Golden Tips on Writing a Successful Local Heroes Nomination | Pam Wilson, Westfield

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Hi, I'm Jessie Ballantyne and I love grants. I sold my house to fund the launch of the Grants Hub because I truly wanted to make grants easier to find. In the very early days, I ended up running the Grants Hub from the ICU ward of a children's hospital. Let's just say I'm committed to the cause of helping you find grants. If you're looking to get real with grants to learn what works and what doesn't, to hear from grant experts from across the country and have some fun while we do it, then Grants Uncovered is the podcast for you. I'm here today with Pam Wilson, National Community Experience Manager for Westfield. Now, Pam isn't just any guest. She is the creator of the Local Heroes program. Westfield. Local Heroes is a recognition and awards program that celebrates people in Australia and New Zealand who make a positive impact to their local community or environment. Individuals are nominated and voted for by their communities with three successful heroes per Westfield Centre, each awarded a $10,000 grant for their affiliated organization or group. So thanks so much for joining us, Pam, today. I'm very lucky to have you here, especially being the creator of the Local Heroes program, which is a really well known grants program across Australia now.

Thanks. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to be here. Honestly though, and I'm not just saying this, I can't take full credit for this program. It started with a single comment from a colleague and quite literally the idea just blossomed and our humble team of just a few people at the time built the program piece by piece. In fact, we designed and built each phase as we went through that first year. In 2018, we had the idea in November 2017. It was approved and then we launched it four months later. So it was a really hardworking little team that got this off the ground, but it just resonated with us and we love it.

Yeah, that's amazing. Four months. That's a busy launch of a grants program. Well, a whole awards and recognition program too. Yes.

And as I mentioned, so we've got three phases to the program. So when we launched, we had built phase one and we're scrounging to build phase two and phase three as the program was live and running.

So nothing like being agile like all true grants programs. I think that's the reality of grants and being business behind the scenes. We're always like, can look like a sitting duck on water, but underneath we're pedaling quite fast, not quite always knowing what we're doing.

Yes. 100.

Yeah. So Pam, what is Something that no one in Grant's world would know about you.

The idea of Local Heroes was born during a phone conversation I had with my former manager as I munched on tasteless stale pretzels sitting in the airport in Canberra. I'd just been down to visit a couple of our centres down there and was on my way home to Sydney. So, look, a good idea doesn't have to happen around a boardroom, it doesn't have to happen in a classroom or in a structured way. Quite literally, eating stale pretzels at the airport is enough to get your creative juices flowing.

It's amazing how those most mundane things can give us the best ideas at times.

Yes, I think so.

Yeah, that's it. Or maybe the craziest. This must take up so much of your day to day time, this program.

Look, absolutely. We're a team of four that actually run this program, but obviously with the might of Westfield behind us, so we've got the 42 centres, so our centre teams drive it on the ground. They're part of the selection panels, you know, they're absolutely instrumental. But in terms of running and leading the program, there is just four of us. And I would say it absolutely takes up the majority of our day and our week, but we wouldn't be doing anything else. It gives us a lot of joy to run this program and in particular to meet. To meet not just the, the heroes and the finalists, but all of the nominees. Because we go through such a lengthy and robust selection process, we are reading about these people all through the year and it's. It's got to be the best job just hearing these stories and the work that these people do, it is incredibly humbling.

It's amazing. You must come across the most incredible stories. I think for those who don't know, Local Heroes is many. Sorry, different to many other grant programs in that it focuses on the individual as the hero. So they're the ones who get nominated, but the money goes to the organisation they're involved with. So, for example, a firefighter could be nominated and the money goes to the CFA? That's correct, isn't it?

Yes, 100%. And the reason we did it this way. And I guess this goes back to how. This is how Local Heroes came to be. Whilst I was sitting in the airport eating stale Bretzels, my manager rang me and he said our role should be to shine the spotlight on our communities. We have the physical and digital spaces in our Westfield Centers to be the stages for individuals who are doing amazing things and that was the trigger, that was what got those creative juices flowing. And from that idea, we realized that what we wanted to do was shine that spotlight on individuals. We wanted to give our communities that chance to really say thank you and to publicly recognise and celebrate those selfless and dedicated people who give so much back to our communities. As you would know better than anyone, these people are often, they're the most humble and they're often behind the scenes. They don't want that spotlight shine, you know, shining on them. But what we feel is that by hearing their personal stories, by understanding what makes them tick, by reading and hearing about how they got to where they've got to, that's what makes us really want to engage with these people. It's what we're all drawn to, is those personal stories. And it's what makes us sit up and take notice and makes us want to be a part of their world and to support them to do what they do. The organisations, obviously, the work that they do as a collective is a big part of the program as well. And throughout the, you know, the promotion of our finalists, we talk about the organisation as well. But by shining that light on just one individual, we feel it really resonates with our communities and our customers and our retailers a lot more.

Do you find it adds that personal touch? I guess. And I've always wondered if it inspires more people to go and volunteer themselves or some people are no doubt in paid positions too, you know, within, not for profits. Do you know whether it sparks, you know, that sense of volunteerism across the community?

Oh, 100% we do. So we worked with Deloitte at the beginning of this, when we were developing this program to develop a full social impact metrics kind of tool so that we could really investigate and research is this program doing what we want it to do? So there's no point just asking us because, you know, we're not the end beneficiary. So we really wanted to find out, is this program genuinely helping those individuals and organisations and the communities that they support? So every year we do quite a robust survey with our participants and we also now research survey our voters as well. So they're constantly telling us what the impact of the program has been. And one of the questions that we ask is around those positive benefits and has it increased things such as motivation, volunteering, has it increased clientele or, you know, people in the community visiting your service or joining your programs, et cetera? And hands down, we always get the response that, yes, it has. So for A lot of people, yes. This program does help them or helps motivate them and it does help increase their volunteer hours and increase their volunteer, I guess, workforce.

So the depth of social impact then for you is, you know, it's huge. It goes beyond the grant, beyond the recognition of the individual volunteer. It's making a difference across the community and potentially, you know, having a deeper social impact than possibly you first anticipated.

Yes, definitely. And a big part of our community engagement strategy at Westfield is how we discover, celebrate and contribute to the communities that we work in. And that discover piece is really important to us. Our Westfield centres are intrinsically local. Our team members work in our centres, they live in the communities. And a big part for us is understanding who are those individuals in our communities who are doing amazing things, because those are the people we want to connect with. So when we go out to the community and ask you to tell us who are the amazing people, who are the local heroes in your community? Big part for us is discovering who they are for ourselves. What we do with all of our alumni is we talk to them about how can we continue to partner with you through the next year. So whilst you're a local hero and even whilst you're a finalist, even if you didn't receive the grant, we look to you as these local heroes, these community role models, to see how we can support you throughout the year. So it might be coming into our centres and using space. So we have community sites which are. It's a free donated space to community organisations to be able to reach the customers that come through Westfield on that day. It might be events. So we run a lot of diversity inclusion events. So from our UAK Day, for example, if we're doing something in the centre, we would reach out to our local hero alumni and say, hey, we're doing this event or this activation, would you like to be a part of it? Another key example is one of our former local heroes. He was twice successful up in Queensland in the domestic family violence space. He now has a space, a permanent space in one of our Westfield centres called Magnolia Place, where he's able to offer software service, introduction to people suffering or, you know, victims of domestic and family violence. So we wouldn't necessarily know about Chris Boyle and the amazing work he does, unless we're doing programs like this where we are asking the community to tell us who are those amazing people doing amazing things in your community?

That's very cool, I think. You know, I hear this a bit from, say, your corporate funders, that it goes beyond Just the money. And it does create these personal connections that you are given an opportunity as a big business in Australia. You know, Westfield is no doubt one of the biggest businesses in Australia and you've got these opportunities to make a difference in ways that are just creative and I think really meaningful. And it's nearly like grants programs can be an opening for that. I wanted to ask, because some people are skeptical of, say, corporate funders such as Westfield giving out grants because they're perceived to be marketing programs. You know, we get that question a little bit. What would you say to listeners who might be thinking this?

A couple of responses. And look, we might get that once a year where a nominee will come to us and say, look, actually I don't want to be part of the program because this is just part of your marketing. A couple of things we do say to them is if you, if you have a look at the program, it's actually all digital, it's all online. So you nominate online, you vote online. So we're not driving customers into our Westfield centers. And you can't buy anything on our Westfield website. So there's that. Secondly, we remind them as well that they're not signing up to any marketing database. So the only time anybody who's a part of the program will be contacted by Westfield, if they don't, you know, sign up to our marketing database as a separate, the only time they'll be contacted by us is letting them know when the program is on again each year. And if they're a participant in the program, they'll receive the relevant emails. So we don't put them on any marketing database whatsoever. And I guess the third point is, our purpose statement at Westfield is creating extraordinary places, connecting and enriching communities. If we didn't have any community programs, then we wouldn't be living up to our purpose. We wouldn't be genuine at all in what we believe in. And honestly, I feel that every corporate these days has to give back to the community and they want to give back. Having a social license to operate is a core function of what we do as a business, and it's a core function of what most large businesses do. Consumers and communities and staff expect their companies to give back to the local areas that they work in. And let's be honest, the private sector is a critical player in helping to build and nurture resilient communities. It can't be done by government and philanthropists and individuals and not for profits alone. The private sector is a key part of that. So, you know, we, and we all know that we want to work for companies that care about our communities and our environment and our future. It's just the way we all do business now. So, look, if somebody doesn't want to be a part of the program because they feel it is, it is steeped in marketing, that's their choice. But that is certainly not the intent of the driver of this program.

I mean, I think any giving can be framed that way if people choose to look at it that way as well. So, you know, there's no obligation for Westfield to be running the program. So I think it's, you know, the depth of the program that we're seeing. Some of those results that you've already spoken about and some of that, you know, creating the space for Magnolia Place, you know, that goes beyond the grant. And I think that's, you know, full testament to you as the creator of the program for facilitating that to happen. I think it's incredible.

Yeah. Thank you. And look, we, you know, even during last year with COVID we held true to the program and, you know, gave $1.26 million in community grants. You know, and as you said, you know, we're committed to this program, we believe in it and we believe in it for our communities.

That did stand out last year because quite a number of grant programs were cut last year, which was really difficult for not for profits across the whole country. So to see that you still went ahead with yours. Yeah, personally, I really respected that decision that you made as a business to do that. The other thing I love is that you give to all different types of organisations, particularly those without DGR status. So the tax deductibility status that many grant programs will only fund, you know, tax deductible organisations, that's a difficult status to attain. And it also cuts out things like sporting clubs and, you know, some others who aren't eligible for it. So you're including a lot of groups that don't fit many other grant programs. Was there a reason for making it so open?

Yes, and exactly what you've just said feeds into that. So when we launched the program, we did a lot of research and learned that the biggest challenges for organisations were that grants often fund specific projects, but they don't necessarily fund keeping the lights on. So a small charity might actually have loads of money in the bank for a project, but doesn't have enough money to run their printer. We also, again, as you've mentioned, a lot of organisations aren't DDR registered. They find that it might be onerous or it's just something that they haven't looked at and therefore they don't have access to many funding sources. And thirdly, there are so many social enterprises and businesses and government bodies that are doing amazing things and we also wanted to be able to recognise them. So. So if they're not dgr, those are not DGR status. So this program allows us to be able to give to anybody who's doing amazing things.

You mentioned there are 42 Westfield centres all over Australia. No doubt each centre receives a lot of applications, probably some centres more than others. Can you share some stats with us about the number of Hero nominations you receive?

Yeah. So it's 42 centres across the Australia and New Zealand. So we've got 37 in Australia and five in New Zealand and the program runs across both countries. So look, our nominations and our voting is growing year on year as the program gains more awareness in the communities. We had over or almost 1500 nominations last year, so that averages out at say, 35 to 40 per center. And then what happens is we go through the selection process to drill it down to six finalists, and those six finalists are then voted for by the community. And the three successful heroes per Westfield Centre with the most votes then becomes the successful Westfield Local Hero. So we end up recognizing 126 successful heroes every year. That second part of the program, the community voting, is a critical part of the program, and we've been asked by different people before is don't have the community vote. It feels like a popularity contest. Why don't you just choose the successful heroes through your selection panels? The reason that we run the community voting is what it means is digitally on our channels, but then also through the Local Heroes finalists channels, they get the opportunity to tell their story and to promote what they do to our entire customer base, to, you know, the community at large. So that's the platform, that's that stage that we're putting them on. And then by having the community vote, it's a call to action. So we're asking the community, have a read of these six people in your local area, read what they do, read the amazing work that they do, the amazing benefits that they provide to the community. And then you tell us, who do you think should be getting that $10,000? So intentionally, that part of the program is about how we promot them, how we promote their work and raise awareness of what they do within the local community. And so when we talk about the voting numbers, it's grown from about 77,000 unique votes. In our first year to 140,000 last year. And that equates to say about a thousand for some of you know, our heroes are receiving hundreds, if not thousands of votes. And I don't know about you, I don't have a hundred or hundreds of friends and family members. So you can see the number of people who are voting, it really is expanding beyond your own personal network and it is really growing that awareness within the local community. So when we talk about numbers, for us it is about, are we genuinely reaching the local community and helping the local communities to understand the work that these heroes do? And we believe with our numbers that that is absolutely happening.

It's great. So you've got about 1500 applicants and about 126 finalists. So I just worked out 8% of people go through to be a finalist. For those who are wondering now whether it's worth their while applying or nominating someone, what would you say? I mean, clearly I would say you've got to be in it to win it and we want to recognise people. And I don't think it's just about winning, but what would you say for people who are sitting there thinking, 8% chance, it's unlikely. Do you have tips to help have a better chance of being more successful?

If you think about it across the portfolio? So one centre might get 30 nominations, another centre might get 60 nominations. And like you say, you've got to be in it to win it. There's a couple of things you're not limited to how many times you would enter each year. So if you nominate in 2018 but you're not successful, why not have a go in 2019? Why not have a go in 2020? So I would say, look, just. Just keep going for it. The nomination process we always grapple with, how do we make it really efficient and quick, but at the same time get the level of information that we need to really be able to understand a nominee and the work that they do. What we find is that the nomination process is actually pretty quick and simple. There's only really two questions and that is, you know, what does your local hero do and how does their work benefit the community? And secondly, what motivates due to nominate that person?

And the website's very clear, it's easy to follow.

Oh, thank you. And then the nominee then completes a little bit more detail about their work and the benefit and where they would spend the grant. And of course, all of our nominees, I don't think they need to do any research to complete that. They would just, it would be top of mind for them. So they literally just put it down on paper. And when you're talking about sort of, I guess, tips, what our heroes are being selected on are their personal stories, their passion and their work. We don't want to see those scripted bios. We don't need sort of that cut and paste from a website. What we just want is for nominees and nominators to tell us in their own words what makes that hero tick, who benefits and tell us a little bit about their story. So, you know, what challenges have they overcome to get to where they're getting, why do they do what they do? And I guess another tip is really being clear as to how the grant, if they are successful, how the grant will benefit the community by expanding their work or supporting the work that they do. For example, occasionally we'll have a nominee who will put in that the grant is to fund travel for them to undertake additional training. That's absolutely legitimate and that will absolutely help in the course of their work. When we see those types of nominations go through to the community vote, though, the communities sort of, they will weigh that up, you know, that personal travel against, you know, somebody else who may be using that grant to make their services more accessible to people who might not otherwise be able to, to access those services. So I would just remind people as well to think about how is the grant going to benefit their local community. So those would be my top tips.

Yeah, that's great. And I think, you know, I mentioned jargon quite a bit and who, you know, funding providers don't want to read jargon. And you've basically just said the same thing. We don't want to see these big wordy applications that no one can actually who's reading it at the other end. So, you know, keep things simple, tell the simple stories and make it obviously down to earth is what you're looking for.

We want to see the human side and remembering as well that we use that information, we put it on our website and promote the local heroes through our website. So the community wants to read that story about that individual and what makes them tick and why they do what they do. So, yeah, just write it all from the heart is what I would.

How do you pick the finalists, Pam? No doubt a lot of coffee, if you're a coffee drinker, is consumed during that process. A big operation from your end.

Oh, I can tell you it's the hardest thing that we ever do. All nominees go through an online assessment process. So every nominee is assessed by at least two people. Those nominees then are drilled down to a long list. That long list then goes to our selection panels. So our selection panels for every center. So they are being assessed, like I say, by our team members who work and live in their local community. So we go through that selection panel and we drill that down then to the top six. And I can tell you it is always very difficult getting down to that top six. And that's why I would always recommend, if you weren't successful in one year, keep nominating. Because we see you, we're reading your stories and you know, we get to number seven and eight and we really don't want to not put them on the wall. We really want them to be in there as well. And the following year they may have that opportunity.

Can you finish off by telling us about one of your heroes? Very difficult to pick someone. You know, we've caught a couple of stories through this, but just one of your heroes and why they have impacted you so much.

Oh, this is really hard. There are so many amazing people. As I mentioned, Chris Boyle, twice successful in Garden City in Queensland and has, has now opened Magnolia Place in Helensville. He's a real standout to us. Another one, or to me personally is is Paolo De Nobridgia, who was one of our first successful heroes out at Miranda. He and his wife have three beautiful children. Two of them are on the spectrum and he was instrumental in working with the local soccer club to be able to put together a team of, you know, people, young people who are on the spectrum and they would play the by weekends of the mainstream teams. So what this meant is every weekend, the mainstream teams, when they had a bye, they would come along and they would play the Sutherland Titans. And I just love the story because it's all around inclusion and it's all around giving these kids the same opportunities that everybody else has just to get on a sporting field and have a great time. But secondly, those people who may have not had any real exposure to anybody on the spectrum, they actually then get to play a sport with them and see the challenges and enjoy the absolute smiles on their faces. So Paolo always stands out to me as well.

That's incredible. Like to see what one person can do to make a difference. Particularly for kids on the spectrum who miss out on so many day to day opportunities. You know, that's a truly incredible thing that he's doing to give them something as simple as a game of soccer. But you know, doing that and then you've been able to be A part of that through your role?

Yes, 100%. But, yeah, finding that, like telling those single stories, it's really difficult because they're all so moving. And one, when you ask about the impact, I remember as well in our first year in New Zealand, photographer who went along to take photos of one of the finalists who worked in the foster care space, he was so impressed by this hero that he ended up, he and his wife ended up fostering a child. So that is the impact that when you meet these individuals, that is the impact that they have on us personally.

In the show notes, I'm going to pop a link through to the Westfield Local Heroes website page and there are stories on there too. So there's a few videos that people could jump on and watch and learn about some of these people and the amazing individuals that they are, but also the incredible organizations that they're a part of. I think, you know, we can keep being inspired by people. Despite everything that goes on in the world. The last 12 months is just, you know, one of those years. I think it's incredible if we can keep being inspired and seeing the good that people are still doing all around the world.

And more so than ever. Interestingly, last year, our nomination process started just before COVID hit our shores. And midway through our nominations, we started to see the nominations change. The language was very much, oh, well, I've now been impacted by Covid. We can't do what we would normally do. We're going to pivot and we're going to run services online or, you know, we've lost all of our funding. So we know, as everybody in this sector knows, charities, small organization, profit for purposes, they're all doing it really tough. And yet their work is more important.

Absolutely.

And they're really feeling the demand is.

Up, funding is dropping. You know, there's a bit of a crisis happening. Really. So full credit to you, as I said, for Westfield, for continuing to run the program last year and again this year. And we just look forward to tracking it along and seeing who the Heroes are for 2021.

Thanks. Me too. I can't wait to read all of the, all of the nominations.

That's great. Thanks so much again, Pam, for being here, for creating the program, bringing your team on board to help you facilitate it. And just for the depth of social impact measurement that you're doing through, it's really, it's wonderful to see that you're going into that much detail and genuinely wanting to provide something that's a game changer in the community.

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Nominations for the Westfield Local Heroes program are now open and need to be submitted by Monday 15th March. So mark that date in your diary. What a great opportunity to recognise a standout person in your community with the chance for $10,000 to go to the organization they work with. It's a win win. Links to all the details are available in my show notes. Head over to grantsuncovered.com.