This year marks a special milestone in the family and Foundation’s history as we celebrate the twentieth anniversary of The Tindall Foundation.
Twenty years ago Stephen and Margaret Tindall set up the Tindall Foundation to share their wealth with New Zealand with the aim of helping to build a stronger country, both socially and environmentally, for generations of Kiwis to come.
What started out as a small organisation with one staff member in a tiny office in Takapuna and a steady flow of small funding requests, has grown into a thriving philanthropic family foundation with a team of seven staff and a board of five Trustees.
It is hard to believe that 20 years has passed by so quickly. We are proud to say that in that time we have supported over 5000 organisations across the country with over $135 million in donations, capacity building, social loans and other strategic support.
Our founders, Stephen and Margaret Tindall, are dedicated to the work of the Foundation. The next generation of the family is becoming increasingly involved in the Foundation’s work, too.
Stephen and Margaret take a look back over 20 years and share these reflections:
When you first established The Tindall Foundation in 1995 did you imagine it would be the organisation it is today?
When we established the foundation we had no idea what to expect. We knew we would have substantial funds to give away but we did not anticipate the form that that would take. We did have one thing in mind, however, and that was we were keen to give a hand up not a handout. We have learned over the years what works and doesn’t and have, therefore, evolved into something quite different from what we started with.
Do you think you have achieved what you initially set out to do with the Foundation?
We are pleased with what we have achieved to date, and believe we are making quite a difference particularly in the areas of youth employment through Grow Our Own Workforce and Youth Connections; even though these are early days. We are also proud of our work in helping to establish The New Zealand Housing Foundation, Community Foundations throughout the country, and many environmental initiatives with our partners, WWF.
What do you feel most proud of?
We feel proud of the fact that we have been able to enlist the help of literally thousands of volunteers around New Zealand through, not only our Funding Managers, but also in major projects like Project Crimson’s Living Legends, and through the likes of budgeting services, parenting programmes and migrant and refugee organisations, to name just a few. The people at these community organisations give generously and freely of their time and help leverage our funds enormously.
What are your hopes for the foundation’s future?
Our hopes for the future are to continue to listen and learn and make contributions that make the biggest impact on helping New Zealand become stronger.
Any other thoughts?
We would not have been able to achieve what we have without the wonderful efforts of our dedicated staff and Trustees. We thank them for all that they have done over the past 20 years.