“Really appreciate this added support at this time – grant writing is such a huge time consumer
at the best of times, more so now where service delivery and responsiveness is key.”
Since the start of the COVID pandemic in March 2020, Hui E! Community Aotearoa has supported community groups to access funding as part of its Hoa Pūtea Grant Writing Support kaupapa. These community groups are small grassroots groups with a revenue of under $2 million dollars or are fully voluntary run. They are designed to meet the immediate needs of their communities. The Hoa Pūtea kaupapa offers support with a community group’s first grant funding application of between $5,000-$50,000.
“Thank you so much! We are very grateful for people like you doing such important work
at a time when so many people in our community are struggling. Thank you so much for
creating awareness for our cause! Love your work.”
The analysis showed that the purpose of the Hoa Pūtea kaupapa, to support community, voluntary and grassroots organisations to apply for funding, is highly valued. Grant writing is time consuming and requires a particular skillset that volunteer and small community organisations do not necessarily have. Applicants indicated that providing support with grant writing meant they could spend valuable time and resources on their key purpose.
“Thank you! A special gift was offered to us, in the form of our grant writer!
They dropped into our organisation and were 100% easy to work with, articulate,
kind and just a dream. Thank you for crossing our paths. Their excellent writing skills gave
me so many extra hours to focus on other things and I really appreciate it.”
Having an external skilled grant writer increased the confidence of the applicants that they would be more successful. It enabled applicants to look at their mahi from the perspective of an external person, several comments referenced the benefit of ‘peer review, proof reading and another perspective’ to the application. Several organisations indicated that they would be using their grant writer in the future and that the relationship was ongoing.
“The process in itself is an excellent way to reflect, refresh and revise one’s thinking in regard to
organisational vision, purpose and aligning the project goals for the application. Having external
input like this was very valuable and we would like to express our sincere thanks to Hui E!”
The analysis indicates that the work of Hui E! Community Aotearoa is highly valued by many of the applicants. The role that Hui E! plays in advocacy and support for small community organisations, particularly during the pandemic is highlighted through this research.
“Thank you very much for your support and quick action to find ways to help us.
Highly appreciate your concern and the team of Hui E! Community Aotearoa.”