Our speaker this week showed us what one person with a vision and great networks can do to make
a very positive impact on his community. Pat Shepherd established the One Percent Collective, a charity created to inspire and to make it very easy for kiwis to donate on a regular basis to charities they care about.
a very positive impact on his community. Pat Shepherd established the One Percent Collective, a charity created to inspire and to make it very easy for kiwis to donate on a regular basis to charities they care about.Brenda Lazelle reports.
Pat spent 10 years doing music photography before volunteering to work for a charity started by Anita Roddick (Bodyshop). The owner of Bodyshop New Zealand had set up a New Zealand chapter on the Thai border working with refugee children who had arrived from Burma. He later returned to that community to help manage the charity. This life changing experience, overseeing schools being built in the jungle or undertaking agriculture projects, taught him how important even small donations can be.
Back in New Zealand he started thinking about how he could make a difference and use what he had learnt to support local charities by encouraging people to donate one percent of their salary on a regular basis. So, he tapped the shoulders of friends in the creative and business sectors and the One Percent Collective was born. Their mission - to support small to medium sized charities – rather than the high profile larger charities that have big marketing teams etc. One Percent Collective supports 14 charities that meet the criteria of: having expenses of under half million per year; less than 10 FTE; and contributing to a diverse portfolio. New charities are currently being considered.
The Collective has over 700 donors and has raised $2.8 million since they started 9years ago. They are planning for growth and hope to secure $1million per year in donations for their charities over the coming years.
One Percent Collective exists to inspire generosity and simplify regular giving so charities can spend more time on impact and innovation rather than fund raising. Pat invited us to consider - as well as subscribing to Netflix or Spotify (or whatever) – we also consider a subscription to positive change.
If you are interested go to https://www.onepercentcollective.org/