Simon Perry|Chairman|Perry Foundation

Welcome to the September edition of the Perry Foundation Connection.

With spring fast approaching, and the economy showing early signs of recovery, I’m sure we can all start to feel more positive about what is ahead.

The last quarter has been a tough one for all of New Zealand, Perry Foundation included. With the Gaming Industry in New Zealand continuing to receive negative publicity and the spiraling revenue trend showing no sign of abating – it is timely to focus on the ‘good’ of the industry.

You’re probably aware that New Zealand is the only country in the world where funds generated from gaming machines are returned for community benefit. Therefore the majority of New Zealanders get the benefit from New Zealand’s unique charity gaming model – either through the enjoyment derived from participating in their chosen pastime, or being associated with one of the many not-for-profit organisations that receive funding.

In fact, over the past five years Class 4 Gaming has on average generated more than $1 million per day for community benefit. That contribution is considerably more than both SPARC and Lotto funding put together, leaving no doubt that gaming funding provides a level of financial support to New Zealand’s not for profit sector that simply could not be generated elsewhere.

So please, be proud to celebrate the ‘good’ of this industry with us !!

Young NZ Songwriters Impress

Perry Foundation has been a key supporter of the Play It Strange Trust since its inception in 2004.

Saturday 22 August saw Play It Strange celebrate its 6th Annual Songwriting Competition. With 361 entries this year (an increase of 15% on last year’s competition), this celebration of home grown talent is going from strength to strength.

Wellington’s William Jackman from Onslow College won the supreme ‘Perry Foundation Award’ with his song titled “Closed Windows and an Open Door”. William is pictured here with Chief Judge Jordan Luck.

Andy Roche|Regional Advisory Board Representative|Central

New Advisory Board Rep for the Central Region

Perry Foundation established three Regional Advisory Boards in 2008 – with the purpose of having local people make recommendations to the Perry Foundation Board on grants in their local region.

Katikati based Andy Roche has been newly appointed as our Regional Advisory Board representative for the Central region. As the National Manager for the Halberg Trust, Andy has been involved in sports administration for over 30 years. His role with the Halberg Trust involves creating opportunities for disabled people to enjoy the same physical activity opportunities as non-disabled New Zealanders.

“I’m really excited about joining the Perry Foundation as the Regional Advisory representative for the Central region” says Andy. “I’m passionate about assisting communities to increase capacity and through my various community roles, have seen the huge difference the Perry Foundation makes. I am proud to have the opportunity to contribute to this process”.

Check out the Grants Section of our website for more information about the Regional Advisory Board representative in your region.

We’re Making A Difference

Since our May newsletter, we’ve been busy assisting our venue operators with day to day operational issues and liaising with community groups with regard to their applications for funds.

Our June 09 funding round saw more than 260 groups receive a total of $6,181,064 in funding. We’ve profiled a couple of grant recipients below, or you can check out our website for more details.

POET goes from strength to strength

Piloted at Waikato’s Ngaruawahia High School in 2003, POET (Perry Outdoor Education Trust) has grown into a well respected outdoor education provider, facilitating low cost professional outdoor education programmes across all year levels for students at seven secondary schools throughout New Zealand – Aorere College in Manukau, Kelston Boys High School in Waitakere, Te Kauwhata College, Huntly High School, Ngaurawahia High School, Mt Maunganui High School and Hornby High School in Christchurch.

Programme Manager Karen Singers gets to celebrate POET’S successes on a daily basis. “The programme offers a myriad of activities from team building challenges to kayaking and caving” said Karen “and as a result, we are constantly taking teenagers outside their comfort zone and watching them grow in self esteem and confidence as a result. The recent grant from Perry Foundation will allow us to continue to offer these great programmes to so many great young New Zealanders.”

For more information on POET, send an email to Karen. Karen.singers@poet.org.nz

Zeal inspires young artists

“Zeal is all about you and your chance to be creative, whether it's jamming some music with your mates, performing your solo tunes, showing your first art exhibition, designing or painting a masterpiece, or just being entertained by a great night of rock, hip hop, acoustic shows and much more!”

In partnership with the Waitakere City Council, Zeal have established the “Global Café”, located in the old Henderson Library on Alderman Drive. It’s a dedicated music and arts venue for youth, giving Waitakere residents between the ages of 13 and 25 access to a ‘state of the art’ performance area, sound and recording studios, media room, art studio and a cafe for youth to hang out.

A recent grant from Perry Foundation will enable Zeal to purchase a professional video camera, a video mixing desk, screens and cabling.

Zeal’s dynamic website gives a detailed insight into their operation - www.zeal.org.nz

Fundraising Tips for Community Groups

Fundraising NZ is a monthly magazine for New Zealanders working in the not for profit sector. It contains lots of valuable information and tips covering a range of topics for the fundraiser. A recent edition included “10 tiny fundraising checks that a Chief Executive should do in 2009”.

Act like a prospective doner and call your organisation (or get someone to do this for you) to see how the phone system and receptionist treat you.

Check your website to ensure your “donate now” pages and links are all working.

Get someone to send an email seeking information about donations or bequests and check the response is efficient and accurate.

spend a day answering donor e-mails or donor enquiries.

Make a house-call with your bequest manager or make an appointment to visit a significant funder or donor.

Read through all your donation material or promotional material to check that it’s still relevant and to ensure the details are all up to date.

Add a paragraph to your email signature promoting donations and calling for support, and ask all staff to do the same.

Try a few different Google searches to find out where your organisation ranks in your sector. Think link a donor and search according to certain key words. If you don’t rank on the first page, you need to change your web copy to include important key words.

Review your expenditure and ensure that everything you purchase is either essential or is adding value to the mission of your organisation.

Review the results of the above checks with your staff and set key performance indicators to ensure all activities are carried out to the highest standards.

Check out their website for lots of fundraising tips and subscription details – www.foresee.co.nz.

Donated Software and Advice a Hit

Get the latest Computer Software as a Donation!

Around 300 charities in New Zealand have received more that $3 million dollars worth of donated software last year from TechSoup NZ, part of the global TechSoup software donation programme.

“The only reason why more groups haven’t benefited is that thousands of eligible New Zealand charities have yet to register” said Michael Woodcock, of the NZ Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations, the New Zealand partner helping to promote the programme here.

With over 140 products available, and the product base still growing, the programme offers huge savings to New Zealand charities and the opportunity to make significant improvements with their organisation’s ICT capacity. As Tony Blackett - General Manager of Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand said of the programme, “We now have a network that matches that of a large budget scale organisation, thanks to the support from TechSoup and Microsoft”.

What do you need to do? Simply go to the website www.techsoup.net.nz to register your organisation on to the system – all you need is your Charities Commission number or a Tax emption letter from IRD. If your application is successful, make sure you take the time to plan your order as you can only make one order per years. All the rules are on the website and each order has an admin fee of 4%.

So don’t delay, make the most of this exciting opportunity.