Some Things We Do in New Zealand
Effective Altruism NZ – We regularly make donations to Effective Altruism NZ & help to operate their website. Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement that uses reason and evidence to find the most effective ways of improving the world. Effective altruists aim to consider all causes and actions, and then act in the way that brings about the greatest positive impact: whether that be through their donations, their volunteer work, or their careers. Effective Altruism NZ supports independently-vetted, highly effective global health and poverty charities that have strong evidence they save and improve lives.
Food Recovery NZ – supporting Food Recovery/Rescue in NZ
Social Housing – In 2019 we purchased a property in Auckland for use as social housing. This property is leased to Bays Community Housing Trust for use as social housing.
See the Better World Blog.
Past Projects
Tap Point Donation Devices (2020) – We purchased 4 of these to use for Effective Altruism NZ. They were set up in local retail stores, set to $3 donation which is enough to buy a bednet through Against Malaria Foundation. $3 will typically protect 2 children in Africa (currently distributing in Uganda) from mosquitos (which carry malaria etc) for 5 years. $3 to change 2 lives – a bargain.
Just Talk (2017-2019) – a speech competition aimed at encouraging teenagers to research a social justice topic and present a speech on that topic, as part of their normal school activities – to help increase awareness of social justice issues (the student does the research, the speech gets listened to by their family + classmates + teacher). Started in NZ 2017 for 13-15 yr old students – 160+ entries from 60+ schools. In 2019 the competition was expanded into 3 different categories: all students in years 7-8; all students in years 9-10; and all Te Reo students in years 12-13.
Inclusive Church Survey & Resources (2019-2020, project currently on hold). www.inclusivechurch.org.nz . A way to help churches self-assess, and also encourage them to be more inclusive in 7 areas –
– Poverty
– Ethnicity
– Gender
– Sexuality
– Disabilities
– Mental health
– Other areas including old age, divorce, singleness, suicide etc
Fundraising Ideas NZ – a free directory of fundraising ideas for NZ
Some Things We Like
Social Enterprise Directory (for Australia) – we need something like this in NZ
Future Ideas ….
Direct person-to-person sponsorship for those in need (mix the ideas of overseas child sponsorship, kiva & peer to peer lending, then add lots of idealism)
Social Enterprise Directory
Ethical Choices App Project (2019-2020). We’ve been dreaming about this for a while. See a 5-minute walkthrough of the concept on YouTube here. This project is now on hold.