Acorn Foundation: Over 20 years of Community Impact
An Idea Takes Shape.
(2002 – 2003)
The idea for Acorn Foundation sprouted after Tauranga lawyer Bill Holland returned from a 2002 community foundation conference in America. What impressed him most was the way American foundations invested gifts in perpetuity and used only the earnings to fund local charities. Back home, he shared the concept with his neighbour, investment adviser Neil Craig, and, inspired by work already under way at Compass Community Trust, they resolved to transplant the model to Aotearoa.
In 2003, the Western Bay of Plenty’s own community foundation was launched and named Acorn, echoing the proverb “Great oaks from little acorns grow.” The very first fund came from the trustees of a generous local donor Edna Brown, instantly proving that ordinary Kiwis could leave extraordinary legacies close to home.
Establishing the Foundation.
(2003 – 2007)
Determined to maximise impact, Acorn’s trustees capped administration costs at 1% of funds under management. To make that promise work, they reached into their own pockets and asked every new fundholder, to include a $5,000 establishment gift. Corporate allies, from Craigs Investment Partners to The Tindall Foundation, also helped keep the lights on in those early days of the foundation.
Momentum arrived in 2006 when Katikati farmer Colin Toop left Acorn its first seven-figure bequest. One year later the estate of hospital cleaner Eva Trowbridge followed, half earmarked for the Salvation Army and half unrestricted. Those two gifts gave the young foundation both heft and heart: Acorn could now support frontline charities while honouring donors from every walk of life.
Building Momentum.
(2008 – 2012)
Growth demanded storytellers, and in 2008 Margot McCool joined the team to nurture donor relationships. By October 2009 Acorn welcomed its 100th fund and celebrated with a breakfast event at Classic Flyers with then Prime Minister John Key. The Trustees continued to set an annual target of twenty-five new funds each year.
Scholarships soon broadened Acorn’s reach. The Page Acorn Engineering Scholarships launched in 2009, followed by the first Outward Bound award in 2010. In 2011 Roy and Mary McGowan began funding Dale Carnegie Skills for Life courses for Year 13 students, seeding what would later become one of Acorn’s largest estates.
Expanding Horizons.
(2013 – 2016)
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Remembrance in living wood – Acorn’s first Memorial Oak Grove was planted at Cambridge Park in 2013; today 70 trees have been planted there in gratitude of donors that have passed.
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A national network blossoms — In 2013, representatives from the country’s fledgling community foundations met in Wellington and voted to create Community Foundations of New Zealand (now Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ). Acorn’s co-founder Bill Holland was elected the new body’s first Chair. Over 2014-2015 the volunteer board drafted and registered the trust deed, setting up a hub that now supports regional foundations nationwide with shared policies, investment expertise and advocacy.
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Insight-led giving — In 2015 Acorn became the first organisation in Aotearoa to publish a Vital Signs® report, a research tool created by Community Foundations of Canada that grades a community’s wellbeing across 12 domains (from housing and health to arts and the environment). Working with Key Research, Acorn canvassed nearly 2,000 Western Bay residents, asking them to grade local quality of life and highlight priorities. Housing affordability and secure jobs emerged as the top concerns, while the climate and natural environment were most loved.
The findings did more than fill a report: they reshaped Acorn’s grant-making. Donor funds were channelled towards emergency housing initiatives, youth employment programmes and mental-health services, areas the survey showed needed urgent attention.
Today Vital Signs remains Acorn’s compass: every few years the research is refreshed, in partnership with other local funders and TCC, so the whole region can “sing from the same song sheet” when setting priorities.
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Arts in the spotlight – In 2016 radiologist-turned-patron Dr Jann Medlicott endowed what is now the annual $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, lifting the foundation’s profile onto the national cultural stage.
Scaling Impact and Meeting Crisis.
(2017 – 2020)
By 2017 Acorn had granted $3.6 million to more than 200 organisations. The next year, the foundation marked its 15th birthday with a dinner at Trinity Wharf and the launch of Celebrating the First 15 Years, hitting milestones of 300 funds and $21 million under management.
Annual distributions burst through the $1 million ceiling in 2019. Barely a year later COVID-19 struck. Within days Acorn, BayTrust, TECT and local councils created the WBOP COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, channelling emergency grants to foodbanks, refuges and social-service teams suddenly forced online.
Rapid Growth and Collaboration.
(2021 – 2024)
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Estate ignites growth – The Roy & Mary McGowan bequest (2021) pushed funds under management beyond $50 million. With a significant portion of the estate going to to youth development, and Acorn invested in the 2022 Vital Signs Youth Report.
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A modern face – Brand and website refreshes under new Marketing & Events Specialist Emily Goulding signalled a foundation ready for its next growth spurt.
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$10 million cumulative distributions – Reached in 2022, alongside 30 new funds. Development of Acorn’s bespoke Tahua grants-management platform began in January 2024, with the system officially opening to charity applicants in April 2024.
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20th-birthday reflections – In 2023 Acorn partnered with UNO magazine and photojournalist Alan Gibson on Roots & Shoots, a Strand-side exhibition celebrating donor impact.
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Grass-roots giving – The Western Bay of Plenty Women’s Fund launched in 2024; nearly 100 wāhine now pool their gifts to back initiatives for women and whānau.
Behind the scenes, shared projects with the local councils, BayTrust and TECT led to a Tauranga Western Bay Community Event Fund and a Kaupapa Maori Event Fund.
$20 Million Delivered to the Community.
(2025)
This year Acorn crossed a milestone that matters more than any balance-sheet headline: NZ $20 million in cumulative distributions to charities and community groups across the Western Bay of Plenty. Half of that support has been delivered in just the last three years, a sign of how rapidly donor generosity is now flowing back into the region.
Behind those dollars sit more than 500 active funds, each with its own story and purpose, scholarships that underwrite a teen’s first foray to Outward Bound, estates that keep shelters warm through winter, Giving Circles that pool $50 a month contributions to back grassroots projects.
What’s Next for Acorn.
Imagine a future where a scholarship you fund sends a local teenager to Outward Bound long after you’ve gone, or where your legacy keeps a family safe and warm every winter. That is the power of an Acorn endowment: a single gift that keeps giving, year after year, in the place you call home.
If that vision stirs something in you, let’s talk. Pop up to Level 4, 35 Grey Street for a cuppa, phone 07 579 9839, or explore our website.
Community generosity is already making a measurable difference across the Western Bay. Add your own gift to the mix and help that impact endure, year after year.