New Momentum Waikato Endowment Fund Secures Social Enterprises Worldwide

A charity created by a successful Waikato couple to support social enterprises around the world has a new, secure funding stream thanks to a dedicated fund held by Momentum Waikato, the area’s community foundation.

Heather and Rod Claycomb are seeing changed lives around the world through their unique family charity, which helps social entrepreneurs start new businesses to benefit those in need.

The couple are entrepreneurs themselves who own two successful Hamilton-based businesses, award-winning public relations firm HMC and dairy biotech company Quantec. They founded All Good Ventures three years ago out of a shared passion to see people from all corners of the globe freed from deprivation through the clever business ideas of others.

Since its inception, the charity Claycombs has already helped launch nine new social enterprises around the world, including in various parts of New Zealand, as well as Australia, Canada, Uganda and Kenya. They will support a handful more this year following their annual bid, which opens next month.

“In our experience, there are a surprising number of people around the world who care about starting ‘good’ businesses. Businesses that spend all of their profits on access to healthcare or education delivery of food deprivation; or perhaps job opportunities for the unemployed, to name but a few examples,” Rod said. “Unfortunately, most don’t have the resources or the expertise business to get started. That’s where All Good Ventures comes in.”

Uniquely, the charity doesn’t just fund social business ideas and walk away. “Our unique model is to offer three key elements to social entrepreneurs who apply and are accepted by All Good Ventures. We call them the three Ms, or money, mentorship and muscle.

“In short, our chosen businesses receive seed funding ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to launch their business idea; one year of business mentorship through a dedicated business mentor, in starting with a business plan; as well as additional ‘muscle’ support with jobs that crop up in their first year of business,” Heather said.

One of the first social enterprises supported by All Good Ventures is OneDay Health, which is launching health centers in the most remote areas of Uganda. Their goal is that one day every rural Ugandan will have access to quality health care. OneDay Health recently launched its 29th health center and has treated over 65,000 patients.

“When we first met All Good Ventures, we had started eight OneDay Health Centers, but we had much bigger dreams. At that time, they gave us the biggest grant we had ever received, which helped us launch health centers in two brand new areas in northern Uganda,” said Oneday Health co-founder, Kiwi-born Nick Laing.

Restore Enterprises is another social enterprise supported by All Good Ventures. This Australia-based company was launched last year and aims to employ people with disabilities, injuries and mental illnesses to make and restore furniture for sale. The aim is to develop their professional skills in a secure environment, and to see them later evolve into permanent employment with other employers.

“The support provided by All Good Ventures – both financial and business – was essential for our launch and for the journey since. We would recommend them to any emerging social enterprise, even if you are just starting out. .design phase,” said Restore Enterprises co-founder Seath Holswich.

Remarkably, since the Claycombs started All Good Ventures three years ago, it has been funded primarily by all annual profits from Heather’s public relations firm, HMC, now a social enterprise itself, and by personal donations from the founders as well as some friends and family.

In a recent effort to secure the charity’s funding stream going forward, Heather and Rod launched the fund named All Good Ventures, which is part of Momentum Waikato’s regional endowment fund group and has been made public this month.

Led by Craigs Investment Partners and Forsyth Barr, Momentum’s investment program offers excellent returns for a variety of Waikato community entities and projects.

“This is a very exciting step for All Good Ventures. Through this newly created fund, anyone can donate or leave a bequest, which will be wisely invested to generate continued returns for All Good Ventures. means All Good Ventures can support entrepreneurs in perpetuity for many generations to come,” Rod said.

Momentum Managing Director Kelvyn Eglinton describes a named fund with Momentum Waikato as an effective way for local, purpose-driven organizations to achieve greater investment income, as they benefit from the scale and diversity of the regional endowment fund that Momentum looks after.

“Many small and medium-sized, specific-purpose organizations have their capital in the bank, offering minimal interest,” says Kelvyn.

“It makes sense for such entities to put that money into Momentum’s regional endowment fund, as All Good Ventures has done, because its scale and the expertise of our investment partners Craigs and Forsyth Barr guarantee much-needed returns. larger, providing a significant and sustainable stream of income and/or capital growth.”

Anyone can donate to the All Good Ventures Fund via momentumwaikato.nz/donate. Donations, large and small, ongoing and one-time, are welcome and celebrated.

All Good Ventures will be accepting applications from social entrepreneurs around the world next month during its annual application cycle, open March 1-31.

Rod and Heather are originally from Pennsylvania, USA but have lived in Hamilton for over 22 years. Their entrepreneurial careers began in Colorado, where Rod worked at a start-up, while Heather launched her first communications consultancy.

In the late 90’s Rod was recruited to work in New Zealand and soon became Managing Director of a new biotech company. To this day, his entrepreneurial journey continues through his current company, Quantec.

After moving to New Zealand, Heather worked in several public relations and marketing jobs before starting her own public relations agency, HMC, in 2004. Heather and Rod both grew up in strong Christian families and their faith is the driving force behind All Good Ventures.