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Partnering with the Milford Foundation

We seek to find long term charity partners to work with in achieving our purpose of investing in the future of Aotearoa, New Zealand by creating opportunities for generations to follow.  

Specifically, we partner with charities who can provide measurable impact in our three pillar focus areas of youth, education and the environment. Alignment with at least one of our pillars is crucial to a partnership with the Milford Foundation and an alignment with more than one of our pillar criteria, having an even greater appeal.

The Foundation will look to partner with charities that are able to articulate and demonstrate their ability to deliver on their charitable mission.  They should preferably either offer or aspire to offer, these services throughout New Zealand.

Youth

Our rangatahi and mokopuna are the future leaders and guardians of Aotearoa.  We will work with charitable partners who see the value in our youth, harnessing their energy, and providing them with the opportunities to play an integral role in the growth of our country now and in the future.

Education

Every New Zealander has the right to a good education so that the dreams and ambitions they set for themselves can be realised. We support those  working to enhance education and provide knowledge for the youth of Aotearoa, allowing them the freedom of choice for a prosperous future. In a highly targeted fashion, the Foundation will partner with charitable organisations specifically addressing the widening achievement gap currently found in the education system.

Environment

The environment plays a vital role on life in Aotearoa. That's why we are committed to working with like-minded charitable partners who work hard to safeguard our natural environment, particular as it pertains to how we manage, minimise and mitigate the impacts of waste in our broader environment. 

Charity partner suitability considerations

The Need

What is the societal need that is being addressed by the charity and its programme that is seeking Milford Foundation funding? 

This should be a quantifiable problem with baseline indicators that the charity is trying to improve.

The Target

What is the targeted outcome for the charity or the programme? 

This must be clear, simple and bold and be able to be summarised succinctly.  There should be 1-3 key measures to assess progress with the key being whether they help progress towards the target. 

The target should incorporate a starting baseline and an expected positive shift or change through the programme as well as the key assumptions to achieve this.

Within the three key pillar focus areas outlined above, the Foundation is currently focused on the following sub-categories

Youth

  • Mental Wellbeing – Creating resilience over thoughts and feelings so youth can cope with the ups and downs of everyday life
  • Physical Wellbeing
  • Confidence development
  • Mentoring and skills development 

Education

  • The first 1,000 days – this is the most critical period for brain, body and immune system development as well as behavioural management skills. Working with parents and children in this crucial period leads to better outcomes for individuals and society
  • Education Equity – supporting lower decile schools and their students

    There is a large and growing gap of PISA scores between different students’ groups

  • Tertiary Education – Supporting student groups that are underrepresented in Tertiary education facilities

Environment

  • Environmental education – creating a greater understanding of our impacts on the New Zealand environment
  • Natural Resources – Including Air, Energy, Fresh Water, Land, Ocean & Coast and Waste sustainability.

We're not for everyone

  • Organisations that are not a registered charity with the Charities Services (i.e. have a CC number)
  • The Milford Foundation’s purpose has a strong New Zealand focus, so we therefore do not support charitable organisations where the primary focus is outside of New Zealand
  • Charities or charitable projects must have the ability to be scaled on a national level (i.e. not solely regionally based)
  • A charitable purpose outside our three focus areas (Youth / Education / Environment) will not be considered. The only exception to this is for special one-off challenges that New Zealand may face, as and when they arise. These will almost exclusively be sought out by the Foundation in response to a crisis as opposed to the receipt of funding request
How-to-apply-Milford-Foundation-scholarship

Grant Applications

Our grants application process is currently closed. However, we invite you to register your details for when it does open in the future. You can do this now by simply clicking on the button below and filling out a simple on-line registration form.

Apply here