Building capacity
The most powerful community and voluntary organisations are those that have sufficient resources, information and skills to meet their own objectives and influence other bodies, such as government.
Community and voluntary organisations make a vital contribution to improving the quality of life in communities throughout New Zealand. Many community and voluntary organisations do not have robust and effective organisational systems to help them meet their strategic goals. Organisations need good quality support and information so they can focus their effort on delivering services and contributing to their communities.
On this page:
What we are doing
Building capacity in the community sector
What has been achieved
'Keeping It Legal - E Ai Ki Te Ture' resource
The Digital Strategy
The Community Sector Taskforce
Supporting Te Wero (Action Group (Māori))
Resources for Museums
Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector Research Centre
Building capacity in the community sector
The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector (OCVS) is working with Family and Community Services (FACS) on a project that aims to support the capacity of the community and voluntary sector. An initial project task was to investigate what practical support and information is available to help groups run their organisations. As a result, the ‘Managing Well: resource for community and voluntary organisations’ was published in August 2005. This catalogue lists over 120 written resources, websites, newsletters, manuals and information sheets, as well as a directory of relevant organisations.
» To access the Managing Well catalogue, go to the CommunityNet website
Following on from Managing Well is another publication to support the work of the sector. The Community Resource Kit will be launched on 31 October 2006. It is published by FACS and the Department of Internal Affairs with input from the community and voluntary sector. The Community Resource Kit is designed to help small or emerging community and voluntary groups, especially those setting up or undergoing some kind of change. It’s also useful for advisors, community workers and resource people working with these groups.
A link to the Community Resource Kit will be published here in early November.
» For more information about the project go to the FACS website
» For information about Community Advisory Services, go to the Department of Internal Affairs website
» For other sources of information and support for community and voluntary organisations, check our Links page
Contact: Glenda McCallum
What has been achieved
Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture information resource
The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector and the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations jointly produced Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture as a starting point for people in voluntary and non-profit organisations who want to know about the laws that may affect them. This resource includes information relating to volunteers and can be used as a tool in developing risk management strategies. Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture was launched on 5 December 2005. Nearly 40 workshops to introduce Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture were conducted around New Zealand in the first half of 2006.
You can order a printed copy of Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture (for those with no or slow internet access) from ocvs@msd.govt.nz
All updates to Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture will be published to the online version at Keeping It Legal E Ai Ki Te Ture.
Contact: Kathryn Paton
The Digital Strategy
This action plan was launched in May 2005 to ensure all New Zealanders benefit from information and communications technology (ICT) at work, at home, at school or in the community. The Digital Strategy is about making sure New Zealanders have the confidence and capability to use technology and are connected so they can make the most of the digital opportunities open to them. The OCVS will continue to provide advice and support on key strategic issues.
» Go to the Digital Strategy website
The Community Sector Taskforce
From 2003-2007, the government funded the Community Sector Taskforce to complete a programme of work to help connect the community and voluntary sector on key issues, strengthen strategic leadership within the sector and improve the relationship between the sector and government. Projects included a series of regional and local meetings and two cross-sectoral annual forums that enabled greater awareness of common issues affecting the sector. The Co-Chairs of the Taskforce were also members of the steering group that organised the June 2007 Community-Government Forum.
The Taskforce has contributed to the development of the Definitions Working Paper for the International Comparative Study on the Non-Profit Sector, and provided support for both the establishment of COmVOiceS and the Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector Research Centre.
» For more information about the Community Sector Taskforce, go to the Community Sector Taskforce website.
Supporting Te Wero (Action Group (Māori))
Te Wero, or Action Group (Māori), was established in 2003 to improve the way in which government agencies engage with Māori organisations. Members of Te Wero came from the public, businesses and community organisations.
Te Wero began its work by reviewing relationship documents developed by government agencies and Māori organisations. Following this review, Te Wero:
- developed case studies of effective relationships between government agencies and Māori organisations
- organised Hui Arotake (review meetings) to confirm that the case studies were a true reflection of those effective relationships
- produced a final report to outline the conclusions about good practice, which could help to improve relationships between government agencies and Māori organisations.
A final report was presented to the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector in 2004. The report noted that many relationships between government agencies and Māori organisations were progressing well and made recommendations on how new and existing relationships could be put on a firmer footing.
Contact: Hugh Lawrence
Resources for Museums
National Services Te Paerangi at Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, works in partnership with museums, iwi and related culture and heritage organisations to enhance the museum services provided to their communities. The National Services office has produced a user-friendly series of He Rauemi Resource Guides that cover topics such as governance, management, planning, collection care, exhibitions and other public services, customer service and relationships with communities. Included in this series is a guide called Working with Volunteers.
» View the museum resources online
Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector Research Centre
The Research Centre was established to "contribute to the strengthening of the capacity of the tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector through research".
The first major project of the Centre has been the development of a web-based research Clearing House for the sector. The clearing house offers free access to research, promotes a code of practice for researchers, connects people to research, allows groups to find researchers, and has the potential for email lists, virtual conferences, and a 'how-to' section, etc.
Some special features of the site include Maori metadata standards, which make it possible to use Maori terms to help search for bilingual or te reo resources online; creative commons, which gives the authors copyright but allows the protected use of resources by others; and a 'Wiki' approach, which allows collaborative work.
Anyone can register in the Clearing House, and then "frolic in the clearing" - to Flag, Rate, Link or Comment on any resource that the Clearing House holds. This process helps verify the validity and quality of resources.
» Go to Tangata Whenua, Community & Voluntary Sector Research Centre Clearing House