Philanthropy Internship

In 2022 The Christchurch Foundation offered a programme to help grow the capability of young professional leaders with a particular interest in the not-for-profit sector. It is called The Philanthropy Internship. 

We offered this to all our partners free of charge to thank them for their ongoing support of our work. We hope it provided an excellent professional development opportunity for them to offer their staff.  

This programme teaches key skills to young professionals, in their first 3 years of their career, about philanthropy and the not-for-profit/ purpose-lead sector.  

We created this programme with the belief that all professionals should have a chance to make a difference in their community. They did this by forming a “board” and were taught governance, marketing, PR, etc. over the course of 15 weeks. The professionals heard from CE’s / Philanthropists and other leaders who were guest speakers during the sessions and received mentorship from our staff including our CE and Board.  We had 11 young professionals join the 2022 cohort, nominated by their workplace. 

 
The project goals are:  

• To promote positive professional development by engaging young professionals in meaningful activities that build their skills and capacity in philanthropy. 
• Enable professionals to give back to their community through positive action. 
• Develop governance skills for the young professional. 
• Foster interest in supporting non-profits in the future; generates a philanthropic nature.  
• Build confidence – knowing they can make an impact. 

A particular highlight of the programme is that the professionals actively fundraised, and volunteered. Their education then culminated when – as a board – they hosted a charity futsal festival, which raised $10,618 for our Sports Inclusivity Fund. 

We are currently planning our 2023 Philanthropy Internship and will be calling for applications early in the New Year.

For more information please contact Hannah Duder hannah@christchurchfoundation.org.nz.