Transcript
JOSIE PAGANI: At the moment the NGOs are generating, the CID's member NGOs, are generating about $NZ180 million a year which goes towards some kind of poverty alleviation across the world and the need is greater than ever as we're seeing in Syria and across the world, in Iraq, and elsewhere, let alone in our own backdoor in the Pacific, where we've got communities struggling with the effects of climate change.
But what's interested about this survey is that it's clear that the NGOs on the whole have a very diverse funding structure and that's healthy. So, roughly, about 56 percent of their funding comes from the public, the New Zealand public, about 20 percent comes from government, and the rest, which is about 26 percent, they generate themselves - through sale of services or goods like fair trade for example. I think this shows a very robust and resilient sector, which is able to keep going no matter what happens with the funding.
DON WISEMAN: There's another part to it as well isn't there - in terms of sponsorship - from being allied with businesses?
JP: That's right but that revealed to me something interesting - that the NGO model in New Zealand is evolving and part of that is a response I think to public patterns of donating. So the number of New Zealand public donating has actually declined but that doesn't mean that the public are suddenly not giving or they suddenly don't care - it's that the patterns of giving are changing and NGOs are responding to that in a number of ways. They're looking at different ways of raising funding, of responding to a very aware public that wants to know they're getting return and impact for the dollar they're donating. So part of that is our NGOs partnering more with the private sector. And that means businesses that are already involved in developing countries or it might be businesses that help NGOs set up really professional processes internally so that they can account for their funds and that they have got transparency and so on. So I see that as a positive. I see it as the NGOs responding to the fact that the New Zealand public are very aware of wanting impact for their dollar and they expect their NGOs to be professional, to be co-ordinating with others working in development.
DW: Yes I suppose the implication there is that some of the public have become a bit suspicious about where the money does go.
JP: In my view I think the public have become more aware of impact - on social media you can find out immediately if money is getting somewhere or something is actually happening on the ground, instantly. So we have seen a rise in public patterns of giving 'Give A Little Pages' - people think "Oh I can actually donate straight to a programme in a developing country or a disaster relief, or even a local NGO in-country, in the developing country" And I think that the New Zealand international NGOs have responded to that really positively. They have gone well in that case we need to convince the public that we can be a broker, almost like an investment broker. We can take your dollar that you are donating and turn it into a $1.60, we know best where to put that dollar where it is going to get the best return and get the best impact. So I think there is a changing focus for New Zealand NGOs which is exciting.
DW: The involvement with the government is interesting isn't because as far as the NGOs go they have become a relatively minor player
JP: That's right. Government funding is roughly about 20 percent and certainly NGOs are always up for more government funding, but they are not dependent on it and I think this is a really important message for any government, that New Zealand NGOs will be there anyway. They will be out there working in the Pacific, in Syria, Middle East, Africa, and Sth Sudan, they are out there doing it anyway. Not dependent on government funding, so you might as well work with the NGO sector. They are an added string to your bow. You can use the NGOs which are often the only face of New Zealand, in some of these countries - South Sudan perhaps or other countries, for example. So I think it is a message to any government is the NGOs will be there anyway, you might as well work with us, we have got other sources of funding, we would like to work with you more, and we are doing it anyway, so come and work with us.
DW: Overall then, is it getting harder to get this money?
JP: I don't think it is getting money from either the government or the public but , it is just that the public are a lot more aware about where that money goes and they want to see returns for it. And I i think the public understands that our NGOs, they need to have an operating budget. I mean if you are an NGO like Red Cross you need to make sure that your warehouse is pre-stocked with equipment and emergency supplies, so when a cyclone hits or a disaster hits in the Pacific, you can get there really quickly. People get that you need to put some of that money towards your operations as an NGO, but I think w hat makes it harder or what makes it more challenging, is that the public, and the government, expect to see impact and are a lot more able to measure that impact, whether it's through social media, whether it's through networks globally. And so New Zealand NGOs are responding to that and I think they are responding positively by going 'Yep, well we can convince that we can do that. We can take your dollar and invest it for you, and you will get more returns for it.
