In June, DoorDash announced it delivered more than 100 million charity meals via its Project DASH, often involving drivers delivering 20 pounds of free food in boxes and bags to needy families.

Many of these partnerships began during the pandemic when home delivery became an essential part of food aid and distribution for soup kitchens, food pantries and elder care — often run by religious organisations — and have continued in the years since.

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New Otago University research says a "clearer consensus" is needed as to when cases indicating abuse or neglect should be reported to Oranga Tamariki.

The researchers say that when charities advise Oranga Tamariki about at-risk children and young people, decisions are often delayed or sometimes even silence follows.

They say more frontline funding is needed, both for Oranga Tamariki and the charities caring for children and young people.

Local experience

Claire Ramsay, chief executive of Otago Youth Wellness Trust, says the research "confirms our experience locally".

"We make reports of concern only as a last resort, as our priority is to keep rangatahi out of the statutory/state system. But more and more we are finding that they don't reach the apparently high threshold Oranga Tamariki is working to.

"It is frustrating and, like others in the community sector, our funding does not reflect the work we are doing."

Methodist Mission Southern director Laura Black says a standards-driven approach would be "really useful".

However it must produce reliable results for children and young people across different cultures and backgrounds.

Left waiting

A Dunedin charity's leader, who prefers not to be named, confirms their organisation is supporting ever more at-risk children.

Over the past five years, the charity's involvement with Oranga Tamariki cases has increased from "hardly any to around 40 percent".

Yet when charities file a "report of concern" to Oranga Tamariki, they might be left waiting.

The agency is less likely to get involved than it was formerly if a community organisation is already working on the children's behalf.

At risk, anxious

Emily Keddell, Otago University's associate professor in social and community work, is the study's lead author.

She says the current situation leaves children at risk and creates anxiety among charity workers.

Charities are tasked with helping families to stay together she says. Their objective is to have fewer children in care - but they need appropriate resourcing.

Families deserve the best

Acting Oranga Tamariki chief social worker Nicolette Dickson says children, young people and their families "deserve the best".

She says Oranga Tamariki is working to "change a system which has not always consistently provided this to them".

She explains delays occur because the agency workloads are often greater and more complex than the staff's ability to cope, which affects their response times.

"However, we will always seek to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of those children and young people who are at most risk."

Dixon says the agency is grateful for the Otago University research, as it helps identify gaps requiring attention.

She says it is a "key focus" of how the agency is working to strengthen relationships in the community.

"It is often our community partners who understand this best."

She is disappointed some community organisations feel they have nowhere to turn. "We encourage them to raise these concerns with us when this occurs" she says.

Source

• Otago Daily Times

They've been making submissions to their landlord, the council, today.

One of the charities is the Tauranga Men's Shed, with the new rates they'd have to find 63,000 dollars a year for rent alone. Read more

Grant Thornton New Zealand's latest Not-for-Profit report says charities are particularly vulnerable to phishing attempts and ransomware attacks.

The report states that these attacks are all over the economic sector and show no signs of abating.

Report findings

The Not-for-Profit report says:

• only 43 percent of NFPs invested in cybersecurity in the two years to 2022
• only 27 percent plan to invest in cybersecurity over the next two to three years
• 37 percent of NFPs do not have effective procedures to detect and report data breaches

"NFPs face unique challenges that make it harder for them to invest in cybersecurity", Grant Thornton New Zealand's Barry Baker says.

"Naturally, they are always trying to minimise spending, as there's a lot of pressure to spend as much as possible on frontline assistance to those in need, and as little as possible on the behind-the-scenes processes that deliver that assistance.

"This often means eking an extra year or so out of technology. NFPs are still using laptops that should be replaced, relying on outdated software and legacy platforms - creating greater vulnerability to cyber attacks.

"Cybersecurity can also seem like a non-priority. When there hasn't yet been a data breach or hack, that can give NFPs a dangerous false sense of security."

Risks high

The potential risks cannot be overstated, Baker says. It's not a matter of if an organisation will be hacked, it's a matter of how bad it will be.

"For a charity, this could result in a complete halt on operations, snarling up frontline services and potentially demanding a ransom to restore systems.

"Worryingly, that ‘smash and grab' approach by bad actors is being superseded by a more insidious attack: the actors can get into your systems, look around undetected and steal any of your data, including donors' and/or members' personal data.

"Then there's the reputational fallout. Donors who see your name connected with a data breach can easily switch their contributions to another organisation."

Protecting the organisation

Taking cybersecurity risks seriously is vital, Baker says. It should be given the same attention as health and safety.

Importantly, private data from donors and donor transactions need to comply with certain PCI DSS standards, he says.

Baker suggests it may be worth investing in a third-party payment gateway to take over processing credit cards.

That "reduces the data you're keeping and the level of compliance required of the organisation," he says.

He also notes it's important to understand that tech problems aren't really about technology.

They're about people.

"This means thinking about not only systems, but up-skilling everyone who works in the organisation, including the board, and encouraging teams and suppliers to work together harmoniously.

"Only with cooperation and education can your organisation protect itself from the ongoing risks of cyberattacks."

Source

• Voxy

One charity says staff and volunteer wellbeing is extremely important as those on the frontline are often dealing with "people's trauma, anxiety and grief".

Nourished for Nil, which provides food donations across four sites in Napier and Hastings, has been operating for six years and has never been busier.

"We have had a noticeable uptick in the community coming in to get the food that we offer," Nourished for Nil founder Christina McBeth said. Read more

Increased powers have been given to Charities Services - the sector administrator - and to the Charities Registration Board.

Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan says New Zealand's 28,000 or so registered charities make a great contribution to the country.

The new charities law follows a review by Internal Affairs (DIA). The government ordered the review in 2018 after the Charities Registration Board deregistered Destiny Church's status as a charity.

The Board said Destiny's deregistration was in the public interest - it had failed to file financial returns for two years and had ignored multiple warnings in doing so.

Deregistration was as far as the Board could go though.

"Many of New Zealand's largest charities have significant unexplained accumulated funds. It is important they are transparent about the reasons for holding on to a large quantity of funds, including donations," says Radhakrishnan.

Very small charities would also be able to get an exemption to financial reporting.

"This will free up resources to allow volunteers to spend more time focused on communities and doing the mahi they are passionate about."

Making sure all charities are treated equally does matter. "It is important that our system doesn't work just for those who have the resources to navigate it. The same service and the same access must be available to everyone."

Proposed changes to the Act

• Charity requirements - maintaining a charitable purpose, having a rules document, and having qualified officers - will be made explicit.
• Larger charities (operating expenses over $140,000) must report reasons for accumulated funds on an annual returns form to be designed in consultation with the sector and iwi.
• Through Charities Services, very small charities can get exemptions from financial reporting. Threshold yet to be developed.
• Charities Registration Board membership will increase from three to five.
• The Board may disqualify an officer for 'serious wrongdoing' or a significant or persistent breach of obligations, without having to deregister the charity. Part of the 'serious wrongdoing' definition will be clarified.
• The Board must publish decisions if declining an application for registration and deregistering a charity. The Board and Charities Services must publish information on decision-making policies and procedures. Significant decisions will include a clear process for charities to raise objections.
• Charities Services' significant decisions, and existing decisions of the Board, will be able to be appealed. Appeals under the Act will go to the TIA first, before the High Court.
• Charities Services must consult with the sector when developing significant guidance material.
• Timeframes for submitting objections, administrative information and appeals is extended from 20 working days to two months.
• DIA will review Charities Services' performance measures and operational practices.

Radhakrishnan says she expects an amendment bill to be introduced this year, with consultation via the select committee process.

This would be followed up with a process to consider more fundamental concerns raised by the review.

Source

• RNZ

Statistics New Zealand recently highlighted data showing the monetary value of non-profit institutions at $12.1 billion in 2018.

According to Charities Services, there are more than 27,000 registered charities who employ around 130,000 staff and millions of hours are given in volunteer hours each week.

"Some not-for-profit entities will do better in the post-COVID-19 environment as it may put more focus on their area - for example, charities involved with food and mental health," Craig Fisher, an Auckland-based accountant and Chartered Member of the IOD, said.

But Felicity Caird, general manager of the Institute of Directors (IOD) Governance Leadership Centre says charities are doing social good work for passion or for purpose and often rely on donations, grants, fund-raising, volunteer support, and bequests to stay afloat.

"During economic uncertainty, cash flow can be severely compromised, and there is intense competition for limited resources. Governing includes making difficult judgment calls."

Some organisations will decide it is not sustainable to continue, but others might join forces with a similar organisation, or find innovative ways to deliver services or do things differently.

"One thing is for sure, and that is the old ways are unlikely to work in the new environment," said Steven Moe who works in corporate law providing advice to companies, not-for-profits and social enterprises.

"It is the organisations which are nimble and able to look for opportunities which will survive. Doing that will likely involve sailing in a new direction, and as Allen Curnow said, that may result in an expanded world with new possibilities."

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• iod.org.nz
• Image: rnz.co.nz

According to the Department of Internal Affairs policy general manager, Raj Krishnan, the issue of tax exemption for religious charities such as Sanitarium and Destiny Church will not form part of the review.

Krishnan said lots had changed for the more than 27,000 charities since the Charities Act had been implemented more than a decade ago.

The Department of Internal Affairs received more than 300 submissions about charities and Krishnan said there had been numerous calls for religious charities' tax exemption to be scrapped.

Many of the submitters considered 'furthering religion' not to be a charitable activity.

Last May, Cabinet made the decision not to include the issue in the review.

The Charities Act has been in place since 2005 and, in a statement, the Government says it is there to help society through the effective impact of charities.

"Charities play a vital role in supporting the wellbeing of people and communities throughout New Zealand. Public feedback gives us a chance to hear what needs improving so charities can continue to thrive and make a difference," Krishnan said.

"An effective Act will help ensure that our charities sector is as impactful as possible and enjoys the public's trust and confidence."

Twenty-one community meetings will also be held throughout the country over March and April as part of the public consultation process, reports RNZ.

The tax-free status applies to all registered charities, including charitable trusts, iwi groups and not-for-profits.

The government's Tax Working Group has been looking at charities as part of its wide-ranging review of New Zealand's taxation.

Last year the Auckland City Council conducted an urgent review of rates bills after, without consultation, hundreds of the city's churches were issued new rates bills.

The council claimed many Churches were using parts or all of their property for business rather than religious purposes.

Sources

• RNZ
• Department of Internal Affairs
• CathNews
• Image: Vinnies

Ahead of its time Mooney says "Mission is also being sustainable because it's the right thing to do".

"The Mission's focus is very much in line with Pope Francis' commitment to sustainability", he says.

Mooney says that sustainability is just as much at the heart The Mission Estate's core values, as are Mission's roots, and maintaining its commitment to being an authentic artisan wine producer.

Quietly, he also admits that when it comes to sustainability, he is "wired that way ... it's like an obsession".

Sustainability pays off

The Mission Estate now says they use a third of the energy of the average winery of their size.

Mooney however is reluctant to claim Mission Estate is an industry leader.

Rather, he feels The Mission's approach to producing fine wines is to authentically and quietly work away on sustainability, and to take seriously Mission's commitment to ensuring it leaves a small energy, water and resource-use operational footprint.

"Those who know Paul know it is not a marketing or PR strategy, but a genuine commitment to Mission's values and beliefs", says former assistant winemaker Br Matthew Morris SM who has known Mooney for 40 years.

Environmentally certified for 20 years

The Mission is one of the five wineries who ini­tially set up an Environmental Management System.

In 1998 it obtained ISO Certification recognising its ongoing commitment to sustainable viticulture and wine-making practices; two elements that are now common practice.

1998 also saw Mission Estate starting to run some of its vineyard blocks organically.

Further sustainability steps, including additional capital investment for a new winery, delivered even greater benefits.

Mission Estate CEO Peter Holley says the sustainability focus is also financially rewarding, and ensures a positive return on invest­ment for shareholders in their support of charitable works in New Zealand.

Quality award-winning wine

The success of these environmental initiatives are not only environmental and financial; Mission is consistently producing better wine.

For example, at Easter this year, Mission Estate won gold medals for the 2015 Jewelstone Syrah and 2017 Estate Pinot Gris picked up gold medals at the prestigious Royal Easter Show Wine Awards.

For the Jewelstone Syrah this award further cements Mission Estate as one of New Zealand's top Syrah producers and it comes off the back of the 2014 vintage also winning gold at Royal Easter Show and Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

In addition, the 2013 vintage won both gold and then went on to pick up the coveted trophy and the International Wine Challenge considered by many to be the world's finest and most meticulously judged wine competitions.

Mission Estate's approach to sustainability

Key in Mission Estate's approach to sustainability is the Society of Mary, (Mission's owners) who established astute governance, with a Board and CEO who are genuinely supportive of the sustainability focus and initiatives.

Outlining the move to sustainability, Mooney said Mission Estate started small and without modern technology.

It set small projects to begin monitoring and measuring key components of their opera­tion from soil testing to energy use.

"While these metrics are now common practice in the industry, they weren't 17 years ago", he said.

With a degree of satisfaction Mooney notes that Mission's modern technology means Mission constantly moni­tors the winery's energy usage, including finding the "coefficient of per­formance" (COP) of their plant.

Other steps Mission Estate Winery have taken to improve it environmental sustainability include

• installing new lighting
• removing all diesel machinery
• installing an inverter on the condensing heat exchanger
• installing a separate glycol system
• combining the use of compressors and running these as close to capacity as possible for high energy efficiency
• using self-­generated nitrogen which does not contribute to climate change (instead of CO2)
• operating on-site bottling
• operating on-site warehousing
• regular main­tenance of equipment,
• regular checks for any leaks in refrig­eration and air compressor systems

Over the years, leading edge viti­culture techniques have been introduced including

• precision Viticulture which identifies the variation in the vineyards using different sensors that link to a global positioning system; enabling produce maps to optimise the vineyard's performance and help produces better quality wine
• use of thermal mass construction.

"We have clear benchmarks in place across a number of measures and sustainability is now an part of the Board's business plan", Mooney says.

Mooney graduated from University with a physics degree. Before joining Mission Estate as a trainee winemaker he was a DSIR technican on Campbell Island and then a trainee Field Engineer role for a French American Oil exploration company.

He became Head Winemaker at Mission in 1982.

Sources

• Society of Mary
• Mission Estate
• Image: Mission Estate

The Board's decision was made public in August. It was the second time it has tried to deregister the group.

Board chairman Roger Holmes Miller said the Board considered that Family First has a purpose to promote its own particular views about marriage and the traditional family. That cannot be determined to be for the public benefit in a way previously accepted as charitable."

In a media release on 26 September, Family First announced it has lodged an appeal in Wellington's High Court to fight this deregistration.

In 2013, the Board made the decision to remove Family First from the Charities Register because it did not advance exclusively charitable purposes.

Family First appealed that decision to the High Court.

In 2015, Justice David Collins directed the Board to reconsider its decision in light of the 2014 Supreme Court Greenpeace judgment

In 2010, Greenpeace took the Charities Commission to the High Court to challenge the dismissal of its application for charity status. The court found its activities were more political than educational, and therefore not charitable.

But that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in November 2012, allowing Greenpeace to apply for re-registration.

Collins told the Charities Registration Board - "...Members of the Board may personally disagree with the views of Family First, but at the same time recognise there is a legitimate analogy between its role and those organisations that have been recognised as charities."

Read Family First media release

Source

• Stuff
• Newshub
• New Zealand Herald
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

It appears that while a few don't know the difference between a landfill and a charity Op Shop, the Vinnies in Hamilton say the good outweighs the bad by a country mile.

Last month TVNZ ran an episode of their documentary series Gutsful about dumping rubbish on OP Shops.

The promo said "We uncover some un-charitable dumping in the Waikato, where Hospice donations have gone to the dogs."

"Mike from St Vinnies has had a gutsful of sorting through sex toys and soiled goods."

But Rolton told the Waikato Times "The really good stuff that people know we can recycle, that's 99 per cent of it."

"We don't get a big pile of useless things, we get the occasional useless thing,"

The Hamilton St Vincent de Paul FaceBook page gives a good picture of the scope and variety of the things that people are doing to support the Society's works.

The Vinnies in Hamilton provide food parcels for families, school lunches for students and run a soup kitchen two nights a week.

"For just food alone, if you want a number, we feed everyone in Hamilton city once a year, and that's growing. Rolton​ said.

"On a dollar value, we put out $15,000 of food into the community every week."

"Our shops are basically our fundraisers because we don't get Government funding, so we have to survive on our own money."

Others, is seems are not so fortunate. Earlier this year the Manawatu Standard ran a piece about the Methodist Social Services Goodwill.

Manager Lyal Brenton told the Standard that that the accumulated junk left outside the city's charity op-shops was estimated to cost the sector $70,000 a year in disposal fees.

Source

• stuff.co.nz
• stuff.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz

It operates out of a converted shipping container in Upper Willis St.

More than 100,000 items of food are redistributed in the shipping container annually.

The Free Store serves people from all walks of life including the homeless, unemployed, students, refugee and immigrant families, the elderly and the sick.

It also makes sure there is no burden of effort for any of their suppliers.

Volunteers arrive at the cafes at a prearranged time and simply take the food away.

Every day they collect food on foot with the use of shopping trolleys. But shopping trolleys are designed for the smooth floors of supermarkets.

The Social Services and Community Development Board, is an Anglican funding board set up by the Wellington Anglican diocese some years ago,

The Board provided some money for the The Free Store to work with a local industrial design company to create a purpose-built trolley.

The trolleys were retrofitted with hefty waterproof canvas wraps, inflatable tyres for noise reduction and easier pushing, adjustable shelving for the interior and ash wood handles for a touch of class.

Source

• movementonline.org.nz
• thefreestore.org.nz
• theregister.co.nz
• Image: movementonline.org.nz

The 2013 Syrah has been selected to appear at the WINE Explorers' Grand Annual Tasting 2016. It is one of only 2 New Zealand wines and 35 wines selected from around the world.

Jewelstone Syrah The WINE Explorers project is a four-year project to make an inventory of all wine producing countries. Now in its third year WINE Explorers have travelled to 92 countries, visiting 250 wine-growning regions, surveying 1500 vineyards and tasting over 15,000 wines.

Founder of WINE Explorers Jean-Baptiste, said it was his "desire to travel around the globe to highlight the richness of the world's vineyards, to reveal unknown and very original great growths, hidden treasures from far away winegrowing regions."

"Hawke's Bay has impressed us with the quality of its Syrah, like the very precise cuvée 'Jewelstone Syrah 2013′ from Mission Estate."

The idea behind the tasting is not to judge the wines, but to assess the potential of each of the selected wine regions and discuss the notion of terroir.

Mission Estate CEO, Peter Holley described the event at "poignant" given it was French Missionaries who established the Mission in 1851.

"I'm sure these men never considered that their pioneering efforts would ultimately lead to a wine bearing the name Mission being showcased at such a grand event in Paris some 165 years later," he said.

Waiheke Island's Te Motu 1999 Bordeaux blend joined the 2013 Mission Jewelstone Syrah at the WINE Explorers' Grand Annual Tasting.

The Mission Jewelstone 2013 Syrah success follows the oldest wine club in the world, The Wine Society, selecting the Mission Estate 2014 Syrah among its top 40 wines of the year.

Every year The Wine Society conducts a series of blind tastings of their wine range from all round the world and this year, they tasted 784 wines.

The annual ‘Wine Championship' seeks to to determine the best wines of the year, which are in turn promoted to their members.

Proceeds from the sale of Mission Wine help support the religious and charitable works of the Society of Mary in New Zealand.

Sources:

• hawkesbay.co.nz
• thewinesociety.com

The Charities Board decides whether or not an organisation is qualified to be registered as a charity on the basis of whether it is established and maintained exclusively for "charitable purposes".

Charitable purposes includes the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, or any other matter beneficial to the community and can include the promotion of amateur sport.

A registered charity may include a non-charitable purpose (for example, advocacy) provided that the non-charitable purpose is "ancillary, secondary, subordinate or incidental" to the charitable purpose of the organisation.

Registration is important because without it, a charity is not eligible for income tax exemptions or other tax benefits available to charities. Read more

On 30 June Justice Collins ruled that Family First New Zealand's advocacy of the traditional family makes it similar to "organisations that have advocated for the ‘mental and moral improvement' of society" - that is, one of the classic types of charitable activity.

Family First was granted charitable status by the then Charities Commission in May 2007.

It was served a notice of deregistration by the Charities Board, which replaced the commission during the run-up to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in April 2013.

The Charities Board confirmed its decision to deregister Family First two days before the gay marriage law was passed.

Family First believes the juxtaposition of events makes it clear that their public campaign to preserve traditional marriage was the deciding factor in the Board's decision.

The decision from the High Court allows an appeal by Family First New Zealand against its deregistration, and orders the Charities Board to reconsider its move against the group.

It follows a similar appeal won by Greenpeace NZ last August after the Charities Board ruled its purposes, like those of the family advocates, primarily "political" rather than "charitable".

However, a majority of the Supreme Court in the Greenpeace case ruled that an organisation with charitable purposes could also have political purposes, depending on the objectives being advocated and the means used to promote those objectives.

Family First New Zealand's national director Bob McCoskrie says, "This decision is a victory for the many charitable groups - both registered, deregistered and wanting to be registered - who advocate for their causes, beliefs, and supporters and often have to engage in political activity, not always through choice but through necessity."

"It is a victory for open robust debate on issues that affect families."

Source

• mercatornet.com
• Image: familyfirst.org.nz

A select committee has recommended a law change that will allow police to recover costs for "demand services" such as criminal checks be passed into law.

The committee made minor changes to the bill, including tightening the definition of "demand services" so that it was clear what police could not charge for. Continue reading

The organisation's latest report, Giving Charities a Helping Hand, analysed over a decade of regulatory change in the sector.

It found the rules were stacked against smaller operators while allowing commercial arms of large charities to claim income tax exemptions with little oversight.

"With about $16 billion flowing into charities a year, it is absolutely necessary to have effective regulation in place to maintain the public's trust in the sector," report author Jason Krupp said.
Read the full report

Wellington city councillor Iona Pannett says "chuggers" profit from a form of mild harassment.

Chuggers ie. charity muggers, are paid street fundraisers who approach passers-by to persuade them to donate money to the charitable cause he/she is promoting.

Pannett says there are ways of encourage fundraising without making people feel uncomfortable. Continue reading

Manji was a member of the working group that prepared a discussion paper released last week by Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ).

The paper considers alternative funding options for councils as many are finding it increasingly difficult to pay for infrastructure and services amid population decline and growing costs.

At present Land used for religious worship, religious education or for charitable purposes are all classed as non-rateable under existing legislation.

Councils can levy targeted rates for water, sewerage and refuse collection but not any other type of rate.

Crown land used for conservation and recreation, not-for-profit early childhood centres, schools and tertiary institutions and land owned or used by district health boards are also exempt, along with land used for transport infrastructure, including roads, wharves, railways and airports and some Maori land.

The LGNZ Funding Review report said there was a "lack of any rational basis for the current exemptions".

"Central government sets the exemptions but local communities pay for them, as the rates burden in each area is spread over a narrower base" the report said.

Christchurch Methodist Mission executive director Jill Hawkey said charities and churches would have to either raise the additional money or cut services if they had to pay rates.

"It would have a huge impact. I really encourage the council to recognise the community services provided by churches and charitable organisations."

Christchurch Anglican Church spokesman Jayson Rhodes said churches, which were also meeting places for various community groups, were hit hard in the quakes and to start charging rates now would have a big effect.

Source

• The Press
• Image: TVNZ

A report on TVNZ's Seven Sharp drew an analogy with the game of Monopoly, and placed some churches in the top "Park Lane" category.

These included the Salvation Army with a surplus of $24 million, and Auckland Catholic diocese with $13 million.

The report stated three Catholic dioceses - Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin - had about the same level of surplus.

But these were dwarfed by the figures for iwi, with Tainui at $200 million and Ngai Tahu at $160 million.

The report noted that charities have a tax-free status.

Seven Sharp reporter Hadyn Jones described the Catholic Church as "one of our richest religions".

Speaking for Auckland diocese, Dame Lyndsay Freer confirmed the surplus figure.

While it seems like a big number, Dame Lyndsay said, "it's peanuts really".

There is "so much to be done", including earthquake strengthening of churches and schools, as well as significant capital works and ongoing religious, charitable and educational activities.

The report also noted that Auckland diocese owns nearly NZ$1billion in assets, including St Patrick's Cathedral.

"People of course always say, look at the Catholic Church with all our buildings and all our artwork, and all the rest of it," Dame Lyndsay responded.

"But if we didn't have the buildings, if we didn't have the Churches and schools, we wouldn't be able to gather as Catholics."

Dame Lyndsay also reportedly noted that the Catholic Church does not demand tithing of its members.

The Salvation Army stated its surplus was much larger than usual this year because of investments maturing and Christchurch earthquake-related insurance payouts.

Canterbury academic Dr Michael Gousmett questioned whether some charities were growing empires, instead of concentrating on their charitable activities.

The Seven Sharp report noted that roughly five new charities are registered each day in New Zealand.

Of the 27,438 charities in New Zealand, 15,761 made a surplus in the last year.

Sources

• Seven Sharp
• Image: Reserve Bank Museum