We specialise in regional development, primary industries, tourism, housing, and skills and employment.
Our clients are organisations that want practical, future-proof solutions to their business needs. They often want to expand their business, seek new investment or prepare for change.
BeConnected supports clients to make their organisations stronger and sustainable, and able to have a greater impact on New Zealanders.
Find out more below about how BeConnected has helped New Zealand organisations.
Ngāti Kuri is an Iwi located in the Far North of Te Tai Tokerau.
In 2018, Ngāti Kuri engaged BeConnected to work on an application to the Provincial Growth Fund to support our strategic pathway, Te Ara Whaanui. The relationships and knowledge of the machinery of government was invaluable to us landing our strategic vision into a tangible and investable programme of work.
This initial work resulted in a successful investment in our tourism operation at Awanui, Kā Uri: Unearthed. This foundational work has continued to evolve and inform future investment proposals, supported through our partnership with BeConnected.
The diverse skill set in the BeConnected team has meant we have partnered on many pieces of work over the past 4 years, from commercial ventures to environmental and social initiatives that reconnect our people and place with our history and culture. Most recently, the focus has been on standing up our Te Haumihi programme and supporting our Pou Uara.
Te Haumihi is our vision for our rohe as an environmental oasis, where nature lives in peace and thrives, people protect and nurture nature like their lives depend on it. Te Haumihi will provide the cornerstone foundation to unlock sustainable economic and cultural growth to change the wellbeing outcomes for today’s and tomorrow’s generations.
Pou Uara are our community rockstars who led our response to covid in the 2020 lockdown and subsequent response activity.
BeConnected’s approach to working with us is a great fit. The team are agile, professional and can translate from strategic to operations seamlessly. BeConnected truly listen, through their questioning they are able to unpack our thinking and represent that back in a compelling investment pitch. Their relationship network across government and philanthropics also allows us to understand what investors are looking for at the start of the process, to make sure our aspirations align with their outcomes and approach.
BeConnected work with us from idea and application, to contract negotiation, through to implementation and impact reporting. They are a trusted advisor across our many businesses and continue to support contract management across a significant portfolio.
Comprised of Iwi from Southern Taranaki, Whanganui, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu district and is represented by the Chairs of each Iwi governance entity.
The Collective first came together in response to the 2015 Floods, which focused on providing emergency relief that supported the immediate needs of whānau across the region and co-ordinating recovery efforts. Then, Te Ranga Tupua Response Hub was activated following the Covid-19 outbreak which started in Aotearoa in March 2020.
Building on the success of this collective approach, Te Ranga Tupua is now looking to establish itself through a more long-term, enduring model. This led to Te Ranga Tupua engaging BeConnected for help with developing a funding pitch to government, to progress activity that supported their collective Iwi aspirations.
After successfully securing an initial ‘seed’ investment and partnership though MSD Community Resilience Funding, BeConnected was then engaged to facilitate the collective’s response to Covid by seeking investment from government for Māori vaccination uptake and community engagement in response to Covid. Refer article linked here.
BeConnected quickly came up to speed on our local context and worked alongside our team to support our engagement with government and capture our response approach – representing our thinking back to us as an investment package of; visual diagrams, descriptive text and developing detailed budgets.
“Thanks for all your help with our funding applications for both Ngaa Rauru and Te Ranga Tupua. Without your experience and skill in navigating the governments funding streams it would have been difficult.”
– Chief Executive, Ngaa Rauru and Joint Chief Executive Lead, Te Ranga Tupua
BeConnected supported the process from application, contract and then stand up of our operations team and continues to work alongside our collective as a trusted adviser and broker with government.
Thriving Southland is an Incorporated Society. Led by farmers, its mission is protecting Southland’s prosperity, heritage, environment and health.
Expectations of farmers are changing. Consumers want assurance that the products they buy are made in a sustainable way, which means farmers need new approaches to plan and practice farming.
“We think of BeConnected as part of our team. Robyn helped us see the connections between our work and the outcomes that matter to Southland. Getting this project off the ground would have taken a lot longer without Robyn.”
In 2019, Thriving Southland approached BeConnected for help with developing a funding pitch to the Ministry of Primary Industries. We worked with Thriving Southland’s leadership group to develop a proposal for a three-year project that will work with approximately 3500 farms (25 percent of Southland farms). The project, which will be led by farmers, is designed to ensure farmers can not only adapt to change, but also stay ahead of compliance requirements and carve out a leading role and reputation in the consumer-driven market.
Thriving Southland was successful in securing funding that the government announced in Budget 2019.
BeConnected’s support did not stop there. We continue to advise with contract management, reporting, planning, monitoring and evaluation, and tailor our involvement to suit the changing needs of the project.
BeConnected’s services have been invaluable. Mo and the team brought the tension and analysis we needed to [stand up our Programme of work and secure investment].
Thanks for all your help with our funding applications for both Ngaa Rauru and Te Ranga Tupua. Without your experience and skill in navigating the governments funding streams it would have been difficult.
Thanks so much for your facilitation of our session … I noticed conversations in the teams about the results, some are delighted to understand more about themselves.
I had several really successful coaching sessions with Mo. All the sessions were positive learning experiences for me where I reflected on the challenges in my role and worked with Mo to take away new approaches to try out. I really enjoyed the combination of gaining insight followed by practical action.
Thank you for all your mahi with Tupuanuku it is the foundation [of our project] and providing guidance on the daily
As a small mana whenua-led project with high demands on time and energy, Rebecca helped turn seemingly complex fundraising into a straightforward step-by-step process that allowed us to meet funder expectations while staying true to our core work and values.
Be Connected has been an incredible force on my journey. Walking alongside me, they’ve encouraged radical actions, unwavering support, and the bold steps needed to elevate my vision to the next level. Their partnership is a game-changer.
“My expectations were exceeded with the outcomes of the [2024 Waitangi Housing] Expo and I would highly recommend the BeConnected team to anyone wanting a strategic but practical pair of hands to bring your vision to life on the ground.”
If your organisation needs help securing investment to become more sustainable or to have more of an impact on Aotearoa/New Zealand, we want to hear from you.