Funding Information Service Celebrates 20 Years

News Release 18 November 2010

Funding Information Service Celebrates 20th Anniversary And a Healthy Financial Result

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, Funding Information Service (FIS) marked the occasion with a reception and cake cutting at Parliament on 17 November hosted by Nikki Kaye, MP for Auckland Central standing in for the Hon Turiana Turia, Minister for the Community & Voluntary Sector who had been detained out of town.

Established in 1990 with the support of the late Sir Roy McKenzie, Funding Information Service is a non-government organisation which has been a leader in using the internet to connect people and voluntary organisations to funding information. Its core business is collecting funding data from grant makers, then adding value by converting that into databases where the information is searchable, usable and accessible on one platform in ways that Google, for instance, does not provide.

Chairman of FIS, Greg Bishop, says, “FIS has the most comprehensive active funding records in New Zealand. Our three major databases are the places for Kiwis to look for grants, scholarships or other types of support. We hold data on more than 3,000 active funding schemes which provide comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date information. Gathered centrally, this information is freely accessible at public libraries and citizens’ advice bureaux. FIS oversees a treasure house of around $1 billion of funding.”

“We are also pleased that FIS has had a positive financial year recording a profit of $9,543, compared with a loss of $52,523 for 2008-2009 which was mostly reflected by a significant investment in a software upgrade. Revenue increased 10.9% to $543,845 (from $498,016 in 2008-2009) with a rise in subscriptions, and revenue almost doubling on special project contracts. FIS is to be commended for this excellent financial result in what has been a challenging year for every business in New Zealand.”

FIS general manager, Kevin Haunui says, “We are indeed very pleased with this financial result and it gives us an excellent platform for the development of FIS in its third decade. We are looking to partner more with government agencies such as the Department of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development and Te Puni Kokiri to provide further opportunities where they, or their customers, may benefit from the treasure house of funding that has been developed.

“We are also looking at the way people use the Blackberries, iPhones and iPads and want to work within those contexts, and beyond. We’re very proud of what has been achieved over the last 20 years and look forward to what the future holds for Funding Information Service,” says Mr Haunui.

ENDS

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