I had been back in the hot seat for only a few days and then it was straight into our Annual Meeting for 2018. We were excited to hold this year’s meeting in the beautiful Fale o Samoa, in South Auckland. It was a fantastic day and I’d like to thank all the people who attended the meeting or watched online. The meeting is always a big deal for us as it gives our team a chance to meet and talk with some of the great people who make up the charitable sector. The meeting also had an announcement from the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Hon Peeni Henare on an update of the Charites Act review. You can find out more about this below.

I am also excited to share our Annual Review Report which is a summary of our work over the last year and our plans for the year ahead. This is the first time we have released something like this and we hope it’s an informative read. As always, if you have any feedback for us, we would love to hear from you.

Finally, I’m happy to announce the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand are again running awards for best reporting. We will have information on how to apply on our website and social media soon. I really enjoyed the awards last year, and I’m looking forward to seeing what new and innovative ways this year's winners used to explain their performance. The award ceremony will be held at the next Charity Law, Accounting and Regulation conference, to be held on 11 and 12 April 2018.  Watch this space!

Ka kite anō

Natasha

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Charities Services Annual Meeting 2018

Around 200 people gathered at Fale o Samoa in Mangere, Auckland on 4 October 2018 to attend the Charities Services Annual Meeting.

We were joined by Hon Peeni Henare, Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, who provided an update of the review of the Charities Act. He announced that public consultation is scheduled for early next year and urged all stakeholders to engage in the consultation process. For more information on the review click here.

Roger Holmes Miller, Chair of the independent Charities Registration Board responsible for decisions on the registration and deregistration of charities, announced the Charities Registration Board’s new Te Reo Māori name – Te Rātā Atawhai. The name refers to the Board’s protection of charities (“Atawhai”) through the rātā tree, known for its shading and protecting qualities.

Maria Robertson, Deputy Chief Executive of the Department of Internal Affairs, was pleased to introduce Charities Services’ first ever Annual Review Report. The report provides a helpful snapshot of the sector for 2017/2018 and can be viewed here.

The feedback for the meeting was largely positive with several commenting that it was nice to put a face to Charities Services. One attendee summed it like so, “Putting a public face on a regulator is always important and appreciated. As can be seen from some of the questions, there is always the need to hear from the coalface”.

Those who could not make the meeting were able to join us live on Facebook. The recording of our Annual Meeting can now be viewed on the Charities Services’ YouTube channel.

Update from DIA Policy on the Charities Act review

At the Charities Services Annual Meeting a couple of weeks ago, Hon Peeni Henare announced that public consultation for the Charities Act review will take place over March and April 2019. 

We had initially planned for public consultation to take place at the end of this year. However, we got the message loud and clear that the end of the year is a very busy time for charities, and that it would be much better to consult after the summer break.

We are working with sector stakeholders to plan a number of community meetings around the country during the consultation phase. Details of meeting dates and locations should be made available before the end of the year.  

It’s vital for the review to get good engagement with the sector through those meetings, so we’re very happy with the Minister’s announcement.

In the meantime, the team leading the review is continuing to work on preparing the public discussion document which will be released during the consultation phase. 

Keep an eye out on the Charities Act review webpage for all the latest on the review.

Steve Kerr, Policy Manager, Department of Internal Affairs.

SECTOR SHOWCASE

This month we catch-up with Jackie Clark from The Aunties, a registered charity providing emotional and financial support to women affected by domestic violence, mostly in South Auckland. Jackie collects quality essential goods (food, clothing and underwear), and helps with the most basic of bills including school trips, school uniforms, baby items, petrol, and getting reading glasses. The Aunties also provides emotional support – intricate work that requires distinctive care and compassion – that is essential to bridging a better future for survivors. Currently, the charity is largely supported by the regular contributions of about 200 aunties (both men and women). The support they provide is making a positive difference in the lives of hundreds of women and children.

Jackie Clark at the 2018 Women of Influence Awards

The Aunties recently made the headlines when founder Jackie Clark took the overall title of supreme award winner at this year’s Women of Influence Awards. Her win as overall title winner is a nod to the important work of the good people in the community and not-for-profit sector. For The Aunties, the award is a milestone in an on-going journey that is now in its sixth year. Deciding to do charity work (everyday) and taking on a problem like domestic violence is not for the fainthearted, so we were keen to ask Jackie to share a little about her journey thus far.

What prompted you to start the Aunties?
It was entirely an accident. I was kindergarten teaching and rang a local refuge to see if they wanted some kids clothes. That was the beginning of my relationship with that refuge. A few months later, my best friend got very sick and died, and I knew I needed to step up our support of the women in the refuge. I used Twitter to build a community of support around me, and so the Twitter Aunties was born.

There was no intention in my actions until I had established a relationship with the women in the refuge, and I knew support for them needed to be sustainable. We could have continued being an unregistered charity, but I knew that it would be good for our credibility if we worked towards that.

What have been the biggest challenges to date?
Getting the message across that we don’t want people’s rubbish. That is, when giving to a charity, people should ask what’s needed first, and then make sure whatever is given is of very good quality. I am really, really hardline about this. As a charity who relies on material donations - mainly of clothes, bedding, towels - I have learned that it’s essential to say no, and to be very clear about what you want. And getting people to buy into that. Not everyone is going to, and I find it hard not to judge people who think it’s okay to give vulnerable people absolute tat.

What's been instrumental to The Aunties’ success?
I believe the Aunties is successful because I was able to quit my job teaching and commit my life to the charity. I’m able to spend time with women, and give them emotional space, that other agencies may not be able to do. What I do is something most people aren’t able to - mainly because it’s not financially sustainable - and my husband and I are now in a position where I can afford to do what I do.

What's something you wished that everyone knew about the work you do?
Until fairly recently, nobody, sometimes not even I, knew exactly what I do. Just because when you’re providing emotional and material support to so many people, what you’re asked to do is incredibly variant depending on the person and the day. Perhaps the most challenging thing to date, though, has been constantly drumming up enough money to support the women I serve in increasing ways. For example, we spend around $4,000-$,5000 a month on doing online Countdown shopping for women, and I’m always having to make sure that it’s something we can keep on doing. I’ve had to restrict the number of people we provide that service to just because it would be completely unsustainable if I were to offer it to more people.

I also find that because the job isn’t entirely definable, there’s a bit of misinformation about it. Like that, because I work with women who have experienced, or are experiencing, family violence - I work with refuges. I don’t! The women find me, or are referred to me.

And people don’t actually understand what family violence is. It’s just power and control exerted by one person over another. Anyone can try to control someone else. And anyone can be manipulated and controlled by someone else. We talk about the victims of domestic violence, but the women I work with aren’t victims. They’re survivors. And they’re no different to you and I. Family violence happens in every strata of NZ society, in the main to women because of our culture of violence, and can be emotional and physical.

What are your hopes for the future of The Aunties?
That we continue to support women who need us, in loving and meaningful ways. That we revolutionise giving in this country. That we revolutionise the way we think of domestic violence in this country, that we foster increasing recognition that for too long, we have protected people who are emotionally and physically violent to other people. That the organisation is sustainable long after I’m gone and that my work with the women is continued in the same vein. Spending time with them, nurturing healing relationships.

NEWS OF INTEREST

Updating your charity's details

We deregister hundreds of charities every year due to failure to meet their Annual Return filing requirements. Being registered under the Charities Act means you have to file Annual Returns within six months of your balance date, and update your details within six months of any changes. If you don’t, you will be in breach of the Charities Act.

Two key responsibilities are:

• keeping your contact details up to date, and
• letting us know when your officers are removed or disqualified.

Are your officers still qualified to be on your governing group?

Another important part of updating your details is letting us know when officers change, or are disqualified. It’s really good practice to regularly check whether all your officers still meet the criteria under the Charities Act 2005. You could add it as an item to your Annual Meeting agenda to ensure it is checked every year.

Common factors that can disqualify an officer include being an undischarged bankrupt, being under 16 years old, and having a conviction for dishonesty offences within the last seven years. To read the full list of factors, and more information, visit our website.

Change to donee assessment from 2019/20 income year

Most registered charities have donee status, granted by Inland Revenue. This means when a person makes a donation (over $5) to a donee organisation, they can generally claim a tax credit for that donation.

A change to the assessment for donee status has recently taken place and will affect registered charities that apply funds to charitable purposes outside of New Zealand. Prior to the change, charities applying over 50% of their funds to specified purposes within New Zealand were given donee status. The new assessment now includes lifting the percentage to 75%, and explaining how that assessment is made in more detail. More information can be found on Inland Revenue’s website, and if you have any questions you can call them on 0800 377 774.

RESOURCES