open letter to funders to guide how they can support their grant recipients during this time – https://philanthropy.org.nz/covid-19-and-philanthropy-open-letter/
DIA Funding
Small business cash flow loan
EMPLOYMENT
Wage Subsidy Scheme Covers Community Sector
We were very pleased to hear the Minister of Finance confirmed that the Wage Subsidy Scheme DOES cover registered charities, non-governmental organisations, incorporated societies and post-settlement governance entities.
As a sector, we had been working on this clarity and hope this will bring some financial relief to organisations and staff during this time. Read more about government support for employers here.
This information sheet provided by Hui E! lets you know some of the details required and the necessary form to be completed to access the Government’s Wage Subsidy Scheme.
Managing your employer obligations
MBIE has released information for organsations to help you manage your employer obligations:
Changing an employee’s working arrangements
Worker has been advised to self-isolate
A reminder that the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires businesses and organisations to mitigate health and safety risks and protect their workers from them, so far as is reasonably practicable.
Pandemic Response Policy Template
RESOURCES
Key Focus Areas for Boards
The coronavirus pandemic presents complex issues for boards of for-purpose organisations. Many are now under pressure to increase services to their communities whilst their human and financial resources are stretched and fundraising, and other income is potentially at risk. The magnitude of the crisis faced by these boards is unprecedented.
However, amid this uncertainty and disruption boards have an opportunity to reframe their role and make critical contributions to help their organisations respond.
In this paper, JB Were outline seven key areas of focus they believe boards need to consider as they steward their organisations through this time. Download the paper here.
A list of current central government packages available to the sector
The latest JB Were For-Purpose COVID-19 Bulletin summarises the current central government packages available to the sector and its employees, including those announced by the Government in its 2020 Budget. It also highlights the additional government funding available to certain sub-sectors. Read the bulletin here.
Volunteer Guidelines
Volunteering New Zealand has released resources for organisations using volunteers during COVID-19:
- Volunteering during covid19
- Looking for volunteers? Check out this helpful list of here to find them
Using tech tools for your community organisation
1. CommunityNet Aotearoa have a page with tools for working remotely
2. Julia Capon from Do Good Jobs has blogged about her top 10 tech tools for charities
3. Techsoup have loaded a page with links to a myriad of tech tools for not-for-profits
Open source web-conferencing tool available for free to NZ-based organisations
BigBlueButton offers a free video conferencing platform to NZ-based organisations, with no download required and no timeouts for non-paying users. BigBlueButton can support up to 200 users at the same time. Check out the key features and benefits on the Community Net page, or head directly to BigBlueButton.
Free check-in app released for clubs, charities and churches
A free Covid-19 app has been released for cash-strapped sports clubs, charities and churches. It’s called Chkin.Me, and was created by Takapuna-based Putti Apps. Each club, charity or church will be issued with a unique QR code, and data will be encrypted and stored using Microsoft’s Azure platform. Non-profits can sign-up here.
COVID-19 Legal Handbook
This handbook published by Parry Field Lawyers aims to help with issues that have arisen during the Covid-19 crisis. Among a closer look at financial packages set up by the Government, governance and how director’s duties still apply during this time, this handbook also looks at the impact Covid-19 is having on charities and not for profits, and providing some insight on the potential action that can be taken, not just in the short term but also in the long term and the opportunities that may be available to ensure continuation into the future. Download your copy here.
WEBINARS
Insights into Community Innovation & Getting Through COVID-19
From Response to Recovery
This page was last updated on 9 July 2020.