Kiwi generosity under pressure

Richard Spackman
CEO
Aoraki Foundation
11 May 2026

New Zealand is a generous country. Kiwis are quick to lend a hand or a dollar when someone needs support.

Our society is built on generosity, our sporting codes rely on volunteers, our community facilities rely on fundraising, and even essential services like our ambulance network depend heavily on charitable donations. But our generosity is under pressure.

Financial stress, time pressures, compliance, and the decline of physical cash have dramatically altered traditional fundraising. The street collections, sausage sizzles, and raffles that once defined community giving are becoming less common. For many groups, the return on investment for these activities has been shrinking for years. It’s a tough environment for charitable giving.

In the most recent World Giving Index, New Zealand slipped to 17th place, after years spent comfortably in the top five. Yet rankings don’t tell the full story.

Kiwis still love to give, but how we give is changing.

There has been a shift from quick, reactive giving to more strategic, thoughtful generosity. Donors want their gifts to be meaningful and have a lasting impact. They want to address root causes, not just symptoms. This is the essence of modern giving: focused, intentional, and aimed at longterm community wellbeing.

Recently, Community Foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand completed a nationwide survey to better understand why people give, how they give, and what might make the process easier. The results, which will be released over the coming months, will help us build a clearer picture of generosity in Aotearoa and strengthen the ways we support communities. I look forward to sharing these insights with you.

Here in South Canterbury, I see generosity every day in my role as chief executive of the Aoraki Foundation. And just like the national trends, people are giving in ways that are thoughtful, strategic, and deeply connected to this place.

In the past three years, we have seen remarkable growth in gifts in wills, with more local families choosing to leave a legacy that will support South Canterbury for generations.

We’ve also seen increased interest in collective giving, such as our Aoraki Women’s Fund, where many caring individuals and organisations have come together, resulting in more than $35,000 in impact grants benefiting women and girls across our region.

Local businesses, too, are thinking differently about how they give. Our Financial Literacy Fund, driven predominantly by South Canterbury businesses, is an inspiring example. Their collective generosity will see an additional 800 secondary students receive financial education in 2026, and a programme is already in place to extend this support to primary-aged students later in the year.

Generosity is also helping bring ambitious community projects to life. We saw that first-hand with CPlay, and now the redevelopment of Aorangi Stadium is another project where donors are investing not just in a community asset, but in the wellbeing, pride, and connectedness of our region.

What I see every day is that South Canterbury people care deeply about their community.

The way we give may be changing, but the heart behind it remains as strong as ever.