Weave supports collaborations that bring long-term benefits to not-for-profit organisations and the communities they serve.
Find out here if you’re eligible to work with Weave.
What we look for
There are many sources of philanthropic funding across New Zealand, but what sets Weave apart is that we only support organisations working collaboratively to make a difference.
For us, that means two or more organisations or groups forming a partnership to collaborate on achieving positive change for New Zealanders, our communities and environment.
We look for organisations whose work will achieve greater impact through collaboration, rather than if they were doing it on their own.
Weave wants to work with community organisations that are:
Considering a collaboration and would like help to set up a solid and successful initiative
Currently collaborating and want support, advice or resources to strengthen the partnership
Why collaborate?
We understand that collaborations can be complex and may require more time and energy than if you go it alone. However, when done thoughtfully, the positive effects of collaborating can exponentially outweigh the effort required.
Not-for-profit organisations collaborate for different reasons – typically to increase their influence, scale up their efforts, strengthen and expand their programmes and services, streamline operations to gain efficiencies, or to expand into new regions and reach new communities.
Some of the ways in which collaboration can happen are when two or more organisations:
Share office space, equipment, or admin services
Share volunteers, secondment of staff
Cooperate at a planning level including allocating activities/clients to reduce duplication
Share aspects of management and/or governance
Merge to form one organisation
In collaborative work, the first—and most important—point of alignment is the why: Why are you coming together? What are you trying to achieve as partners?
Think about how can you develop strong connections, build high-trust relationships and share information to reach your common goal.
Great things can be achieved when true collaboration exists – this is the work that Weave supports.
Download our Collaboration Diagram here:
What we support
Weave supports collaborations that will:
Help develop, deliver or expand a programme
Create a collaboration strategy
Roll out a piece of work
Boost organisational efficiency
Increase effectiveness and improve the range of services offered to community
Drive greater social and systems change
Save on admin costs
Bring about new ideas
Expand leadership
Increase public awareness for a cause
Strengthen advocacy
See our Case Studies for examples of projects that have received funding.
How to work with us?
Groups looking to work with Weave need to meet the following initial criteria:
The lead applicant must be a not-for-profit legal entity registered with the Charities Service or as an Incorporated Society
At least one other not-for-profit partner organisation or group is, or will be, involved in the initiative (a third organisation or group can be commercial if their participation remains not-for-profit)
The collaborative initiative or merger will result in identifiable benefits to participating organisations or groups and the communities they serve
Exclusions
Grants will not be approved for political organisations, groups involved in promoting religion, overseas-based groups, initiatives delivered to overseas communities, or for overseas travel.
Weave will not support events or conferences unless their focus is ongoing collaboration and it’s likely that a significant increase in ongoing collaboration will result.
Funds are generally not granted for ongoing operational costs unless it would significantly add collaborative value to the work being undertaken.
How to work with us?
Weave has moved to a proactive relationship-based funding and support model.
We will be actively looking for opportunities to collaborate and partner with our communities via our collaboration hub and environmental scanning.