Te Rourou

20 years of making change

Te Rourou (Vodafone Aotearoa Foundation) started writing their story two decades ago when Vodafone established their charitable Foundation.

As the Foundation moved towards celebrating its milestone of 20 years supporting communities across Aotearoa, we were tasked with encouraging a greater connection and active engagement between Vodafone staff and the mission of the Foundation. The goal was  to help build pride in how their work contributes to achieving significant change in Aotearoa.

Te Rourou has an ambitious goal to halve the number of excluded and disadvantaged young people in Aotearoa, and have targeted their investment and support in a number of ways over the years. This has varied from providing wrap-around support to individuals and organisations, through to programmes and interventions that influence systems to create sustainable and measurable change.

Stories need to show strength

Through our work, we set out to highlight the unique strengths of the Foundation, furthering the positioning of Te Rourou as an influential leader, partner and supporter within the community. Critically, we wanted to honour and highlight the positive impact on the wellbeing of our rangatahi that’s being achieved through the many community partnerships the Foundation nurtures. 

Given the depth of relationships that Te Rourou holds with communities across Aotearoa, and their authentic approach to working to tackle the complexity of social issues, we knew that we needed to tell the story of the Foundation in the most strength-based and mana-enhancing ways.

A story with many chapters

Proudly one of the largest corporate philanthropic funders in Aotearoa, the Foundation has partnered with the business over the last 20 years to invest over $47million, supporting more than 1,000 community organisations. The storytelling over the last 18 months brings the story of this impact and investment to life in ways that strengthen the Foundation’s relationship with the business, and with the community.

The storytelling was sequenced over 7 chapters; each released individually, and then woven together to mark the 20 year milestone through an interactive microsite which takes you on a journey of the mahi of Te Rourou.

Multimedia experiences

Across the 7 chapters, we see how the Vodafone Foundation is using digital technology and the power of community to create a more equitable Aotearoa. We used animation, scripted story and documentary storytelling techniques to weave together the story of the Foundation; from its vision, some of the many partnerships it supports, and the hopes for the future.

Clearly structured information and intuitive wayfinding elements allow for an accessible user experience and a rich narrative journey on which an audience can be taken, engaging people and inviting them into the paki waitara of Te Rourou. Large articles and increased sections of copy were hidden across the site and accessible as overlays, with the central stream providing streamlined information for an easily navigatable experience.

Internal stories shared widely

Initially conceived as largely internal communication material, the story’s of the Foundation are now shown in Vodafone’s retail stores across the country, demonstrating the commitment and pride across the business to contributing to significant positive social impact in Aotearoa. The project was awarded as a finalist for Craft in the 2022 Best Awards.