Third Annual Philanthropy Report
More Given to Social Services, Arts, Education, and Environmental Causes Over the Past 12 Months
New data from a leading charitable services provider shows it takes more than an economic downturn to dampen New Zealanders’ generosity. In the third annual philanthropy report from Perpetual Guardian, the largest steward of philanthropic funds in New Zealand, the company records its management of total giving in the last financial year: a remarkable $30.6 million, representing a 30.2% increase on last year’s full charitable funds distribution of $23.5 million.
Key themes of the 2023-24 report:
- The average grant value in the 2023-24 financial year was $16,729, compared with $11,705 the year before – an astonishing 43.9% increase.
- Grants benefitting environmental causes totalled $4.0 million in the past year, compared with $0.6 million the year before (+566.7%).
- Education-focused granting rose to $3.7 million from $1.5 million the previous year (+146.7%).
- Giving to the arts was up 58.3% to $1.9 million.
- Agriculture-affiliated funds under management in 2023-24 are $21.1 million, with grants distributed into the agricultural sector totalling $238,500 in the financial year.
- Grant support for social services rose to $9.9 million from $8.2 million (+20.7%).
The sizeable increase in overall giving is attributable in part to rebounding investment markets – with the Perpetual Guardian Group’s PG Investments team carefully managing investments on behalf of clients – and to a pool of new donors who began their philanthropic journey during the year.
The Group itself has also grown in size and reach during the period, including through the acquisition of the Private Wealth division of Trustees Executors Limited and Castle Point Funds Management Limited joining the group, the latter operating under the PG Investments umbrella. The Group’s philanthropic assets under management have grown to $936 million (up from $849 million in the previous year) and funds under management are now $758 million (up from $679 million).
Perpetual Guardian’s Head of Philanthropy Kirsten Kilian-Taylor says, “The broad increases we have seen in the past year are as heartening as they are notable, with the sectors traditionally supported by the generous legacies of our clients recording significant boosts in rates of giving. The upward shift of many metrics we track is partly due to a focus on enhanced grant-making mechanisms and the granting of meaningful sums to charities working hard on the front lines of their sector.
“As we look ahead to our next year of giving, we will continue to focus on comprehensively tracking and considering impact and outcomes in the grant-making process, and in doing so enhancing a key outcome of our service offering which is deep, close and personal connections with the Philanthropy Sector in New Zealand.”
Perpetual Guardian Group CEO Patrick Gamble says his team works with many philanthropists and charitable trust clients who harbour great ambitions to make the world better and think about giving in terms of what can be achieved years after their own lifetimes.
“A promise we make to our philanthropy clients is, ‘You can make a difference, and together, we’ll create change.’ Sometimes, when we look around the world and see struggle and strife it is hard to see where change can happen. But we hope this year’s report can be read as proof of how readily, New Zealanders help others and create opportunities for the generations to come through their intentions and planning.
The 2024 Perpetual Guardian philanthropy report is available here:
