We help charitable initiatives get up and running quickly!

Get ready to receive philanthropic grants, provide donation tax receipts, manage expenses, and spend money – without getting bogged down in paperwork.

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115

Collectives under our umbrella, serving a wide variety of sectors

$5.2M

Received in donations to support our Collectives

$3.6M

Spent by Collectives to do awesome mahi

Benefits

What you get when you sign up with us

Plus, if you have any other requests, we’ll try to help to the best of our ability!

Invoices and receipts

Provide invoices and receipts to your contributors, including donation tax receipts if your project is charitable

Payments

Organise paying people who work on your project and reimbursing project expenses

Website

An instant webpage to tell your story, engage your community, and fundraise

Grant applications

Engage with grant applications as the fundholder and assist you with the process

Supply chain

Register on supplier and vendor systems so companies can support you.

Documentation

Get documentation like bank account verification, company registration info, GST number, etc

Signatories

Sign contracts with contractors, vendors, venues and other third parties your project wants to engage

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Register today

Build trust and a support base for your charitable cause by ensuring:

Compliance

Automatic reporting

Transparent budget tracking

Expert vetting process

Costs

More grants, fewer overheads

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Melissa Gibson – Rainbow Safety Fund, Waikato

“The Gift Trust, as fund administrator, ensured that funding was delivered quickly and efficiently. Their high-trust and low-burden approach avoided unnecessary bureaucracy and demonstrated how a back-office partner can reduce power imbalances, while upholding transparency and integrity. The administrative process was simple, streamlined, and empowering — a model worth repeating nationally.”

Melissa Gibson - Rainbow Safety Fund, Waikato

Kris Dempster-Rivett – DECA

"To become, or not to become, a charitable trust - that was the question! In the end, Gift Collective provided us with the vehicle and framework we needed to continue to support our mahi, support our community and to continue in the digital equity ecosystem. I can't thank the team at Gift Collective enough for their support and knowledge as they help guide us to our purpose, goals and objectives."

Kris Dempster-Rivett - DECA

Our whānau

100+ Collectives in our whānau

We’re hosting more than 100 Collectives, doing a wide range of awesome mahi:

News

New on the blog

FAQs

Got any pātai?

Who is Gift Collective for?

A lot of groups are already using Gift Collective in Aotearoa! What they have in common is being collectively organised, valuing transparency, and needing to get up and running quickly without getting bogged down in paperwork and admin.

What is a Collective?

In our language, your rōpu or group is a Collective. You collectively organise and have a social good purpose. You’re maybe just one person, or a group - but you all want to do something charitable. 

What are your acceptance criteria?

To be accepted into the Gift Collective whānau, your initiative must be focussed on a charitable purpose in Aotearoa New Zealand, and must meet our acceptance criteria.

Is advocacy charitable?

Your Collective is able to take on some advocacy work as long as there is a clear charitable purpose. We follow the rules that Charities Services set.

Charities Services has a view that non-ancillary advocacy can now be charitable when it is clearly connected to the organisation’s charitable purpose. An example is advocacy for “relieving poverty by supporting an increase in the minimum wage”. This is the case even if other charities or people have competing views on the issue, or if the issue is seen as controversial (provided that it is addressed in a fair and balanced way).

Where the advocacy cannot be seen as advancing a charitable cause, then that is not a charitable activity –
for example, supporting a political party.

Finally, the manner of how the advocacy is carried out is important. Conventional advocacy (petitions,
reports, publications) is acceptable but not illegal means (i.e. protests that breach public safety laws).

See more on the Charities Services website.

Is this the same as registering as a charity?

No, it is not. By registering with Gift Collective, you get to sit within our charitable entity, making you eligible to apply for charitable grants. This doesn’t mean, though, that you are a charity in your own right.

Do I have to put my whole kaupapa under Gift Collective or can I sign up just to cover a portion of my mahi?

It is perfectly acceptable to sign up to Gift Collective for a portion of your work only. We can only accept charitable work, and expenses related to this. Some groups may choose to keep their business separate from their charitable arm, and run their charity work through us.

What do I get if I sign up?

Essentially three key things: 

  1. A fundholder, a legal entity with a bank account, through which you can engage as a group, so you don't need to manage your Collective's funds personally or incorporate a new legal entity. 
  2. The ability to apply for grants and funding by sitting under Gift Collective’s umbrella.
  3. A tech platform to help your Collective thrive, with features like crowdfunding, transparent budget tracking, and community engagement tools. 
Do I need to charge GST on funds I raise?

It depends. Unconditional donations - where nothing specific is given in return - do not attract GST. Conditional payment - where the buyer gets something in return, like membership, a product, service, or event ticket - may attract GST. Our platform is set up for both scenarios.

Will you help me get funding?

We are a fundholder only, so we can’t apply for grants or shoulder tap donors for you. We can, however, provide support letters for your grant applications. We also provide a funding guide and hold webinars that cover tips and tricks for funding applications.

The good news is that by sitting under our charitable umbrella, you open yourself up to more funding options.

If I’ve applied to Charities Services and have been rejected, can I still sign up with you?

No, if Charities Services doesn’t think your mahi meets charitable purpose, then we won’t either. To meet our criteria your mahi must be charitable.

Which grant makers or funders have given grants through Gift Collective?

A diverse range of funders have given to Collectives sitting under our umbrella - individuals, community foundations, city councils, family foundations and government organisations. These include DIA Lotteries, Spark Foundation, One NZ, Tindall Foundation, J R McKenzie Trust and Wellington Community Fund.

Who is behind Gift Collective?

The Gift Trust.