Taking ChildFund into the future...
The evolution of our work
With a long-term vision of children and youth in the communities where we work thriving, it is critical that ChildFund New Zealand continues to adapt in order to meet the changing priorities of the world around us.
Since 1990, supporters from across the country have been motivated to create meaningful change for children, youth and communities in need by donating to ChildFund’s community development programme.
Over the decades, our sponsors and donors have witnessed the remarkable impact a few dollars a day can have for a child, their family and their entire community. This has given ChildFund the ability to reach thousands of children every year with life-changing programmes in education, health and nutrition, clean water, sanitation and hygiene, livelihoods, child protection and much more.
A lot has changed in New Zealand in the past 30 years. We’ve grown in population, maturity and industry. We are on the global stage for leadership, sovereignty and for our unmatched response to crisis and disaster. And, as much as our small country has evolved, the rest of the world has also changed significantly from when we signed up our first child sponsors. We have seen the rise of the internet, world leaders have come and gone, and people are now living into old age with diseases that were once considered a death sentence.
In many ways, the work of organisations like ChildFund is getting easier to accomplish. We have better data, improved modes of communication and faster travel. Celebrities like Bono and Angelina Jolie have advanced the aid and relief agenda on a global scale, and there is widespread awareness of issues both overseas, and in our own backyards.
With social media and better access to information, children and youth have more agency than ever before. Rather than relying on centralised organisations to fight for the rights of children, we are now seeing young people advocating on their own behalf, and for their peers, their parents, their communities and our global environment. Children and youth are becoming the world’s changemakers.
The corporate sector is getting involved, too. Many companies have adopted the Sustainable Development Goals and are identifying ways to improve, year-over-year. At the same time, it has become increasingly challenging for organisations like ChildFund to continue our work in the same way we have been for the last 30 years. Global issues have become more complex, and there has been an increase in conflict, inequity and difficult climatic and environmental concerns.
With all of this disruption, it should come as no surprise that ChildFund must also transform to take advantage of opportunities that make the biggest impact possible for children.
In the past few years, we’ve been building new business models and ways of working. We’ve streamlined our approach, identified institutional donors and managed largescale programmes and projects in a few dedicated communities.
In 2020, ChildFund took a bold step by shifting its New Zealand office to the Generator, a coworking space within Auckland’s innovation precinct, Wynyard Quarter. The move was intentional: by positioning our organisation amongst some of the country’s most forward thinking companies and start-ups, ChildFund has the chance to prepare for, and help shape, the future of philanthropy in New Zealand.
As the world continues to progress forward, ChildFund will keep on identifying opportunities to innovate, challenge the status quo and find effective ways to help vulnerable children and youth to thrive.
This article was written as part of our 2020 Annual Report. Click here to read the report today!