Philanthropy, involving larger grants and long-term engagement, is on the rise despite the pandemic. Photo / 123rf
Philanthropy, involving larger grants and long-term engagement, is on the rise despite the pandemic. Photo / 123rf
Venture philanthropy is taking off, as a major trustee company predicts New Zealanders will gift $1 trillion over the next 20 years.
A new Perpetual Guardian study said even though some philanthropic donations had dipped during the Covid-19 pandemic, Kiwis were still giving a strikingly large amount.
Although traditional meansof bequesting or fundraising were still popular, new platforms like Givealittle were raising a fortune for charitable and philanthropic causes too.
Maureen McCloy and Roy Tikao are co-chairs of Te Ahu Pātiki Charitable Trust.
The Rod Donald Trust-Support The Hill campaign enabled the public to raise money to buy Te Ahu Pātiki, Banks Peninsula's highest peak.
More than $270,000 was raised on Givealittle alone for the project, which enabled creation of an eco-corridor and the purchase of a 500ha block of scenic land.
Banks Peninsula, where a campaign to secure Te Ahu Pātiki for the public raised a fortune through multiple methods, including increasingly popular online crowdfunding. Photo / Mike Scott
McCloy said without Givealittle, it would have been very hard to raise funds to make the Te Ahu Pātiki dream come true.
"Some of the donations were very small. Every dollar helps," McCloy told the Herald.
"Philanthropy is sometimes thought of as being for the rich, but we can all contribute."
Perpetual Guardian alone handled nearly $300 million of philanthropic grants in the past six years.
It said venture philanthropy, involving larger grants and long-term engagement, was increasingly being used.
And it also said Kiwis were still donating generously, despite the pandemic and the current cost-of-living crisis.
Despite flak Baby Boomers often got for planetary problems, Perpetual Guardian chief executive Patrick Gamble said the generation born from 1946-64 was very generous.
Gamble said New Zealand was in the early stages of the biggest inter-generational wealth transfer the world had seen.
Patrick Gamble, Perpetual Guardian Group CEO, said members of the baby boom generation were predicted to gift or transfer more than NZ$1 trillion in wealth by 2042. Photo / Supplied
"We have access to substantial tranches of data – from our own business, which includes Givealittle ... which analyses various aspects of giving in New Zealand and the value it delivers back to society as a whole."
Gamble said the baby boomer generation was predicted to gift or transfer more than $1 trillion in wealth by 2042.
Those gifts or transfers could be funnelled through charitable trusts, donations and bequests.
He said Perpetual Guardian's research, which included a five-year report on engaged philanthropy, also showed changing generational attitudes to philanthropy.
Some younger family members were starting their own initiatives.
And people were increasingly inclined to back causes linked to supporting the environment, mental health, and people with disabilities.
Givealittle was now receiving an average of more than $100,000 a day - with donations in the latest financial year leaping from $27m to $38m.
Perpetual Guardian said it helped distribute more than a quarter of a billion dollars ($288m) of philanthropic grants over the last six years.
The largest recipient among sectors was social services, which received about half of all funds given.
An average of $12.7m per year went to the health and wellbeing sector, including medical research.
About 5 per cent of all grants, or $10 million, went to education scholarships.
The rest, about $72m, went mainly to the environment, animals, and to arts, heritage and culture sectors.
Recipients ranged from the Rose Hellaby Māori Education Trust to initiatives supporting the people of Ukraine since the invasion by Vladimir Putin's regime.
Perpetual Guardian said between 3000 and 5000 grants were paid annually, with an average grant value of $9000.
