When you find you have a difficult task to perform, do you find it easier with help from others - when others come together to assist you to create a better outcome?
According to scientists from the University of Southern California, it appears the proverb ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ really does hold true. Their studies also found when people put heads together to solve problems they even experienced lower levels of stress.
I’ve noticed an intensifying focus around the concept of collective impact across the world, particularly over the last seven years. Collaborative efforts to pool resources to help solve social and environmental problems have met with stunning results. It is this thinking that our team at Momentum Waikato has embraced by introducing Waikato Vital Signs to gauge our greatest strengths and widest gaps. These were determined and prioritised by hundreds of members of our community, who participated in a series of workshops last year, and with the support of the NEXT Foundation and their high-impact venture philanthropy processes, the Vital Impact Programme was created as a vehicle to drive this collective movement.
Specifically designed to bring about greater results through collaboration, the Vital Impact Programme offers a “better together” collective impact strategy to problem solving.
Bringing people and projects together, Momentum Waikato seeks to facilitate transformational outcomes for intergenerational benefit. How will we do this? Through the generosity of people like you who want to find a way to make a bigger and better difference together than you ever could alone. Embarking on a journey to create change can have a multiplying effect through the Vital Impact Programme.
Whether you have worked for a lifetime or are putting aside your pocket money for the first time, we can all participate in solving our greatest challenges through the power of collective giving, as the effect of each donation is magnified and multiplied. You may think of donating together with your rugby group or knitting circle, or as part of a teambuilding exercise at work, or you may simply want to join the movement and become a part of creating collective solutions for the very first time in your life, the Vital Impact Programme presents the most impactful way for us all to solve our social and environmental problems, together.
As we support different changemakers equipped to solve some of our greatest challenges, and ensure every cent of these gifts are used to support a range of meaningful projects, we will create a generosity movement that brings broader, more powerful change than ever imagined before.
Join the momentum, feel the joy of giving together, and become part of creating a better Waikato for everyone, forever.
Cheryl Reynolds
Chief Executive
Momentum Waikato Community Foundation