One Percent Collective is a Wellington charity with a non-traditional approach to fundraising and a simple method of giving. / Supplied by One Percent Collective
Traditional donation-collecting methods are being thrown out by a Wellington charity in favour of a unique approach that's attracting a younger donor-base.
More and more millennials are signing up to donate 1 percent of their pay cheque through the One Percent Collective, which founder Patrick Shepherd said makes regular giving easier and provides security for the charities.
"We're a small organisation that inspires generosity and simplifies regular giving," he said.
All of the donated money is directly wired to the charities supported by One Percent, and donors can choose which charities they want their money sent to.
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One Percent gains donors through telling stories about the charities they support on their website, and it's proving a hit with people in the 24-35 age group.
More than half of their donors are in that age group, and of those, about 50 per cent have never been regular givers before signing up with One Percent.
With more than $800,000 donated through the five-year-old charity, One Percent is on its way to hitting its million dollar milestone. It's also pushing to sign on more than 1000 donors, which would provide about half a million dollars per year.
Kaibosh takes good quality food destined for a landfill and distributes it to community groups. Photo/supplied
Shepherd had returned from doing volunteer work overseas when he saw how disconnected people were with the usual collection tactics in New Zealand.
"I kind of saw the experiences of fundraising here. A lot of it was people on the street trying to stop you, people showing up during dinner . . . I didn't engage with that," said Shepherd.
He knew that when he was donating, he wanted to hear about the impact of his donations and perhaps get the opportunity to meet the organisations he was giving to.
"We just don't want to be marketed to constantly for more money. We just want to be happy that we're giving and that the charity can get on with things.
"Why would I stop in the street and kind of give my bank account details to a backpacker from Chile?"
People were missing the "connection" with their charities, he said.
He set up One Percent so small to medium Kiwi charities could worry less about where their funds were going to come from, and focus instead of doing the job they were there for.
One Percent itself does not take any of the donated money, but is funded by corporations and a group of 50 people called Future 50, with each person giving $20 a week.
One of the charities they support is Upside Downs, which provides funding for children with Down Syndrome to get speech therapy until the age of 18.
The charity previously had a waiting list of 11 children, but recently managed to clear the list, partly thanks to the donations.
Wellington-based food rescue charity Kaibosh has received more than $100,000 funding through One Percent.
One of the supported charities, Garden to Table, aims to get every primary school in New Zealand growing vegetable gardens so kids can learn to grow and make food themselves. Photo/supplied
Kaibosh takes good quality, surplus food that would otherwise not have been sold, and passes it on to community groups that distribute it to people in need.
"There's so many people facing hardship . . . [this] alleviates some of that hardship whilst also keeping good food out of a landfill," said general manager Matt Dagger.
Kaibosh hit hard times when the Kaikoura earthquake took their premises out of action. For at least a year they ran their organisation out of temporary locations, but have recently moved into their new premises.
"That came with a lot of costs. One Percent and the support of their people were able to help us alleviate some of the costs."
The biggest thing for Kaibosh was that the regular donations allowed them to plan ahead with "confidence and surety".
There are currently 11 charities being supported by One Percent.
