Community Comms Collective

What Community Comms Collective does

Community Comms Collective is a registered New Zealand charitable trust (Community Comms Collective Charitable Trust) founded in Wellington in 2013 by communications professionals Gail Marshall and Sue McCabe. It operates as a volunteer matchmaking service that pairs pro bono communications professionals with New Zealand community organisations, charities, and non-profits that lack in-house comms capacity or budget for paid support. The organisation also delivers free website usability assessments (founded 2017 by trustee Louise Lum), runs regular educational workshops on communications topics (media relations, social media, AI for NFPs, Māori engagement, fundraising communications), and maintains an extensive public resources and templates library across roughly 18 communications topics.

Core technology is a customised Microsoft-based volunteer management application built with technology partner WalkerScott to support matchmaking operations at nationwide scale, coupled with a self-serve website contact-form intake for both organisations requesting volunteers and communications professionals signing up. Distribution is primarily direct-to-organisation via the website, supplemented by regional partnerships with Volunteer Wellington, Volunteering Auckland, and Volunteering NZ for workshop delivery and volunteer coordination. Marketing and content channels include a closed Facebook volunteer group, LinkedIn company page, YouTube workshop recordings, and a Mailchimp newsletter.

The business model is donation-and-sponsorship funded rather than commercial: all services to community organisations are provided free of charge, and there is no pricing or billing. Primary sponsor JacksonStone & Partners (an executive search firm) has supported the organisation since 2013, and a discrete capital event occurred in 2021 when the New Zealand Communication Association wound up after 20 years and gifted its surplus funding to the Collective, enabling the upgrade of volunteer management systems. No revenue, employee count, or commercial contract figures are disclosed; the network of 500+ volunteers spans at least five NZ cities (Wellington, Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch, Dunedin).

Name

Community Comms Collective

Legal name

Community Comms Collective Charitable Trust

Website

https://communitycomms.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Community Comms Collective is a New Zealand charitable trust founded in 2013 that matches pro bono communications professionals with community organisations needing comms support. It also offers free website usability assessments, workshops, and a resources library, operating across five NZ cities on donations and sponsorship.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Revenue model

1. Donations and Sponsorship: As a registered charity, the Community Comms Collective operates on donations and sponsorship. JacksonStone is identified as an organisational sponsor. Additional funding was received from the New Zealand Communication Association when it wound up in 2021.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Comms Collective operates a free volunteer matchmaking service that connects New Zealand community organisations with professional communications volunteers. It supplements matchmaking with website usability assessments, communications workshops, and an online resources and templates library, funded by donations and sponsorship.

Product overview

Community Comms Collective is a registered New Zealand charity that operates as a volunteer matchmaking service rather than a traditional software product company. The organisation offers a suite of free communications support services for community organisations: a matchmaking service that pairs communications professionals with organisations needing help, free website usability assessments, regular educational workshops on various communications topics, and an extensive library of resources and templates covering AI tools, branding, digital marketing, media relations, plain language, stakeholder engagement, strategy and planning, visual storytelling, and website usability.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Volunteer Matchmaking Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ volunteers matched with community organisations nationwide
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Volunteer WellingtoncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVolunteer Wellington hosts workshops for the Collective and facilitates volunteer meet-ups. This is a key partnership for workshop delivery and venue hosting across the Wellington region.
• Volunteering New ZealandminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMargaret McLachlan works as Communications Manager for Volunteering New Zealand while also volunteering as a matchmaker for the Collective, connecting community organisations with volunteers.
• Wires UncrossedminorOthersListed as a supporting organisation for the Collective.
• WriteminorOthersListed as a supporting organisation for the Collective.
• PRINZ (Public Relations Institute of New Zealand)minorOthersListed as a supporting organisation for the Collective.
• IABC WellingtonminorOthersListed as a supporting organisation for the Collective.
• Volunteering AucklandminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional volunteer coordination organisation similar to Volunteer Wellington, supporting the Collective's work in the Auckland region.
• CabixminorOthersListed as a supporting organisation for the Collective.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Catchafire: US-based skills-based volunteer platform connecting professionals with nonprofits. Directly comparable business model - matchmaking skilled volunteers (including communications) to mission-driven organisations - though Catchafire operates at larger scale and with a paid membership tier for nonprofits.
• Taproot Foundation: US nonprofit that pro bono marketing and communications capacity to other nonprofits - the closest functional analogue globally, with explicit focus on the same communications-skills gap that the Collective addresses in NZ.
• Common Impact: US nonprofit that designs skills-based corporate volunteering programs, including marketing and communications pro bono. Comparable target beneficiaries (nonprofits needing comms support) and professional volunteer supply model.
• Idealist: Global nonprofit jobs and volunteer matching platform. Comparable in matching volunteers to mission-driven organisations, with broader scope (jobs, internships, volunteering) and a paid Action Solutions tier.
• Volunteer Wellington: Wellington's regional volunteer centre and a core operational partner of the Collective. Functions as a peer in volunteer coordination infrastructure for the same Wellington nonprofit ecosystem.
• VolunteerMatch: Largest US volunteer matching platform. Comparable function (matching volunteers to nonprofits) at much greater scale; less focus on skills-based professional volunteering than the Collective.
• Volunteering New Zealand: National peak body for volunteering in NZ. Comparable in mission (strengthening volunteering infrastructure) and a direct functional peer; the Collective's matchmaker Margaret McLachlan also works there.

Broad incumbents

• Points of Light: Large US nonprofit focused on mobilising volunteers and civic engagement. Much broader in scope and scale than the Collective but operates in the same volunteer-infrastructure space.

Regional players

• Pro Bono Australia: Australia's leading skills-based volunteering connector for the nonprofit sector, with explicit focus on matching professionals (including communications) to community organisations. Closest regional peer across the Tasman.

Emerging players

• TechSoup Global: Global nonprofit that provides technology resources and capacity-building support to other nonprofits (including NZ via TechSoup NZ). Comparable nonprofit-supporting-nonprofit model with similar earned sector recognition in NZ.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCTCujGxqe8UzJJm7sE8XfNA
• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityCommsCollective
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-comms-collective

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Comms Collective