Foundation North has been trialling a new model of grantmaking – participatory grantmaking – which puts people who are affected by decisions in a position to influence and support decision-making.
Participatory grantmaking allows power sharing, simplified compliance processes and more relational forms of funder-grantee partnership.
Currently there are 10 Pacific youth participating in grantmaking. They have designed a fund, Pacific Future Makers Fund, to benefit Pacific communities in South Auckland, and have been leading its promotion in their communities. The Pacific Leaders have been assessing applications, making funding recommendations to the Foundation, and designing accountability requirements for successful applicants.
So far we are seeing a number of benefits:
- A group of empowered, engaged Pacific youth who represent their communities, and who are gaining transferrable skills & experience
- Plenty of new Pacific audiences gaining access to Foundation North’s funding
- A greater awareness & understanding within Foundation North about the barriers and opportunities of Pacific communities in gaining access to funding
- Deeper insights about our Pacific communities including their strengths and assets, and how we might better work with them.
“If you engage people the right way, you can open up innovation”
“Let’s invest, and it might have a ripple effect in terms of impact”
