How MJM Helped Manage $1M+ in Disaster Relief Funding After Cyclone Gabrielle
When Cyclone Gabrielle struck Hawke’s Bay, it delivered record-breaking flood flows and left devastation across the region. Rivers breached their banks, bridges were swept away, and thousands of homes and hectares of productive land were inundated. The storm caused over $5 billion in damage, destroyed marae and papakāinga, and left nearly 1,700 homes flood-affected, with many assessed as unsafe for residential use in the future.
Amid this destruction, a community organisation was tasked with administering more than $1 million of government funding to support families whose homes had been destroyed. They turned to us to manage the financial side of the recovery, ensuring accountability and transparency during one of the region’s most critical rebuild efforts.
The Challenge: Funding Accountability Under Pressure
The organisation faced immense responsibility: ensuring $1m+ in disaster relief was correctly allocated and reported.
Lives and livelihoods depended on swift, disciplined spending, but the scale of the disaster and urgency of recovery created real risk of financial mismanagement.
Government required clear, accurate reporting to standards usually applied in stable environments - despite the chaos of a natural disaster.
The Action: Financial Management Through Recovery
We worked alongside community leaders for nine months, providing:
Budget design and tracking — building clear, practical budgets to guide spend.
Hands-on support — teaching local people how to administer funds and stick to financial plans.
Day-to-day financial operations — coding transactions, reconciling accounts, and ensuring payments flowed smoothly.
Funder reporting — preparing financial reports to government standards, meeting every compliance requirement.
The Outcome: Rebuilt Homes, Rebuilt Confidence
11 homes restored for whānau who had been left without shelter.
$1m+ managed and accounted for — every dollar tracked and reported.
Community empowered with the tools and knowledge to manage recovery funds responsibly.
Funder confidence secured — compliant reporting met all government standards, protecting future funding opportunities.
Why It Matters
Disaster recovery is about more than bricks and mortar. It’s about trust: between communities and their leaders, and between local organisations and government funders. We provided the financial management backbone that allowed this organisation to focus on rebuilding lives, while ensuring transparency and accountability in a high-stakes, high-pressure environment.
