As election season approaches, communities will again hear glowing words about the value of charities, volunteers, Māori service providers, local organisations and grassroots leaders. There will be photos, speeches, and familiar promises about the people who hold Aotearoa together. But if the community and voluntary sector were writing the Government’s report card, the grade would not be generous.
The message from the sector is simple: communities do not need more praise. They need funding certainty, practical support and evidence that Government is actually listening. The Community Governance Aotearoa’s 2026 Sector Survey results tell us what many of us know.
The survey received 200 responses from across the country. The findings point to a sector under strain: 66.8% of respondents expect their financial position to stay the same or worsen in the year ahead, whilst many are dealing with reduced, cancelled or uncertain contracts. Those numbers demonstrate this is not an isolated complaint, it is becoming a normal operating condition.
Behind those numbers are the organisations that keep services and communities going where systems fall short. That contribution is immense. Yet the evidence suggests the sector is being asked to do more, absorb more and risk more, without the funding settings needed to plan with confidence.
The message is clear: 79% of respondents called for multi-year funding. That is not a call for excess, this is about certainty: the ability to retain staff, plan services, invest in governance, support volunteers and make decisions beyond the next contract cycle.
The gap between what the sector is asking for and what it is experiencing is stark. While 79% of respondents called for multi-year funding, 63.3% reported seeing no increase in multi-year funding opportunities, and only 14.6% had seen any improvement. The sector has named the solution, but the system has not shifted enough to give organisations the certainty they need. And while the funding is tighter, demands keep rising.
Governments are increasingly relying on commissioning agencies, intermediaries and contracted providers to distribute funding and oversee services. Yet when community organisations raise concerns about short-term contracts, administrative burden and funding uncertainty, responsibility becomes difficult to locate. Government points to commission agencies – and operations points to government. Communities are the ones left carrying the risk.
Governance pressure is also growing. 73.4% of survey respondents rely on volunteers, 56.3% have no budget for governance training, and more than half reported a board resignation during the past year. These numbers show a sector being asked to carry complex responsibilities without the investment needed to support the people governing it.
Reporting expectations are increasing too. 41.7% of respondents reported increased reporting requirements over the past two years. Accountability matters, but reporting without resourcing does not strengthen the sector – it just shifts more administrative burden onto already stretched organisations.
Over the past three years, I have written to Ministers and spoken at events sharing the results of our survey findings and the impactful work our communities are doing. The sector has repeatedly asked for practical changes that would improve the conditions for community organisations. Three years on and it’s feeling like we are more constrained than ever.
The message from 200 respondents is clear: certainty creates impact. Without it, volunteers, community leaders and local organisations are left to absorb more pressure, reduce services, or simply shut their doors, while Government continues to rely on goodwill to fill the gap.
Goodwill is not a sustainable funding model.
