Nikau Foundation (New Zealand)

Building resilient communities

The Nikau Foundation is the community foundation for the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, and aims to make giving in the Wellington area easier. Following the massive November 2016 earthquake that hit New Zealand, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, communities across the country were thrown into chaos, with Wellington being significantly affected.

Fortuitously, and understanding well the risks – natural or otherwise – that faced the region, earlier in the year the Nikau Foundation had established a Wellington Resilience Fund, which had been established to make each Wellington suburb resilient in its own unique way: to larger shocks (such as natural disasters), as well as smaller stresses (such as increasing homelessness). The Nikau Foundation, in what is naturally a period of disorder and turmoil for so many around them, now finds itself with a mechanism for giving in place, ready to make a strong case for local donors to give to the affected.

The intention is now to raise $75,000 as soon as possible, which will be efficiently disbursed in small grants to grassroots community organizations. With deep knowledge of actors already working on the ground, and a strong network of local allies, the Nikau Foundation will be there in the short and long-terms to help its community partners get back on their feet.

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