Farewell to General Manager – Lesa Kalapu         

I hope you will join me in wishing Lesa all the best in her future endeavours and to acknowledge her time as General Manager. I've seen how well respected Lesa is by her colleagues and by sector representatives. This is a testament to Lesa's leadership during one of the biggest periods of change for the charitable sector since the passing of the Charities Act in 2005.

Before my time (since 2008) surveys have been conducted biennially to measure New Zealanders' levels of  trust and confidence in the charitable sector. The 2016 results are out and they show that trust levels are moderate, at 5.9 out of ten. We know a key driver behind building overall trust and confidence in the charitable sector is transparency around the use of charitable funds. The introduction of reporting standards for registered charities has been a big change for the sector, but we're confident that they will, in the long run, support public trust and confidence in charities.

As the sector becomes more familiar with using the standards, we’re responding to some areas where we see charities need some help. It’s great to see so many of you joining us for our first webinar of 2017 and we hope to see you back online again in May.

Finally, this week Charities Services is attending the International Charities Regulators’ Forum in Ottawa, Canada. New Zealand will join 10 international charities regulators ranging from Northern Ireland to Singapore. The Forum is a great opportunity for me to hit the ground running and get a feel for the issues impacting the charitable sector in different jurisdictions. We’re speaking about the new reporting standards a year in and I’ll be sure to report back to you next month with some highlights.

What is a registered charity?

A registered charity is an organisation that has applied to Charities Services to become registered and has been successful in its application.

Charities Services is part of the Department Internal Affairs; we register and monitor registered charities, process Annual Returns, and maintain the Charities Register. You can find out more about our role here.

Charities can choose to be registered – it's not mandatory for charities to be registered with us.

There are a number of benefits in being a registered charity, in particular that your organisation is eligible for some tax exemptions. Being registered may also help your charity secure funds from grant funders who may only make grants available to registered charities.

There are also obligations that come with being a registered charity, and it’s important that your charity is aware of these requirements and complies to remain registered. You can find out more about the benefits and obligations here.

How do I check if my charity is registered with Charities Services?

Before you go any further, you may want to check first if your charity is indeed registered with Charities Services. You can find this out by doing a search on the Charities Register for your charity. Click here to go to the Register, enter your charity’s name or any of the other details you have, and click Search. You can also search by the name of an officer if you’re unsure of the official name of your charity.

What are my charity’s obligations as a registered charity?

As a registered charity, there are a number of obligations, and it’s important your charity’s committee, board or governing body know about these.

Two of these requirements are that:

• your charity needs to keep us up to date with any changes to your charity, including contact details, new or retiring officers (e.g. committee members, trustees), changes to your rules (e.g. constitution, trust deed), so that we can maintain an up-to-date Charities Register. This will ensure that anyone wanting information about your charity – including funders who are assessing grant applications – can find the correct information about your organisation on our register, and
• your charity needs to complete an Annual Return every year.

What is an Annual Return?

Every year, within six months of your charity’s financial year end (balance date), your charity will need to complete and submit an Annual Return to Charities Services. If you’re unsure of your charity’s balance date, ask your treasurer, or you can check this on your charity’s listing in the Charities Register.

You'll need to go through the requirements of the Annual Return with your charity’s committee, board or governing body as it asks for both financial and non-financial information.

As part of the Annual Return, you'll also need to provide specific information that complies with new reporting standards. Before you can do this, you'll need to find out what tier your charity needs to report under, and this will determine if you need to put together a Performance Report (for Tiers 3 and 4) or Financial Statements (for Tiers 1 and 2).

Most of the charities registered with Charities Services are Tier 3 and Tier 4. We have lots of information on our website on how to put together your charity’s Performance Report and we highly recommend that you download our Annual Reporting booklets that will guide you through the steps required to put your report together.

Once you've completed your Performance Report, you can then log into your charity’s account and complete the online Annual Return form. You'll need to attach your Performance Report as part of this process. 

Where can I get help?

We suggest that you first find out who in your charity has been in charge of submitting previous Annual Returns to Charities Services. Remember that the requirements of the Annual Return have changed (since last year) and it’s important to check with the previous person if the last Annual Report was submitted using the new reporting requirements. If you don't have last year's Annual Return, you can find it on your charity's listing in the Charities Register. 

We have guidebooks, videos, tutorials and templates available on our website to help you with your charity’s Annual Return. Our blog, newsletter and Facebook page are also good sources of information.

If you're still stuck, give us a call on 0508 CHARITIES (0508 242 748), or email us at info@charities.govt.nz - we're always here to help. 

Public Trust and Confidence in Charities – 2016 Survey Results

The 2016 results show that overall New Zealanders’ trust and confidence in charities remains moderate, with an average rating of 5.9 out of 10, effectively no change from levels in 2014 and 2012.

For the first time, the 2016 survey also asked respondents for their levels of trust and confidence in a range of other sectors. The responses show that charities fare quite well when compared to other sectors. Charities scored higher than the banking, large business, insurance and TV/ print media sectors, slightly lower than law enforcement, small businesses and the health sector and similar to the education sector.

A range of factors contribute to building overall trust and confidence in the charitable sector, but it's clear a key driver is transparency around the use of charitable funds. This includes charities applying the majority of their funds to making a positive difference in the areas where the funds were most needed – and letting the public know what they were doing.

The good news is that all registered charities are required to report annually, ensuring transparency about where their funds have been spent and (for most charities) what services they have delivered. These reports are publicly available on the Charities Register.

The Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Hon Alfred Ngaro, says the survey serves as a reminder of the regulator role of Charities Services and the transparency of the Charities Register.

“What really jumps out when reading the report is how much value people place on the role of a regulator of the sector and in transparency, however, many respondents weren’t actually aware that these services are already in place,” says Mr Ngaro.

Just over half of people surveyed valued the role of charities regulation but hadn't heard of Charities Services.  The survey, for the first time, measured levels of trust and confidence in Charities Services as the regulator and the average response was 6.3 out of 10, higher than any other sector measured in the survey.

You can view the full survey results here.

EVENTS