4. Corporate charities in NZ

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In NZ any companies can be granted charitable status if they have exclusively charitable purposes and activities, and no profits can be distributed to non-charitable shareholders or individuals.  What do we know about these ‘corporate charities’?

Summary

Overall only a small percentage of total charities in NZ are corporate charities – about 4% or 895 out of 25,000 total charities.  However they are significant in terms of size, with assets of $3.2b, equity of $1.5b and turnover of $1.6b. 

The largest corporate charities {ranked by equity} are mostly maori corporates that were initially funded through treaty settlements.

There is a spread of corporate charities across the country, which indicates no specific advisor or promoter has led to growth in any particular area.

About 10% of corporate charities have some overseas operations or purposes.  In the most recent year, corporate charities paid $17m grants outside NZ.

The main sectors corporate charities operate in are education, health and accommodation.  Their main beneficiaries are the general public, children/young people and “other charities”.

It’s not surprising that almost half of the corporate charities have listed “trading activities” as one of their sources of funds.  In the most recent year their cost of trading was $175m and they recorded surpluses of $71m.  These figures will be understated, because they do not include corporate charities which have had their financial accounts withheld from the register on the grounds of commercial sensitivity.

An initial review of shareholders of corporate charities indicates that their shareholders include other corporate charities, charitable trusts, charitable incorporated societies and individuals.  In the majority of cases corporate charities are part of a bigger structure involving other related entities.

What advantages could corporate charities obtain that the informed public may frown upon?

·         Existing charities may set up a corporate charity and transfer some assets to it so that it ‘looks poor’ and can access funding.

·         Corporate charities may qualify for Inland Revenue donee status even though their shareholder does not.  This is because the corporate charity’s purposes may be to fund the NZ charity shareholder (so funds are all spent directly in NZ), whereas the NZ charity shareholder’s purpose may be to fund overseas purposes and therefore not qualify for donee status.

·         Shareholders of corporate charities may be able to personally access some of the value of accumulated funds by selling their shares.  This would enable them to personally benefit from the cumulative effect of tax exemptions and other advantages of registered charitable status.

·         If a corporate charity is in business and the business relates to its charitable purpose, it may be paying unreasonably high salaries.  This may be cause for alarm when the corporate charity is a closely-held company where the shareholder is the employee. Even more alarmingly, the high salaries may be funded by government or other grant income.

·         If a corporate charity is in business but the business does not relate to its charitable purpose, it may also be paying unreasonably high salaries.  Alternatively it may be reinvesting funds into its business and making minimal (or nil) charitable distributions to its charitable shareholder or, if the shareholder is not charitable, to independent charitable activities.

·         The corporate charity may have foreign shareholders so it becomes difficult to assess whether some funds are being transferred overseas through related party transactions.

·         Dividends paid by corporate charities to their charity shareholders may give the impression, on an unconsolidated basis, that charitable activity has taken place. However if the ultimate shareholder has not made grant distributions and does not itself conduct charitable activity, then the public may be misled about the extent of charitable activity actually taking place.

In conclusion, the small but significant group of corporate charities is important to keep an eye on.  A subset of this population could potentially abuse the system in ways that other entity types could not.

The Details

A total of 1,026 limited liability companies have been registered as corporate charities since 2007.  Of these, 131 have subsequently been deregistered, the largest being Metro Water Ltd which deregistered in 2010 as part of the Auckland local government ‘supercity’ changes.  Excluding deregistrations, there are therefore 895 corporate charities on the register.  Only 656 have ever filed returns (some are newly registered and their first returns are not yet due).  The 656 companies have assets of $3.2b, equity of $1.5b and turnover of $1.6b. 

Ranked in size by equity (on an unconsolidated basis), the largest companies are dominated by maori corporate charities.  They are:

·         Tainui Group Holdings Ltd, Tainui Corporation Ltd and Tainui Development Ltd ($303m)

·         Kahungunu Asset Holding Company Ltd ($54m)

·         Ngati Ruanui Holdings Corporation Ltd ($46m)

·         Anglican Care (Waiapu) Ltd ($43m)

·         Trust House Ltd ($39m)

·         Ngati Porou Seafoods Ltd ($32m)

·         Ngapuhi Asset Holding Company Ltd ($28m)

·         Pioneer Generation Ltd (formerly Central Electric Ltd, a central Otago electricity company owned by the Central Lakes Trust) ($25m) and

·         Marist Holdings (Greenmeadows) Ltd ($23m).

Sectors of operation and main beneficiaries

The most common main sectors which corporate charities operate in are:

·         Education / training / research          131 charities listed this as their ‘main sector’

·         Health                                            107

·         Accommodation/housing                  51

·         Religious activities                           50

·         Social services                                35

·         Economic development                    31

The most common main beneficiaries of corporate charities are:

·         General public                     169 charities listed this as their ‘main beneficiary’

·         Children / young people        72

·         Other charities                    68

·         Older people                       52

·         Religious groups                  37

The register currently allows charities to use “other” categories to customise a description for their main activity, main beneficiary and main sector of operation.  233 recorded their main activity as “other”, 148 recorded their main beneficiary as “other” and 115 corporate charities recorded their main sector of operation as “other”.

Government grants

About 30% (193/656) of corporate charities received some government grant income.  This is approximately the same percentage of government grant income that is received by the whole NZ charitable sector.  Total government grants to corporate charities are $652m in the most recent year.  Of this amount, $457m went to corporate charities that operate in the health and disabilities sectors (which includes 11 PHOs) and $139m went to corporate charities operating in the education sector.

Location

The most common street addresses for corporate charities are Auckland city (152), Wellington city (93), Christchurch (66), Hamilton (31), Dunedin (28), Tauranga (20) Invercargill (16) and Palmerston North (14).  Overall the spread across the country is what you might expect.  Four had Australian addresses.

Overseas operations

About 10% (65/656) of corporate charities have some overseas operations or purposes.  The five which provided the regulator with the highest percentages of NZ funds spent overseas were:

·         ChildFund New Zealand Limited                  100%    $16m gross income

·         Minerva International Education Limited       95%     $76k gross income

·         African Enterprise New Zealand Limited      90%     $51k gross income

·         RNZWCS LIMITED                                  87%     $4m gross income

·         Arrowmight International Limited                 70%     $0.6m gross income

Some of the 65 corporate charities with overseas operations did not provide any percentage, but stated they did operate overseas or that they made overseas grants.

The 65 corporate charities recorded a total of $17m as grants paid outside NZ in their most recent returns.  They have assets of $923m, equity of $196m and turnover of $339m. (Note that these figures include three Tainui corporate charities which have recorded just 1% of their funds being spent overseas).

Employment

About 60% (392/656) of corporate charities employ paid staff, the top five being:

·         Access Homehealth Ltd                  46,000 paid hrs/week (equivalent to 1,100 full time staff)

·         Auckland UniServices Ltd               23,000 paid hrs/week (equivalent to 567 full time staff)

·         The Electrical Training Coy Ltd        20,000 paid hrs/week (equivalent to 503 full time staff)

·         Richmond New Zealand Trust Ltd    17,000 paid hrs/week (equivalent to 425 full time staff)

·         Anglican Care (Waiapu) Ltd            9,900 paid hrs/week (equivalent to 247 full time staff).

Unrelated commercial activity with no/minimal charitable distributions

About 45% (295/656) of corporate charities listed “trading activities” as one of their sources of income.  Cost of trading for these charities was $175m.  Their gross income was $640m, their surpluses exceeded $71m and their deficits were approximately $22m.

Some of the more curious corporate charities are those which have income from trading activity that is not related to their charitable purposes, record general or unspecified beneficiaries, make relatively high salary payments but no or minimal charitable distributions.  Here are some examples:

·         Aeroparks Ltd: a car park provider with ‘other charity’ beneficiaries. Financial statistics are: equity -$251k, gross income $1.4m, net deficit $24k, salary exp $635k for 9 employees, grants paid $921. The companies register shows the sole shareholder is Business Life Investment Fund Ltd, itself a registered fundraising charity with ‘general public’ beneficiaries.  Financial statistics for Business Life Investment Fund Ltd are: equity $1.9m, gross income $489k, net surplus $276k, salary expense $110k for 1 full time employee, grants paid $1,032. The companies register shows the three ultimate shareholders are Grant Sai Cheung Kwok Sidnam, Marshall Gray and Murray Zander.

·         GTL Ltd: an importing business with ‘general public’ beneficiaries.  Financial statistics are: equity $2m, gross income $462k, net surplus $32k, salary expense $43k for 1 employee, grants paid $7k. The companies register shows the sole shareholder is Aotearoa Institute Te Kuratini O Nga Waka Trust Board, itself a registered charity with the following financial statistics: equity $20m, gross income $2m, net deficit $207k, salary expense $664k for 8 full time and 1 part time employee, grants paid $4k.  The Trust Board spends 62% of its NZ-sourced funds in North America.  Interestingly both GTL and the Trust Board are approved IR donee organisations, despite GTL’s shareholder spending most of its funds overseas (under the Income Tax Act 2007 NZ funds must be spent mainly or wholly within NZ to qualify for donee status).

·         Tui Bee Balme Co-Operative Society Ltd: trading in bee balme with ‘other charity’ beneficiaries.  Financial statistics are: equity $713k, gross income $661k, net deficit $58k, salary expense $306k for 1 full time and 14 part time employees, grants paid $0. The companies register does not list this entity and its website actually describes itself as a workers’ cooperative, so whether it is actually a company remains to be seen.  Its website explains that profits which are not used to develop the business are donated to registered charitable trusts and it lists three – Tui Spiritual and Educational Trust (a registered charity that is effectively the same group of people - 30-40 adults and children living on 50 hectares as a community on the edge of Able Tasman National Park), Tracks Trust and Tides Trust (both trusts are registered charities and are operated by similar people, providing leadership training for young men and women respectively). 

Related commercial activity with salaries paid to shareholder-employees

53 corporate charities have just one full time employee; a further 33 have just two full time employees.  Is it possible that some of these corporate charities put a primary focus on paying a high salary to a shareholder employee or related party, with charitable activities carried out as a secondary objective?  Consider these five examples, each of which pays salaries of around $100,000 or more.  Unlike the above charities, the nature of these activities is directly related to charitable purpose so minimal distributions are not a concern.  However another difference is that some receive government or non-government grants which helps to fund their salary payments.

·         The Open Education Resource Foundation Ltd: provides online resources to students. Financial statistics are: equity -$29k, gross income $194k, net deficit $68k, salary expense $242k for 2 full time employees, grants paid $0. This corporate charity received non-government grants of $194k. The companies register shows the shareholder is Otago Polytechnic.

·         Energy Options Charitable Company Ltd: operates in the environment/conservation sector to benefit the general public. Financial statistics are: equity $760k, gross income $4.4m, net surplus $87k, salary expense $197k for 2 full time employees.  This corporate charity received non-government grants of over $4m. The companies register shows there are six individual shareholders who are also directors of the company.

·         Student Management Software Solutions Ltd: receives income from trading to benefit the education sector.  Financial statistics are: equity $178k, gross income $1.8m, net surplus $116k, salary expense $1.1m for 10 full time and 1 part time employees.  This corporate charity received no grant income. The companies register shows the sole shareholder is Artena Society Ltd and the sole director is Kerrin Rhyl Marshall of Napier (who was, as an aside, awarded a QSM medal in 2012 for services to pipe bands). Artena Society Ltd itself is not listed on the NZ companies register.

·         Warbirds Over Wanaka (2010) Ltd: provides arts/culture/heritage to the general public. Financial statistics are: equity -$209k, gross income $2.5m, net surplus $74k, salary expense $143k for 1 full time employee, grants paid $0.  This corporate charity received no grant income. The companies register shows the sole shareholder is Warbirds Over Wanaka Ltd which itself has one sole shareholder – Warbirds Over Wanaka Community Trust Board.

·         Camp Kaitoke Ltd: provides camp accommodation with children as beneficiaries.  Financial statistics are: equity $315k, gross income $437k, net deficit $112k, salary expense $247k for 2 fulltime and one part time employees.  This corporate charity received a government grant of $77k and non-government grants of $5k.  The companies register shows the sole shareholder is YMCA of Greater Wellington Charitable Trust which is itself a registered charity with the following financial statistics: equity $2.1m, gross income $191k, net deficit $10k, salary expense $0.  The Trust, not the company, records Camp Kaitoke as a $929k non-current asset (the book value after depreciation).  This may be an example where it is useful to split off certain assets into a corporate charity so government and other funders do not take into account the related assets held by the shareholder.

Nominee companies

Nominee companies by their nature limit transparency by concealing their true ownership from public scrutiny.  Gaynor Charitable Nominees Limited, with equity of $1.3m and a main beneficiary of “people in need”, is the only nominee company currently on the register.  It has five shareholders which appear to be all professionals, such as Patrick Sheehan, a director of Kendons Chartered Accountants in Lower Hutt.

3. NZ's high income / high expense charities

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We have 25,279 registered charities in NZ and each charity has to file an annual return with the regulator.  The return captures 17 items of income and expense data.  Who are the stand-outs with the highest income and expenses since 2007 and are there any surprises?

Summary

The Universities, particularly Auckland and Otago, dominate the sector in a number of income/expense areas including government grant income, total gross income, salaries and wages, depreciation, the cost of service provision and total expenditure.  At present some university financial information is not on the register (for example Victoria University only registered in August 2011 and has not filed a return yet) so tertiary sector financial information could dominate the register even more in future.

The charity which dominated the sector in the most income/expense categories was St John of God Health Care Incorporated (income from service provision/trading, other income, total gross income, salaries and wages, depreciation, interest paid, cost of trading, other expenditure and net surplus).

Several charities dominated the sector in income/expenses because of one-off events.  For example the Eden Park Trust (government grants and net surplus), The Waikato River Clean-up Trust (other income and net surplus), The Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Trust (other income and other expenditure), the New Zealand Local Authority Protection Programme Disaster Fund (cost of trading operations) and the NZ Red Cross (donations and grants paid within NZ).

Sanitarium (the business activity of the Seventh Day Adventist Church) was one of the largest trading operations, as was Ngai Tahu.  Tainui was conspicuous by its absence, but that is because it does not provide consolidated financial accounts and its activities are split over about 11 separate charities.

The surprise appearances were from several less well known charities: The Dilworth Trust Board (other investment income, net deficit), The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (membership fees), HG Charitable Trust (NZ dividends), Metro Water Ltd (interest paid, cost of service provision) and The Sir Henry Kelliher Charitable Trust (net deficit).

Overall there was nothing too unusual at the top-end of the register.   However, across each of the income and expense categories, the top three charities make up between 14% and 50% of the totals. So the lesson is that it is definitely worth always keeping an eye on the top-end when trying to understand financial information for the charitable sector as a whole.

The details…

Income

Total gross income amounts to $16b for the 23,024 charities that recorded some form of income in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($1.1b for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         The University of Auckland ($786m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         The University of Otago ($583m for the year ended 31/12/2011).

Total gross income is broken down into the following nine categories, listed by descending total value in the most recently filed returns.

1. Government grants / contracts total $5.8b for the 6,015 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 14% of the current year total - are:

·         University of Auckland ($351m for the year ended 31/12/2010) 

·         University of Otago ($265m for the year ended 31/12/2011)

·         Eden Park Trust ($190m for the year ended 31/10/2011).

Eden Park Trust’s $190m is the conversation of a Crown Loan to a grant.  This was the result of meeting conditions required for forgiveness of the loan (ie achieving redevelopment of Eden Park). 

2. Income from service provision/trading operations total $5.7b for the 9,365 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 28% of the current year total - are:

·         St John of God Health Care Incorporated ($991m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         The University of Auckland ($410m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         Massey University ($235m for the year ended 31/12/2010).

3. All other income totals $1.3b for the 12,623 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 23% of the current year total - are:

·         The Waikato River Clean-up Trust ($113m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Trust ($103m for the year ended 30/09/2010)

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($65m for the year ended 30/06/2010).

The Waikato River Clean-up Trust is to receive settlement funds of $210m over the next 27 years.  Revenue of $113m was recognised as income, being the present value of the $210m.

The Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Trust (the Takutai Trust) holds commercial aquaculture settlement assets until they are transferred to Iwi Aquaculture Organisations.  In 2010 the trust received around $100m worth of assets for the iwi of Te Tau Ihu, Ngai Tahu and Hauraki.

4. Donations/koha total $1.2b for the 13,111 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 16% of the current year total -  are:

·         The NZ Red Cross ($112m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         World Vision of NZ Trust Board ($49m for the year ended 30/09/2008)

·         The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Trust Board ($32m for the year ended 31/12/2010).

5. All other grants and sponsorships total $910m for the 8,371 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 18% of the current year total - are:

·         University of Otago ($95m for the year ended 31/12/2011)

·         World Vision ($36m for the year ended 30/09/2011)

·         Regional Facilities Auckland ($30m for the year ended 30/06/2011).

The Regional Facilities Auckland (RFA) grants include a $22m operating subsidy from the Auckland Council.  RFA is one of six Council Controlled Organisations under the new Auckland Council governance structure.

6. Other investment income totals $652m for the 14,794 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 14% of the current year total - are:

·         The Crown Forestry Rental Trust ($49m for the year ended 31/03/2009)

·         The Dilworth Trust Board ($27m for the year ended 31/01/2010)

·         Central Lakes Trust ($17m for the year ended 31/03/2010).

7. Membership fees total $249m for the 5,868 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 27% of the current year total - are:

·         Animal Health Board ($46m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

·         The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons ($10m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         The Medical Council of NZ ($10m for the year ended 30/06/2011).

The Animal Health Board manages the TBfree NZ programme, a government-industry partnership.  Membership fees are charges levied on cattle slaughtered as well as cost allocations.

The financial accounts for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons are in Australian dollars and represent activities of both NZ and Australia.

8. Bequests total $137m for the 722 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 20% of the current year total - are:

·         The Salvation Army ($13m for the year ended 30/06/2010) 

·         The Royal New Zealand Foundation Of The Blind ($7m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The Priory In New Zealand of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem ($7m for the year ended 30/06/2011).

9. NZ Dividends total $135m for the 2,687 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 37% of the current year total - are:

·         The Tindall Foundation ($32m for the year ended 31/03/2010)

·         Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust ($11m for the year ended 31/03/2011)

·         HG Charitable Trust ($7m for the year ended 31/10/2010).

The Tindall Foundation accounts for 31/03/2011 have been withheld from the register so 2011 dividends may be larger, but the amounts are not disclosed.

The Waikato Raupatu Lands Trust is the parent entity of the Tainui group.  The dividend was an intra-group dividend from Tainui Group Holdings Ltd.

Expenditure

Total expenditure amounts to $14.8b for the 22,530 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 16% of the current year total - are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($1.1b for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         The University of Auckland ($766m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         University of Otago ($557m for the year ended 31/12/2011)

Total expenditure is broken down into the following eight categories, listed by descending total value in the most recently filed returns.

1. Salaries and wages total $6.2b for the 8,769 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 21% of the current year total - are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($567m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         The University of Auckland ($394m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         University of Otago ($324m for the year ended 31/12/2011)

2. Cost of service provision totals $3.3b for the 11,939 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – the top three of which make up 16% of the current year total - are:

·         The University of Auckland ($277m for the year ended 31/12/2010)

·         University of Otago ($183m for the year ended 31/12/2010) 

·         Metro Water Ltd ($80m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

·         The Priory In New Zealand of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem ($79m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

Metro Water deregistered on 1/11/2010 when it was struck off as part of the Auckland local government changes.

3. All other expenditure totals $1.8b for the 14,284 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 32% of the current year total - are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($395m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

·         Maori Commercial Aquaculture Settlement Trust ($103m for the year ended 30/09/2010)

·         Animal Health Board Incorporated ($74m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

4. Cost of trading operations totals $1.6b for the 6,967 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – the top three of which make up 31% of the current year total - are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($314m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         Ngai Tahu Charitable Group ($127m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

·         New Zealand Local Authority Protection Programme Disaster Fund ($55m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         Seventh Day Adventist Church in New Zealand 1 ($53m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

The Local Authority Protection Programme Disaster Fund (LAPP) is a mutual pool created by local authorities to cater for the replacement of infrastructure following catastrophic damage by natural disaster.

5. Grants/donations paid within NZ total $813m for the 7,017 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 22% of the current year total - are:

·         The Health Research Council of New Zealand ($86m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The New Zealand Red Cross Incorporated ($62m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The National Assistance Fund ($31m for the year ended 30/06/2010).

6. Depreciation totals $795m for the 9,345 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 26% of the current year total - are:

·         The University of Auckland ($102m for the year ended 31/12/2009)

·         University of Otago ($54m for the year ended 31/12/2011)

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($47m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

7. Interest paid totals $180m for the 3,057 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – the top three of which make up 19% of the current year total - are:

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($13m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

·         Metro Water Ltd ($11m for the year ended 30/06/2009)

·         Ngai Tahu Charitable Group ($11m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         New Zealand Methodist Trust Association ($10m for the year ended 30/06/2010)

8. Grants/donations paid outside NZ total $143m for the 1,200 charities that used this category in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 50% of the current year total - are:

·         World Vision of New Zealand Trust Board ($50m for the year ended 30/09/2008)

·         ChildFund New Zealand Limited ($12m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund ($10m for the year ended 30/06/2010).

Surplus & Deficit

Surpluses total $1.8b for the 13,953 charities that recorded surpluses in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 19% of the current year total - are:

·         Eden Park Trust ($176m for the year ended 31/10/2011)

·         Waikato River Clean Up Trust ($114m for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         St John Of God Health Care Incorporated ($48m for the year ended 30/06/2010).

Deficits total $485m for the 9,037 charities that recorded deficits in their most recently filed returns.  The stand-outs since 2007 – which make up 19% of the current year total - are:

·         New Zealand Local Authority Protection Programme Disaster Fund ($39m deficit for the year ended 30/06/2011)

·         The Sir Henry Kelliher Charitable Trust ($26m deficit for the year ended 31/03/2010)

·         Dilworth Trust Board ($25m deficit for the year ended 31/01/2009).

2. Gang charities - should we be concerned?

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Introduction

If you’re registered as a charity you have to meet certain standards so the public can have confidence in your charity and the charitable sector as a whole.

A charity engaged in serious wrongdoing can be removed from the register by the regulator.  The serious wrongdoing definition includes engaging in an unlawful or corrupt use of funds or resources of the charity, as well as committing any act that constitutes an offence.  In addition, individuals can be disqualified as officers of a charity if they have been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty and sentenced for that crime within the last seven years.

It is worth bearing in mind that convicted criminals who have not been convicted of a dishonesty offence can still serve on a charity.  The reason given by Government at the time the legislation was passed was that some charities are established to assist current and former prisoners and the appointment of officers with past experience of prison would be of positive benefit to that charity (see p.10 of the Charities Bill commentary).

Recently there have been two reported incidences of the Mongrel Mob being behind registered charities.  No doubt other gangs are also involved with the charitable sector.   What do we know about them and should we be concerned?

We Against Violence

In May 2012 Otago Daily Times reported that a Mongrel Mob charitable trust called “We Against Violence” received government funding via Whanau Ora. A four-month investigation by Dunedin police had led to the arrest of 10 men, some with Mongrel Mob Notorious connections. Four Dunedin men were charged with dishonestly converting $20,000 of trust money.

We Against Violence is still a registered charity today, with purposes that include promoting philosophies of non-offensive, non-violent, pro-social behaviours.  No financial information is available for this charity yet – their 2011 return to the charities regulator is not required because they did not register until 8/7/2011. The charity is on the IRD website listed as an approved donee organisation.  So in addition to the Whanau Ora government funding, there may well be a flow of donation tax credits Inland Revenue paid out to assist this charitable trust.

Although gang charitable activity must be, by its nature, “high risk” for funders, as Tariana Turia noted, sometimes that is a risk worth taking.  In this case the Mongrel Mob charity did meet all their contracted outcomes.  However the problems arise when not all use of the funding is transparent.

Te Ara Tika o Te Whanau Trust

In 2006 there was a lot of publicity about the Notorious chapter of the Mongrel Mob starting a labour hire business called Rent a Bro and at the same time trying to see P eradicated by setting up a charitable trust called the Te Ara Tika o Te Whanau Trust.

In 2009 Rent a Bro came under the spotlight when director Mark Tipene (formally Mark Stephens, the convicted rapist also known as the Parnell Panther), was found guilty of intimidating a woman when collecting debts.  However it has also attracted positive publicity, such as carving the Bilingual School Marae at Sylvia Park.  Rent a Bro’s sole director is Roy Dunn, leader of the Notorious chapter.  The company is still active on the Companies Register today.

The related charitable trust Te Ara Tika registered as a charity in June 2008.  It filed its 2009 financial accounts showing income of about $11,000 and expenses of $23,000.   The three sources of income were donations ($2,920), Mangere East Family Service Centre youth plan ($6,667) and Tamaki Ki Raro Trust – now called Strive Community Trust ($1,778).  However no future returns were filed and the charity was deregistered in May 2011.  Despite this, the trust is still listed as a donee organisation on the IRD website.

Although no more information is available about the charity on the charities register, the JR McKenzie Trust website shows that in the year ending 31 March 2012 it made Te Ara Tika a grant of $181,600.  This is part of a 3-year commitment of grant funding, so the total funding will be approximately $545,000.  No doubt it is difficult for the Mongrel Mob to get government funding for its projects, which is probably why the JR McKenzie Trust has got involved.

Unfortunately, this is an example of how easy it is for registered charities to slip out of public view and outside the scrutiny of the charities regulator.   As soon as it doesn't file a return it is deregistered and no-one really knows what the entity is doing, how much money it is receiving or where it is going. 

By continuing to list the entity as having donee status, IRD lets the organisation’s donors continue claiming donation tax credits from the government.  That is the result of donee status not being linked to whether the entity is a registered charity, but instead whether IRD interprets the entity as being charitable, cultural, benevolent or philanthropic under its own legislation.

Conclusion

Gangs like the Mongrel Mob are involved with registered charities and this isn’t surprising.  When the charities legislation was passed there was an expectation that people convicted of crimes would be officers of registered charities.

The unfortunate aspect of NZ’s current system is that charities can easily be deregistered from the charities register without providing financial statements or information to show what they did when they were registered. 

Furthermore, this example shows that deregistration as a charity does not prevent the organisation from retaining IRD donee status, so donors can continue to claim back 1/3^rd of donations from the government.  This means, even though the government is put under the spotlight when it provides direct funding to these types of entities (for example, through Whanau Ora), the funding it provides to these types of entities through the donation tax credit system remains opaque. 

Perhaps the Mongrel Mob charities are doing good work – there’s no published evidence to suggest they don’t.  But we should be concerned about a system that allows these types of charities to easily slip off the charities register, and for donation tax credit support to continue after they are deregistered, with no public accountability or transparency whatsoever.      

1. Reducing transparency

In most cases charities are forced to disclose financial information on the NZ charities register even if they don’t want to.  Transparency is the price they pay for being registered charities with tax exemption benefits and public support.

However the regulator allows charities to withhold information in certain circumstances.  Charities also have the option of filing “grouped” accounts which will minimise transparency while still including their financial totals on the register.

Withheld Information

The reasons why the Charities regulator can withhold information are outlined on this ‘restricting information’ webpage.

One instance where a charity will not have to disclose financial accounts is if disclosure “may unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the charity…”  That means there may be some significant businesses which have had their financial information withheld from the register on the basis that they are commercially sensitive.

It is not possible to easily identify all of the charities which have had information withheld based on the register search engine.  However, examples can be found using individual charity searches.  

The multinational, Christchurch-based communications business Tait Radio is one example.  This corporation has permission from the regulator to have its business accounts withheld.

As reported in a media article posted on Tait’s own website, in 2011 Tait’s revenue exceeded US$150 million (NZ$187m), of which 95 percent was earned offshore. It appears that most of this revenue was earned by Tait’s registered charities, or overseas subsidiaries of the registered charities, but it has been withheld from the public register.  As can be seen by this one example, withholding financial information will have understated the aggregate totals on the register by a significant amount. 

Analysis of data on the register can be even more problematic if the regulator allows different approaches from one year to the next.  The Tindall Foundation is an example where its financial data summary has been supplied in 2009 and 2010 but formally withheld in 2011.  The Tindall Foundation's assets were $131m in 2009 and $144m in 2010, so omitting 2011 figures can make trend analysis challenging.

Grouping Accounts

Unlike Tait Radio and the Tindall Fourndation, the Seventh Day Adventist Church does not have formal approval to withhold its accounts.  However it has elected to group all of its entities together and report on total group figures. 

There are two Seventh Day Adventist groups on the Register: Seventh Day Adventist Church in New Zealand 1 and Seventh Day Adventist Church in New Zealand 2.  The 2011 financial accounts show that Group 1 controls assets of $50m as at 30/06/2011 and Group 2 controls assets of $157m as at 31/12/2010.  Total group revenue is approximately $112m.

Sanitarium Health Food Company is mentioned in the notes to the accounts of Group 1.  It is one of a number of legal entities in that group which includes entities that run community development projects in NZ and overseas, retirement villages and hospitals.  No individual financial details are provided for any of these activities. 

Conclusion

In comparing these examples, the public may have no insight into the profits or distribution policy of Sanitarium Health Food Company, but at least we know that its financial information is included in the publicly available data totals.  That is not the case with Tait Radio or the Tindall Foundation (for 2011) where we are in the dark about knowing what assets are and are not used for charitable purposes.

The lesson here?  Beware of taking financial totals from the charities register at face value.  Some of the important information is either hidden in aggregate totals or not provided to the public at all.