Place-based grantmaking is an approach where a funder concentrates investment in a specific geographic community — a suburb, town, region, or neighbourhood — rather than distributing funds broadly across a wide geography. The goal is to achieve meaningful, systemic change within that community by bringing sufficient resources to bear over a sustained period.
This approach has become increasingly prominent in New Zealand and Australian philanthropy, particularly as funders grapple with complex, persistent challenges in specific communities that project-by-project funding hasn't been able to address.
Geographic concentration. Instead of funding the best individual applications across a region, place-based funders concentrate investment in one community — enough to make a difference, rather than spreading thinly.
Long time horizons. Systemic community change takes time — typically 10 years or more. Place-based grantmaking requires sustained commitment rather than one-off project funding.
Community-led design. In genuine place-based approaches, the community itself has significant agency in identifying priorities, designing solutions, and evaluating progress. The funder's role is to resource community-determined goals, not to impose a predetermined programme.
Systems thinking. Place-based funders often support multiple interconnected investments — addressing education, employment, housing, health, and social connection in a coordinated way — recognising that community wellbeing is a system, not a collection of separate issues.
Relationship over transaction. Place-based grantmaking requires deep, ongoing relationship with the community being funded — not the arm's-length transactional relationship of a standard grant programme. Programme officers often spend significant time in the community.
Collective impact. A structured model where multiple funders and stakeholders align around a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, and continuous communication. Common in US and increasingly in ANZ. Requires significant infrastructure (backbone organisation, shared measurement system).
Backbone funding. Supporting a community organisation to play a coordination and integration role — connecting community organisations, identifying gaps, facilitating collaboration. The backbone organisation isn't a service provider but an ecosystem enabler.
Community endowment models. Some funders build a community-controlled endowment in the target area — growing local philanthropic capacity rather than maintaining permanent dependency on external funders.
Concentrated project funding. A lighter model where a funder commits to funding the best projects within a defined geography for a defined period — not as sophisticated as collective impact but more concentrated than general open contestable funding.
New Zealand's community trust model has a natural affinity with place-based thinking — trusts are established with geographic mandates and community governance, positioned to make long-term community investments in their regions.
Māori and iwi dimensions. Place-based grantmaking in New Zealand must account for the relationship between iwi, hapū, and their rohe (territories). Effective place-based work in Māori communities requires partnership with iwi and respect for existing community leadership structures.
Urban community investment. Several New Zealand funders have made significant place-based investments in urban communities experiencing multiple deprivation — South Auckland, areas of Wellington, and others. These investments often involve coordination between multiple funders and government agencies.
Regional rural investment. Some community trusts have made place-based investments in rural areas facing economic transition — communities dependent on declining industries, or areas with acute social challenges requiring sustained coordinated investment.
Long-term funding commitment. A 10-year funding commitment is a significant institutional commitment. Board and organisational leadership need to understand and support the long time horizons required.
Flexibility. Community-led work doesn't follow a predetermined plan. Funders need to be able to adapt funding as community needs and priorities evolve — more flexibility than project-specific grants.
Deep community relationships. Staff time is required to build genuine relationships in the community. This is a qualitatively different way of working than administering open grant rounds.
Shared decision-making. Genuine place-based work involves community members in deciding what gets funded. This requires governance mechanisms (community advisory bodies, co-design processes) and genuine willingness to cede control.
Impact evaluation designed for complexity. Standard grant reporting doesn't work for place-based investment. Funders need evaluation approaches that can assess contribution to systemic change over long time horizons, acknowledge community agency, and accommodate uncertainty.
Funder coordination. Many place-based efforts involve multiple funders. Coordinating with other funders — aligning on priorities, avoiding duplication, sharing learning — requires infrastructure and relationship investment.
Place-based grantmaking needs grants management infrastructure that can handle:
Tahua supports complex grantmaking including multi-year, flexible, and place-based approaches — with configurable grant structures, relationship management tools, and reporting frameworks that capture the full picture of community investment.