New Zealanders are generous.  A new report released 2 December shows that from 2006-2011 New Zealanders doubled their donations to charitable causes, and  from 2011-2014 maintained giving at the same level of $2.788 billion.

The Giving New Zealand Philanthropic Funding Report 2014 commissioned by Philanthropy New Zealand is the third of such studies, the former studies undertaken in 2006 and 2011, and provides a snapshot of philanthropic giving and associated trends during a single financial year.

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Personal giving was identified as the largest component of all giving $1.53 billion (55%), followed by giving by charitable trusts and foundations $1.18 billion (42%) with businesses contributing the remaining $77 million (3%).

The biggest fall between 2011 and 2014 has been in business giving, from an estimated $98.6 million in 2011 to a $77.2 million in 2014, a fall of 22%.  Liz Gibbs, Philanthropy NZ Chief Executive says this is likely attributatble to the 'Christchurch effect' stating "We know businesses gave an additional $20million immediately following the earthquakes, and it seems they have not maintained that level of giving".

Although the amount of cash that businesses gave was relatively small, they are generous in other ways with the data suggesting that for every $1 recipientes reeived in cash from tbusinesses they received another $1.43 in sponsorship and another $3.27 in in-kind giving (i.e. goods and services). The 2014 report was that first time different measurements of how businesses gave was recorded, and the results suggest many businesses prefer non-cash giving to cash-giving.  

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According to the Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index 2015, New Zealand is ranked the third most generous nation, behind Myanmar and the United States (moving up two places from being ranked fifth in 2014).  This unique study of global charitable behaviour is based on surveys in 145 countries and looks at three measures of giving

  1. The percentage of people who have given to charity
  2. Percentage of people who have volunteered their time
  3. Percentage of people who helped a stranger in the last month

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The findings from the World Giving Index indicate that people across the world are becoming more generous with their money but slightly less generous with their time.  With 1.4billion people giving money to charity in 2014, a global participation level of 31.5% - up from 28.3% in 2013, with this rise in giving being seen across all world economy types.

CAF Chief Executive John Low said "The world is becoming a more generous place.  It is heartening to see that, even during these times of economic uncertainty across the worls, people are increasingly likely to donate money to causes to help others.  It is also hugely encouraging for the future that so much of the increase in giving has been driven by the younger generation"

The Giving New Zealand Philanthropic Funding Report 2014 provides a fascinating insight into giving in New Zealand, with Andrew Barnes, Managing Director of Perpetual Guardian stating that "There is a strong trend in the sector for individual givers to have more control over their giving and more certainty that their donations will have the direct benefits they intend"  

This insight shows an increased demand for transparency and ties in wilth incoming mandatory requirements for charities to report on their service performance as well as their financial perofmance.  The importance of writing a good statement of service report is paramount https://www.rsm.global/newzealand/news/how-write-great-statement-service-performance-report

Your advisor at RSM would be happy to talk to you about your giving aspirations.