I thought it might be a good idea to update on this gaming trust. I included these guys in the work I did earlier for my TedX CHC talk when they were called First Sovereign, but of late they have struck me as a bit hard: namely due to the fact they seem to have moved away from identifying where their grants were made and it’s not quite the simple copy paste job it used to be.
But I have time on my hands so started afresh with 5,046 lines of five years of grants data. Some two months later, much gnashing of teeth and questioning my life choices, here you have it.
They have venues throughout the country, with a particular historical strength in Rotorua. Indeed, the men who made the decisions on where the money goes are mostly based in Rotorua.
Looking at the past five years of data we can see a lot of growth in Wellington, and a bit in Manawatu Wanganui. It makes me wonder: Why the drop off in 2019? And what’s the grant growth in Wellington.
But I have time on my hands so started afresh with 5,046 lines of five years of grants data. Some two months later, much gnashing of teeth and questioning my life choices, here you have it.
They have venues throughout the country, with a particular historical strength in Rotorua. Indeed, the men who made the decisions on where the money goes are mostly based in Rotorua.
Looking at the past five years of data we can see a lot of growth in Wellington, and a bit in Manawatu Wanganui. It makes me wonder: Why the drop off in 2019? And what’s the grant growth in Wellington.
To answer the first question. I am pretty sure that incorrect data has been published. Sadly there are no financial statements published for One Foundation since 2017, so I can’t check this, but given the number of gaming machines under their management actually INCREASED by 12 in the nine months from 31 December 2018 to 30 September 2019 (the last time numbers were published by the Department of Internal Affairs on this) I’m guessing that’s the situation. I have a query in with DIA about publication of grants as I’m too lazy to read the legislation, but I suspect, given these organisations tend to be very transparent with their grant making, that this is an error.
The second question is pretty interesting. I have looked at DIA data for venues over the past five years. Wellington region’s machines have grown from 8 machines at 31 December 2014 to an astonishing 205 at 30 September 2019. They picked up nine venues it seems in 2015, all from Infinity Foundation. I’d love to know the story behind that! I did try to see if that affected the grant decisions, but unfortunately Infinity Foundation only have their most recent financial year grants available on their website (again, really?) so I can’t dig. One Foundation’s numbers have held in other parts of the country, although they are now out of Queenstown, and numbers have halved in the Tauranga region. Auckland numbers also rose from 24 machines up to 78 in 2017, only to drop off again to 36.
Then we can look at where the money goes. I’m only going to look at years where I have full data: 2015 – 2018. Money goes to all sorts of community organisations, with sport getting around half, and community and economic development, and education taking around 15% of the total given. They give an average of around $9,000 per grant, in 2018 made around 1,500 grants to 964 different organisations across the country.
The second question is pretty interesting. I have looked at DIA data for venues over the past five years. Wellington region’s machines have grown from 8 machines at 31 December 2014 to an astonishing 205 at 30 September 2019. They picked up nine venues it seems in 2015, all from Infinity Foundation. I’d love to know the story behind that! I did try to see if that affected the grant decisions, but unfortunately Infinity Foundation only have their most recent financial year grants available on their website (again, really?) so I can’t dig. One Foundation’s numbers have held in other parts of the country, although they are now out of Queenstown, and numbers have halved in the Tauranga region. Auckland numbers also rose from 24 machines up to 78 in 2017, only to drop off again to 36.
Then we can look at where the money goes. I’m only going to look at years where I have full data: 2015 – 2018. Money goes to all sorts of community organisations, with sport getting around half, and community and economic development, and education taking around 15% of the total given. They give an average of around $9,000 per grant, in 2018 made around 1,500 grants to 964 different organisations across the country.
What’s quite interesting is the regional split. For example, Bay of Plenty sports clubs get 43% of the Foundation’s total spend into the region, Canterbury’s get 59% while Wellington’s sports bodies receive some 73% of total grants into the region.
Sport? Well it’s a bit predictable: below is a wee table showing the top 11 codes over 2015 – 2018 financial year. Organiser is those organisations who run things (like Sport Canterbury) and Club is those clubs where several codes are offered under one entity.
Sport? Well it’s a bit predictable: below is a wee table showing the top 11 codes over 2015 – 2018 financial year. Organiser is those organisations who run things (like Sport Canterbury) and Club is those clubs where several codes are offered under one entity.
Now, one thing I just don’t get is multiple applications in any one year. We see this often with “For purpose” gaming trusts, such as Mainland Foundation or Air Rescue, where their bodies they are established to support receive support usually once a month. One Foundation has a fairly general authorised purpose.
There are a bunch of groups that have received multiple grants in any one financial year. Below is a table showing the top number of grant writers and their successful applications.
There are a bunch of groups that have received multiple grants in any one financial year. Below is a table showing the top number of grant writers and their successful applications.
There seems to be a mix of many small grants and many large grants. Who received the most in 2018? Wellington Rugby Union on $309k followed by Ole Academy with a whopping $280k in grants from this one grant maker. Now, I had a wee gander at Ole Academy last time when I wrote about the Air Rescue Trust. In fact that review sparked this decent look at One Foundation. Stuff had a look at Ole Academy at the start of this year. A cursory glance at what they do and their website suggests it the polar opposite of what Sport NZ is trying to achieve with its programmes to keep young people in sport. To me, it’s another indicator that parent organisations need to understand where the money is coming from, and look to use some sticks to bring grass roots organisations working against the strategy into line.
One Foundation put around $14m into our communities through the operation of their gaming venues. Their processes are simple, they fund a lot of different organisations, but their disclosure leaves a bit to be desired. I’m a little uncomfortable too with those sitting around the table making decisions to fund specific organisations, and I can’t help wonder why all those Wellington venues came over to this organisation in 2015 and why they are so supportive of football in the capital. I also have not looked at who made up the $8.7m declined grants (2018). I have the data but I don’t find it quite as interesting. Let me know if you do!
I write about this stuff as believe that as need to understand where funding comes from, where it goes, and how it gets there. As a citizenry we allow both those supplying money and those asking for money to operate, and as a community we need to ensure we have oversight over the organisations they choose to fund. Love to talk with you if you think this is at all interesting, and if you want to dive into the data a bit more than happy to do so. Check out my website http://www.delfi.co.nz/
One Foundation put around $14m into our communities through the operation of their gaming venues. Their processes are simple, they fund a lot of different organisations, but their disclosure leaves a bit to be desired. I’m a little uncomfortable too with those sitting around the table making decisions to fund specific organisations, and I can’t help wonder why all those Wellington venues came over to this organisation in 2015 and why they are so supportive of football in the capital. I also have not looked at who made up the $8.7m declined grants (2018). I have the data but I don’t find it quite as interesting. Let me know if you do!
I write about this stuff as believe that as need to understand where funding comes from, where it goes, and how it gets there. As a citizenry we allow both those supplying money and those asking for money to operate, and as a community we need to ensure we have oversight over the organisations they choose to fund. Love to talk with you if you think this is at all interesting, and if you want to dive into the data a bit more than happy to do so. Check out my website http://www.delfi.co.nz/
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