Annual report reveals Tauranga's The Kollective gains $140k in revenue in first year

Gordy Lockhart from The Kollective. Photo / File

A Tauranga business striving to help the city's social service sector has raised more than $140,000 in revenue within its first year - and all of it will go to charity.

The Kollective officially opened on October 2018 on 17th Ave. It was founded by TECT and is run by SociaLink Tauranga Moana as an administrative base for the Western Bay of Plenty's community services sector.

In its debut annual report for April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, The Kollective recorded a surplus of $142,782 which, like any Kollective surplus, will go to TECT Charitable Trust and eventually back to the community.

Manager Gordy Lockhart said The Kollective was about enabling and fostering positive socio-centric change while making the world "a better place".

Lockhart said the report highlighted how a sense of community and connection with others was key to developing successfully, especially in light of Covid-19.

TECT built The Kollective as an independent social enterprise business offering a connected and shared workspace. It was also hoped to help operational improvements in the not-for-profit sector while also operating sustainably with alternative modes of transport, recycling and composting.

And it appears it has.

In October last year, The Kollective was named winner of the Westpac Tauranga Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Business Award.

In addition to this, The Kollective also recorded a growth in membership from eight people to 284 since its October opening day.

Revenue, which goes back to the community through TECT, is derived from membership fees plus meeting room and resource hire fees.

"We've had some challenges of course and some serious learning curves. But beyond anything, this last 12 months at The Kollective has been incredibly inspiring. It's been exhilarating," Lockhart said.

The Kollective had been designed as an administrative base mostly for the not-for-profit and community sector but had attracted commercial members also but those members needed to demonstrate an active social responsibility element to their business.

Results of a member survey, published in the report, showed 94 per cent were likely or very likely to recommend membership to other organisations.

Lockhart said the impact of Covid-19 had immeasurably changed some societies, making the forecast for the coming year uncertain. However, The Kollective was well-positioned, he said.

TECT general manager Wayne Werder said he was proud of The Kollective's achievement of having become a hub of collaboration, compassion and common desires to create a better world.

"We love to see new connections being made in common spaces, workshops, sharing knowledge in meeting rooms ... everywhere you look, community groups are reducing overlap, increasing service efficiency and collaboration with like minds for mutual benefit, providing the means to focus on what matters most - our community."