Community Research

What Community Research does

Community Research is a Wellington, New Zealand-registered non-profit organisation operating an open-access web platform at communityresearch.org.nz that supports and champions community-led research and knowledge sharing in Aotearoa. Founded in 2008 and headquartered at Level 2, 50 The Terrace, Wellington Central, the organisation runs with approximately 10 employees and positions itself as a trusted online hub where community researchers can publish research, users can browse a categorised library, and diverse communities can access curated collections and learning resources. Its stated mission is to amplify community research so that Aotearoa is more equitable, engaged, and inclusive, with particular emphasis on Māori, refugee, migrant, and rainbow communities, and its stated vision is 'a more equitable, engaged and inclusive Aotearoa informed by community knowledge' (Community Research).

The platform is built around a free Research Library containing thousands of items organised by subject categories — including People and Society, Health, Non-profit Sector, and Ethnicity and Diversity — alongside dedicated sub-collections such as the Whānau Ora Research Collection (Māori family wellbeing with sub-collections on public health, Kaupapa Māori theory, and wellbeing) and themed Special Collections covering Queerness in Aotearoa, 'Hear from us, not about us' (ethnic and refugee communities), Black Lives Matter, Housing For All, Learning From Christchurch, and Critical Tiriti Analysis. Supporting sub-products include a searchable Researchers Directory, an Upload Research submission portal using Creative Commons licensing, a Tautoko Network for ethnic and refugee-background researchers, the Learning Hub (He Kōrero podcast collection, webinars, themed resource pages, evaluation guidance, and a Code of Practice), and the Te Auaha Pito Mata Awards. Partnerships are embedded into the collections themselves: Core partners include AUT (Auckland University of Technology) via the Ia~ Rainbow Collection and Takatāpui.nz (Tīwhanawhana Trust and RainbowYOUTH), with Minor partners such as Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa, Gender Minorities Aotearoa, Intersex Aotearoa, Te Ngākau Kahukura, and Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura all linked within curated resource pages. Distribution runs primarily through self-serve web access with secondary channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and a monthly Ngā Kete email newsletter.

The organisation generates no transactional revenue. It is privately held as a charitable non-profit, with all platform access, research uploads, and resource downloads provided free of charge under a Freemium model funded through donations and supporters. There is no evidence of equity investment, parent-company ownership, subsidiaries, acquisitions, funding rounds, or external backers in the source material. Primary audience segments are community researchers, followed by Māori and iwi communities, ethnic/refugee/migrant communities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and government and policy actors seeking community-led evidence; the gtm_motion is community-led via the Researcher Directory, submission portal, and Tautoko Sessions webinars (Community Research).

Name

Community Research

Legal name

Community Research

Website

https://communityresearch.org.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Community Research is a Wellington-based non-profit operating an open-access web platform that hosts community-led research, a research library, special collections, and a researcher directory for diverse communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, funded through donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington Central

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Support: Community Research operates as a non-profit organization that accepts donations from the public to support their operations and mission of amplifying community research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Community Research operates a free, open-access online platform that hosts, curates, and disseminates community-led research from Aotearoa New Zealand. Its core offering is a searchable research library containing thousands of community-authored items, complemented by curated special collections, a researcher directory, a learning hub with podcasts and webinars, and a submission portal for community researchers to publish their work.

Product overview

Community Research is a New Zealand-based online research hub and community platform operating as a single unified website (not a modular SaaS product) that supports and champions community-led research and knowledge making. Its core product is the Research Library — a free, open-access repository of community-led research — supported by several integrated sub-products and features: the General Collection (primary research archive), the Whānau Ora Research Collection (Māori family wellbeing focus), Special Collections (themed curated bundles such as Queerness in Aotearoa, Black Lives Matter, and Housing For All), a Researchers Directory, a Learning Hub (podcasts, webinars, evaluation and Code of Practice resources), an Upload Research portal for submissions, Te Auaha Pito Mata Awards, and the Tautoko Network for ethnic and refugee-background researchers. All content is freely accessible and governed by a Code of Practice and Creative Commons licensing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Research Library A searchable online repository of community-led research in Aotearoa New Zealand, browsable by keyword, category, and tag, covering topics such as advocacy, health, ethnicity, housing, and Māori wellbeing. The library contains thousands of research items across diverse community topics.
• Researchers Directory A searchable database of community researchers affiliated with Community Research, allowing users to discover individual researchers and view research linked to their profiles. Designed for community members, policymakers, and collaborators seeking community-led research expertise.
• Whānau Ora Research Collection A curated research collection focused on Whānau Ora, a Māori approach to family wellbeing. It shares research with iwi, community organisations, and researchers, and includes sub-collections on public health, Kaupapa Māori theory, and wellbeing. The collection contains 43 items.
• Special Collections Dynamic themed collections that curate research around community priorities, addressing topics including ethnic and refugee communities, Black Lives Matter, Housing For All, Learning From Christchurch, and Critical Tiriti Analysis.
• Queerness in Aotearoa Special Collection A special collection gathering research and resources by and for the LGBTTQIA+ community in Aotearoa New Zealand, including a researcher directory, community resources, Tautoko Sessions, and a partnership with AUT's Ia~ The Rainbow Collection (over twenty years of rainbow research).
• Learning Hub An educational resource centre offering the He Kōrero podcast series (Pakihere Rokiroki), webinars, themed resource pages, a Code of Practice for research, evaluation guidance ('What Works'), and Critical Tiriti Analysis materials for community researchers and practitioners.
• Upload Research Platform A free open-access submission portal that enables community researchers and lived-experience practitioners to upload and publish their research, with metadata fields, categories, Creative Commons licensing options, and peer-review status.
• Tautoko Network for Ethnic, Former Refugee and Migrant Researchers A dedicated network and support pathway that enables ethnic, former refugee, and migrant researchers in Aotearoa to connect with one another and share knowledge within the Community Research community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Supporting equitable and inclusive Aotearoa informed by community knowledge

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AUT (Auckland University of Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with AUT's Ia~ The Rainbow Collection, a collection of research by AUT staff and students relating to rainbow communities. Provides access to over twenty years of research including master's and doctoral theses, research articles and book chapters.
• Takatāpui.nz (Tīwhanawhana Trust and RainbowYOUTH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTakatāpui.nz is a resource hub for takatāpui and their whānau, administrated by Tīwhanawhana Trust and RainbowYOUTH. Dr. Elizabeth Kerekere contributed research resources to the Queerness in Aotearoa collection.
• Kawe Mahara Queer Archives Aotearoa (formerly LAGANZ)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQueer archives held by a charitable Trust and housed in the Alexander Turnbull Library, collecting records and personal papers of queer and takatāpui people and organisations in Aotearoa.
• Gender Minorities AotearoaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew Zealand's leading transgender organization providing nationwide information and support services to transgender people of all ages and their whānau. Listed as a resource in the Queerness in Aotearoa collection.
• Intersex AotearoaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntersex-led non-profit organisation aiming to create a safe and supportive society where intersex people can be visible and thrive. Listed as a resource in the Queerness in Aotearoa collection.
• Te Ngākau KahukuraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization working across various kaupapa and sectors to build understanding, embed rainbow-competent practice and grow capacity for change-makers. Listed as a resource in the Queerness in Aotearoa collection.
• Hohou Te Rongo Kahukura – Outing ViolenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOffers free, confidential, mana-enhancing support and recovery services for Takatāpui and Rainbow survivors of sexual harm. Listed as a resource in the Queerness in Aotearoa collection.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• JSTOR: A large digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources used by researchers and institutions globally. Comparable as a research-discovery repository serving scholarly users, though operating at vastly greater scale with subscription rather than donation funding.
• ResearchGate: A global social network for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask questions, and find collaborators. Comparable as a research-sharing and researcher-discovery platform, though focused on STEM and professional academics rather than community-led research.
• SSRN (Social Science Research Network): An open-access preprint repository and publishing platform for social sciences and humanities research. Comparable as an open-access scholarly research repository, though serving working-paper style academic scholarship rather than community-led research.
• Academia.edu: A platform for academics to share papers, monitor research, and connect with peers, hosting millions of papers. Comparable as a research-sharing platform with directory features, though oriented toward credentialed academics.

Emerging players

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): A curated directory of vetted open-access, peer-reviewed journals. Comparable as an open-access scholarly publishing infrastructure that supports free access to research, though focused on journal-level metadata rather than community-research repositories.
• CORE (Connecting Repositories): A free, open-access platform aggregating research outputs from repositories worldwide. Comparable as an open-access research aggregator enabling discovery of scholarly outputs at no cost to users.

Others

• Whakatupu Aotearoa / CommunityNet Aotearoa: A New Zealand nonprofit supporting community organizations with resources, research, and capacity-building tools. Comparable as a nonprofit community-resource hub serving similar Aotearoa-based community audiences with curated knowledge assets.

Regional players

• New Zealand Research Database (NZ Research): A research publication repository covering New Zealand research outputs across institutions and disciplines. Comparable as an Aotearoa-focused research repository, though focused on academic institutional content rather than community-led scholarship.
• Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga: A Māori research centre hosted at the University of Auckland and a New Zealand government-funded Centre of Research Excellence. Comparable because it curates and supports indigenous and community-led research in Aotearoa, overlapping with Community Research's Whānau Ora and Māori researcher community.
• DigitalNZ: A New Zealand-focused digital content aggregator that brings together collections from libraries, museums, and archives across the country. Comparable as a national open-access discovery platform for cultural and research content in Aotearoa.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCGoU9xhFEVIXHhGMuWqPawQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/CommunityResearchNZ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/communityresearch
• Instagraminstagram.com/communityresearchaotearoa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Research