KEY POINTS:
Worthy causes may soon benefit from a new charity match-making service.
Wealth management company Guardian Trust, whose clients give about $26 million to charity each year, has launched a plan to pair generous souls with suitable charities.
Named the Centre for Philanthropy, the revamped service will give trust clients access to information about different charities.
The centre will build on publicly available information by researching charities and following up on donations.
But it won't have all the information to itself. A law change means that, as of July 1, anyone can get information about registered charities from the Charities Commission website.
Kiwis give about $200 million through private charitable trusts every year. Guardian Trust distributes about 10 per cent of that through its 450 charitable trusts.
Centre for Philanthropy manager Mark Cassidy said its database would give better choices to people who wanted to give something but didn't know how. Any charity could provide its information.
"The more information we have about what charities are doing, the better our decision-making process can be."
Cassidy said the Government was lowering the barriers to donating, and he hoped the centre could stimulate philanthropy too.
He said the fees to run a charitable trust were comparable to those charged by a standard fund manager.
Guardian Trust manages private trust funds to allow ongoing donations to a chosen cause. With charitable trusts, the company directs the proceeds to organisations that match the donor's objectives.
As of July 1, all charities must register with the Charities Commission if they want to be tax exempt.
Some private charities can apply for an exemption from making their information public.
So far, 3200 charities have registered, and the commission is getting nearly 400 new applications a week.
At the moment there is no public access to administrators' records about charities.
