Charities Services Newsletter - June 2017

Dion's Message

Tena koutou, talofa lava and warm greetings,

In May, Charities Services hosted its first gathering of charity sector representatives in Wellington. Those who attended were invited as representatives of the diverse sector we serve. The purpose of the meeting was for Charities Services to hear directly from the sector about issues impacting the sector and to seek feedback on our role as the regulator of registered charities in Aotearoa. The group gave us some great feedback about our newsletter and improvements we can make to showcase the sector more. We liked it, and we're planning to make some changes, so watch this space. We hope to make the meeting a biannual event and extend the invitation out to the wider sector.

Speaking of our regulatory role, it was interesting meeting our fellow charity regulators at the International Charity Regulators' Conference last month and hearing about the different, but ultimately similar climates we operate in. Comparisons were made between the number of staff and charities in each participating country. With over 27,000 registered charities in New Zealand, we know how big the sector we serve is and we believe that reflects how generous kiwis are. We also know there are many small charities on the register who might not need to be registered with us to continue doing all the great work they do in our communities.

It’s a good time for your organisation to stop and have a chat about whether registration is in your charity’s best interest. Don't worry, we'll help you work through this in our article below.

Photo: Dion Chamberlain, Acting General Manager with Lynette Tyrrell, Senior Advisor Pacific at the Department of Internal Affairs, celebrating Pacific identity at Charities Services this Samoan Language Week.

In this issue:

Is being registered with Charities Services still right for your organisation?
Family First New Zealand's charitable status and how decisions are made
International Regulators' Conference
Upcoming events
News of interest

Is being registered with Charities Services still right for your organisation?

Following on from our article "New to a registered charity?" in our April Newsletter, we're now asking you:

Does your charity actually need to be registered with Charities Services?

As outlined in our previous article, there are obligations that come with being a registered charity, and one of these is to comply with the new reporting standards that came into effect in April 2015.

All registered charities must now comply with these standards regardless of their size, activities or income.

We realise that for many small charities, in particular Tier 4 charities, the new reporting requirements may require a lot of effort from your charity, and you may not have the resources to do this.

We can’t tell you whether to remain registered is the best decision for your charity – this is something your charity will need to discuss and agree on. Being registered is, after all, a choice – not an obligation.

What does it mean to your organisation to be a registered charity with Charities Services?

If your small charity is struggling with the new reporting requirements, stop and have a conversation about what it means to your organisation to be a registered charity. For example, why did your charity become registered in the first place? Was it for the income tax benefits? To secure funding that required registration? Or maybe you registered because your donors need receipts to claim tax back on their donations?

Read more about common reasons organisations register, and what options are available for those who no longer want to remain registered. There are also tax implications to think about before you make a decision. Continue reading this article in our blog...

Family First New Zealand's charitable status and how decisions are made

The Independent Charities Registration Board has released an update on Family First New Zealand’s charitable status in light of the recent interest in Family First New Zealand's charitable status. It is important to note that Family First is not currently deregistered; a notice of intention to remove has been issued to the charity, and any objection and information from Family First will be reviewed and considered by the Board before a final determination is made.

To help you understand the process taken to reach this outcome we’ll explain how we work below.

Who makes decisions on whether a charity is registered or deregistered?

The three person independent Charities Registration Board (the Board) makes decisions regarding the registration and deregistration of charities under the Charities Act 2005, and ensures that charities on the Charities Register qualify under New Zealand’s charities law.

The Board is independent of direction from Charities Services, the minister or the government. In practice, Charities Services works under delegation from the Board and most registration decisions that are straight forward are made by our Registration Team on the Board’s behalf.

Where applications are unique or complex, where an applicant disagrees with our assessment, or where the Board has considered the applicant before, the Board makes the decisions directly. This involves the Board reviewing substantial information and submissions from the applicant before a final decision on registration or deregistration is made. The Charities Act 2005 and previous charities law cases inform the decisions made by the Board. We recommend reading the Act to further understand.

All the Board's final registration and deregistration decisions are published on on our website. The Board's decisions are sometimes challenged by the courts and this process helps to clarify how the law applies, and the Board can then change its approach to adapt to the current law on charities.

If you're interested in the role of the independent Charities Registration Board, we recommend you read our blog on how the Charities Registration Board makes decisions. We've also published information on our website to help you understand the current law on advocacy as a charitable purpose, and a blog on the complexities of being political and charitable.

International Regulators' Conference

Last month, staff from Charities Services attended the International Charity Regulators Conference in Ottawa, Canada. Every 18 months, regulators from all over the world meet to discuss topical issues and shared concerns. This year, representatives of the three different United Kingdom charity regulators, as well as their revenue service, Ireland, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, met with Canadian officials, and discussed all things charitable (and not so charitable).

"I really valued the free and frank discussion that occurred with our international colleagues. There is genuine complexity in all of our environments, but the challenges faced are often very similar. It was fantastic to be able to learn from other jurisdictions, and also see them citing examples from the New Zealand context," - Dion Chamberlain, acting General Manager of Charities Services.

Charities Services also presented at a conference on the Future of Charities Regulation at Carleton University. This conference was staged to align with the Charity Regulators Forum, and Charities Services staff were fortunate to hear from some of the most prominent voices in the academic analysis of charities in Canada.

Dr Oonagh Breen, Senior Lecturer in Law at University College Dublin gave a fascinating presentation comparing the regulatory regimes in various common law countries. Of particular interest to Charities Services was the discovery that Charities Services has a ratio of one staff member to 700 charities whereas Singapore has one staff member to 70 charities. While Singapore and New Zealand have very similar population sizes, Singapore has close to 3,000 registered charities compared to over 27,000 registered charities in New Zealand. This reflects the size of New Zealand's charitable sector.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Upcoming webinars

Annual Reporting - An Overview for Tier 3 and Tier 4 Charities
27 June 2017 (12pm - 12.45pm)
Register here
Tier 4 Tour of the Performance Report
20 July 2017 (12pm - 12.45pm)
Registrations not yet open

View the full schedule of webinars on our website.

Past webinars

View each webinar recording and download handouts here (just scroll to the bottom of the page).

NEWS OF INTEREST

Independent review of Registration Decisions

Every year, Charities Services seeks an independent review of a random sample of registration decisions to ensure the consistency and quality of Charities Services decision making.

One of the leading academics in charities law in New Zealand, Juliet Chevalier-Watts was selected after we approached University Law Schools in New Zealand to submit a tender. Juliet reviewed 27 decisions (25 registrations and 2 declines) on applications for registration made in 2016.

Juliet agreed with the outcome of all decisions made by Charities Services and noted the decisions were all consistent and accurate from a charities law perspective.

The independent review of registration decisions is just one way Charities Services works to maintain the integrity of the Charities Register to build public trust and confidence in charities.

Is your registered charity looking for funding?

The Department of Internal Affairs - Community Matters is responsible for administering lots of different grants and funds your registered charity may be eligible for.

View a list of all the grant funding provided on the Community Matters website to find funding for your registered charity, and put the following key funding and grant deadlines in the calendar so you don't miss out.

Find out about your charity's eligibility for certain funding grants online. Can you apply for grant funding?

How did your charity find its first year of reporting using the new reporting standards?

BDO New Zealand
surveyed over 700 registered charities about their experiences and learnings using the new reporting standards for the first time. We've summarised some of their findings below.

1% had never heard of the changes
64% needed help
50% of charities found help on Charities Services website
80% said Charities Services had made appropriate resources available to charities about the changes
General feedback from registered charities to Charities Services
asked for reporting templates to be made easier to use.

It's a good read, download the report here.

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