Philanthropy tree blossoms from strong roots

Jennifer Belmont might just have the most rewarding job in Queenstown Lakes.
As founding trustee and CEO of the Wakatipu Community Foundation, she’s at the centre of an organism that helps people help others, creating a snowball effect in New Zealand’s ski resort tourism capital.
WCF has been a runaway success story since it was established in 2018. One of the youngest and fastest growing of the country’s 17 community foundations, it has allocated $2.4 million in grants and pledged grants since its inception.
It now has more than $1m in funds under management, over $25m in wills-based endowments, and has established 41 funds and initiatives, including 14 since April.
But numbers alone don’t capture the spirit of the whole.
There are hundreds of people involved in WCF’s philanthropic family tree, from Belmont, the board of trustees and ambassadors, to volunteers in the various initiatives, and those on the frontline in the organisations they support.
“You get to see how incredible this community is, everyone pulling together,” Belmont says. “And I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface in terms of what we can achieve and how we can grow.
“Community foundations are just such a fantastic model. It’s a win-win for everyone involved and enables us to be so creative with pathways for philanthropy in all its forms.”
The not-of-profit aims to provide immediate and long-term funding streams.
That’s done through various mechanisms, including giving circles such as Impact100, pass-through funds like the Greatest Needs Fund, and WCF’s pooled fund, which retains the capital and funds projects from the returns on investment.
Individual donors and companies can direct where they want the money spent, helping to personalise the philanthropy.
“That’s what I love about it. For example, we’ll sit down with a donor, listen to their story, and develop a strategic plan for their giving.
“You get these lightbulb moments, when you find out what’s driving them, their interests, suggest a plan, and they say ‘oh wow, that would be cool, I would love to do that’.
“And those stories inspire others to give too.”
WCF also helps charities, such as Happiness House and Bruce Grant Memorial Trust, build their funds, creating a source of community capital in perpetuity.
Successes include Impact100, founded by Kristen Holtzman and now led by Clare Irons. Over the past three years, it has given almost $500,000 to community projects in grants, such $100k towards the Tom Pryde Centre in Arrowtown, a new dedicated support centre of people with disabilities.
The Greatest Need Fund is also a win, raising more than $1.2m to support the community through the pandemic. It was established by the indomitable Kaye Parker, who along with the late Sir Eion Edgar and Mark Taylor, was a founding ambassador of the WCF.
And the WCF’s scholarships and grants programme, managed by Euni Borrie, features initiatives such as the Kate Moetaua Fund, established in memory of the popular drama teacher, and led by her daughters and husband.
One major area of growth is likely to be corporate giving, both financially and volunteering, with the likes of Craigs Investment Partners and Sotheby’s leading the way.
“We’ve had really robust discussions about what corporate giving strategies might look like. Again, it’s a win-win for both sides because staff get these amazing opportunities to work with the community, which helps workplace wellbeing.
“That’s going to be exciting to develop.”
Belmont had started a community foundation in the US, before she moved to Queenstown nine years ago.
Looking for a place to volunteer, she realised Queenstown Lakes didn’t have one of its own, so instead decided to help the Wakatipu High School Foundation.
But she says it was always in the back of her mind that Queenstown would be an ideal place to establish a community foundation, and not because it has more than its fair share of people with deep pockets.
“It’s for everybody, from all different backgrounds, who can give in different ways. People can give one or more of the three Ts - time, talent and treasure.
“Sometimes in life you gravitate to giving your time, or using your talent to serve on a board or in an organisation, and sometimes you give treasure. Even then, it doesn’t have to be huge, you can have a small fund, giving $100, $200 a month, or whatever you can afford, and slowly it builds up over time.
“My mission, and what I love about the community foundation, is to be able to grow philanthropy in all those forms.”