Oh Lorde-y: Northland trust in donation mix-up

Kiwi pop sensation Lorde at a benefit gala in New York earlier this week for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Photo / Evan Agostini, AP

A social media mix-up between two trusts with near-identical names led a Northland cultural centre to believe it was the recipient of a donation from pop sensation Lorde.

Earlier this week Te Hua o te Kawariki Charitable Trust was tagged in a statement from Lorde's Facebook account announcing the Northland charity would receive half the proceeds of her new album recorded entirely in te reo.

Staff at the trust, who operate Manea Footprints of Kupe centre in Ōpononi, were delighted and responded with a post expressing their gratitude to the Kiwi star.

Unfortunately, the organisation which should have been tagged was Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust, a Waikato-based charity working in Māori-medium education.

The mistake was discovered and rectified by Lorde's staff, but by then word was out that the Opononi-based trust had been chosen as the recipient.

Manea Footprints of Kupe managing director Shane Lloyd was taking a positive view of the mix-up yesterday, saying it was the most publicity the centre had ever had.

''It's been fantastic marketing for us, it's been awesome. We all questioned why we'd been chosen — we were honest about that — now we know.''

Lloyd said he wished the other trust well, and said it was highly deserving of Lorde's support.

The star's staff were due to give him a call today.

Meanwhile, Hura White, of Te Hua Kawariki Charitable Trust, said Lorde's donation would help the organisation further its work in Māori-medium education.

The four-year-old charity worked directly with ākonga (students) to accelerate their learning in literacy and numeracy, as well as providing expert mentoring for Māori medium kaiako (teachers) at the start of their careers when demands on them were "astronomical".

The aim was ''to make them the best teachers they can be for our tamariki,'' White said.

Lorde's support would allow the trust to put its text-based resources online and make them available free of charge.

The songs are adapted from Lorde's album Solar Power. They are Te Ao Marama (Solar Power), Te Ara (The Path), Mata Kohore (Stoned at the Nail Salon), Hine-i-te-Awatea (Oceanic Feeling) and Hua Pirau (Fallen Fruit).

Lorde will donate the other half of the proceeds to conservation group Forest and Bird.