Kendons Community Commitment

Many of the Kendons team volunteer as treasurers or give pro-bono financial advice to not-for-profits and community organisations.

Kendons encourages team members to share their expertise, and volunteer their services to the community, making 2 hours a month available to team members for community projects, during work time. We also provide discounted access to accounting tools like Xero, Futrli, and Hubdoc. And we provide a special not-for-profit rate on services like Annual Accounts to community organisations.

We asked three of our team to tell us about their voluntary work and why supporting the Canterbury community matters to them.

Supporting mental health with Ōtautahi Creative Spaces

Business Services Advisor Kate Griffiths is Treasurer and Trustee at Ōtautahi Creative Spaces, a creative wellbeing initiative supporting people experiencing mental distress.

Ōtautahi Creative Spaces provides studio space, artist mentoring, and opportunities to exhibit. Being part of a creative community, helps people feel more stable, connected to others, involved in their community, and more able to cope with adversity.

Using creativity to take back power

Kate says, “I used to work with a mental health charity in the UK, so wellbeing is a passion of mine. We hear incredible stories from artists who were so distressed they could barely leave their home, who now have the confidence to express themselves creatively, showcase their work, talk about their journey, and mentor other artists. “Seeing our impact is wonderful. When I go to an exhibition opening, talk to the artists and see how they’ve grown in skills, confidence and wellbeing, it all comes alive.”

“I’ve been Treasurer for Ōtautahi Creative Spaces for four years. When I joined, everything financial was done manually. They were using one spreadsheet for wages and another to keep track of their accounts. They had one fund, one employee and a couple of contractors.”

The value of centralised systems

Kate explains how Ōtautahi Creative Spaces has evolved. “Today they have several funds, and nine employees. I’ve got them on a payroll system, put Xero in place, and showed them how to use tools like Hubdoc for document storage and Futrli for cash flow. We’ve also overhauled their IT, put in place a CRM system to manage relationships, and centralised internal communications using Teams.

“At the beginning, it was a constant battle to find funding for staff and to keep core programmes running. Keeping control of spending was hard, because of lack of visibility of accounts and cash flow. Now we review funding and staffing requirements regularly and have full visibility of what’s happening financially, which is critical because we’re running multiple funds and projects. My role is now to give oversight, advice and flag up any problems.”

Founder of Ōtautahi Creative Spaces, Kim Morton says, “Kate’s values align with our own. She’s completely committed to innovative thinking about mental health. She brings robust professionalism and specialist knowledge to our Board, using accounting to build our organisational strengths in a way that’s accessible to a growing charity. She has this amazing ability to instil confidence, giving us the financial certainty to take bold steps. And she’s not afraid to roll her sleeves up and be hands-on when needed. We love her.”

Enriching our city with Life in Vacant Spaces

Kendons Associate, Bridget Beck has been Treasurer and Trustee for not-for-profit Life in Vacant Spaces since its inception after the Christchurch quakes. Life in Vacant Spaces (LiVS) activates Christchurch’s empty sites and spaces with temporary projects. They matchmake people with great ideas with landowners. LiVS has been responsible for 74 audacious collaborations that have brought colour, life and fun to our city. Many of these activations have seeded permanent businesses or projects.

Better financial planning for bigger community impact

Bridget explains her involvement with LiVS. “In the early days, I did the bookkeeping and helped with cash flow planning. They have very tight budgets, especially around the end of the financial year, so managing cash flow is critical. I also supported applying for grants. “When I became a trustee, I transitioned the hands-on financial admin to an employee. I’m there for support, but I’m now more involved in financial planning and budgets, as well as guiding the strategic direction of the organisation.

“It’s very satisfying to know I’ve helped LiVS manage their money and access funds so they can have more impact. And I’ve also given them peace of mind they’re in good financial order to carry out projects.” LiVS Director, Rachael Shiels says, “Having Bridget on board gives us security and professionalism. I’ve worked with Kendons for a while over a range of different projects, and I’m blown away by the lengths their team goes to, to support us. I can approach them with any problem. They’re very solution-focused. We deal with a lot of projects, so having clear oversight of our cash flow is very beneficial when it comes to planning. Strong financial systems also give the people we work with confidence we know what we’re doing.”

Bringing great ideas to life

Bridget says, “Working with LiVS has opened my eyes to the importance of building community. They bring huge value to Christchurch, supporting creative and entrepreneurial people to bring ideas to life. You see the impact of our work everywhere in the city, how alive it is because of the projects we’ve facilitated.”

“Professionally it’s enriched me. I’ve learned about community engagement and facilitating projects. I’ve worked with a more diverse group of people and I’ve understood that people have different drivers. As business advisors, our core focus is growing business, but life is also about creating value for the wider community.

“There’s also huge value for Kendons in supporting our team to do voluntary work. We all gain business and life skills from being deeply involved in the governance and operations of community organisations. It helps us attract more good people because good people want to work for businesses that give back. And, most importantly, we have the satisfaction of knowing we’re making our city a better place to live, for everyone.”

Protecting the community treasure of Okains Bay Museum

Kendons Managing Director, Mike Laing, is Treasurer and Trustee of Okains Bay Museum.

Chair of the Museum Trust Board, Helen Brown talks about the value Mike brings. “It’s really good to have his perspective on the Board. Museums attract historians and people with a passion for collections. We don’t get many people with business acumen and financial knowledge. But the museum has always relied on grants, goodwill, and volunteers. We run on the smell of an oily rag, so having Mike’s expertise is invaluable.”

A catalyst for making the museum more robust

Helen says, “Mike has helped us get better financial systems up and running for payroll and cash flow. He produces these amazing professional reports, so we all know where we’re at. He gives us confidence in decision making and forward planning. We’re in a much better financial position and we have a greater awareness of our financial situation. “

We were severely impacted by Covid. 50% of our visitors were international, so we lost half our revenue overnight. Before Covid, we had two full-time staff who lived on-site and we were open seven days a week. That was no longer financially tenable for us, so we had to make some major changes. Mike’s budgeting and financial modelling was a key part of that decision making. He helped us establish a sustainable financial model to take us forward.”

It’s good to give back

Mike says, “I didn’t know much about the museum when I became treasurer, but after six years on a school board, it was a good change. The museum had to make some big difficult calls recently and I’ve got personal enjoyment from helping make an important local cultural organisation sustainable for the long-term and protecting our local history.

“Our work at Kendons is very commercial in focus and it’s easy to get your business blinkers on. It’s valuable to us all to see a non-profit perspective, and it’s great for our team to serve the community and see the benefits of community work.”

We’re proud of all the people at Kendons who give their time, energy and expertise to the Canterbury community. If you know a not-for-profit or a community organisation that could use a helping hand with their finances, please let us know. We may be able to help.