Imagine you are at a cocktail party and you find yourself chatting with New Zealand’s newest, and most controversial philanthropist. Apart from gulping, you need to be ready and aware of what motivates that person. Have you got your case statement ready to hit the hot buttons of New Zealand’s latest high profit millionaire?

If you haven’t got yourself ready for such a meeting, visit the website of Foresee Communications Limited, www.foresee.co.nz, to find out how to prepare yourself. In the meantime let’s tell you a little about the Morgan Family Charitable Foundation.

The Morgan Family Charitable Foundation is endowed with some of the proceeds from the 2006 sale  of Trade Me, the New Zealand internet auction website. The objective of the trustees is to use the funds for philanthropic endeavour with the priorities being;

• To reduce income and wealth inequities by assisting those at most disadvantage
• To provide a humanitarian response to those in need
• To HAVE FUN participating in the above

While some of the Foundation’s money is directed overseas, it is also funding local programmes.   Its Kiwi Heroes programme is about supporting New Zealanders who are making improvements to the lives of those in the world that have nowhere near the advantages we do. Gareth and Joanne Morgan’s global motorcycle travels in particular have enabled them to reach several of these unsung heroes making a world of difference to the desperate plight of others. They consider it to be a privilege to be able to provide some financial assistance to help these great people continue their work.

Because of their business in New Zealand, Gareth Morgan Investments (GMI) – which manages people's savings portfolios, Gareth and his team have spent a considerable amount of time moving around the country visiting clients. Those travels expose them to the issues that affect the regions, the projects, the causes and the aspirations of the communities and their elected leaders. This exposure has led the Foundation to launch a New Zealand Communities programme, the objective of which is to help fund those projects or activities that the community sees as a priority. They enter these assignments as joint-funders working alongside community leaders and the local protagonists concerned.

The intended 2007 New Zealand Communities programme of grants includes Invercargill's Hospice Southland, Christchurch's Canterbury Charity Hospital Trust, Nelson Hospice, Wellington City Mission, Palmerston North's Arohanui Hospice, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Taranaki, The Napier Pathway Trust, Lake Taupo Hospice, Gisborne's Eastwoodhill Arboretum, Life Education Trust Rotorua, Tauranga's Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter, Hamilton's Sport Waikato, Auckland and Manukau's Kidz First, Waitakere's Karekare Surf Club and North Shore Hospice.

Some of the local support is generated through “help yourself” opportunities such as hosting Gareth Morgan investment adventurer seminars. The local charity hosts an evening function with Gareth and wife Joanne as the keynote speakers on topics ranging from their motor cycle tours, their move into philanthropy, the state of the housing market and warnings on KiwiSaver.

More than 750 people recently turned out in Timaru at the Theatre Royal in aid of South Canterbury Hospice, paying a mere $15 per head.  The proceeds from the evening are matched dollar for dollar from the Morgan Family Charitable Foundation, the local hospice being now around $22,000 better off.

For more information about the Morgan Family Charitable Foundation and how to apply for support from the Foundation visit its website at www.morgancharity.org .

If you want to keep up to date with fundraising news and case studies, subscribe now to Fundraising in New Zealand, the only monthly publication produced locally for local fundraisers. Visit the website www.foresee.co.nz for information about fundraising training, resources and coaching available for people fundraising.

Heather Newell, Director of Foresee, worked for over eighteen years in the corporate communications sector before setting up Foresee Communications Limited in 1993. Since then she has worked with a wide range of clients from the non profit sector including local government, arts, environment, education, government and welfare. Her journalism skills are put to good use in publishing the two subscriber publications - Sponsorship Profile and Fundraising in New Zealand.

As a member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand and the Australasian Sponsorship & Marketing Association, Heather’s reputation for excellence is widely recognised among colleagues, the non-profit sector and the corporate community. Heather has a young boy and enjoys the flexibility of being her own boss. She is also a councillor on the Upper Hutt City Council.