5. NZ charities with overseas purposes

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Introduction

Two of the most common ways that registered charities benefit from the tax system  are through income tax concessions (ie not being required to pay tax on their income) and through donee status (ie people or companies can make donations to the registered charity and claim 1/3^rd back from the Government, capped at their own taxable income level).  However these benefits may not always apply if a charity has overseas charitable purposes. 

The income tax concessions will not apply to the charity’s business income to the extent that there are overseas purposes. 

The donee status will not be granted to charities that do not spend their funds wholly or mainly on NZ charitable purposes.  There are exceptions to this rule.  The charity may maintain a separate fund to demonstrate NZ donations are spent exclusively on NZ purposes, or it may obtain specific approval from Parliament and be listed on “schedule 32” of the Income Tax Act. To qualify for a schedule 32 listing, it must demonstrate that it is robust in terms of its internal management and potential longevity, has adequate checks and balances in place for its project management and financial systems, and that it complies with the relevant law in New Zealand and the recipient countries.  In the case of religious charities, the Government has stated that it will not approve them to be listed on schedule 32 under any circumstances.  For more information see: http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/news/2009-12-09-guidelines-schedule-32-inclusion

The objective of the following analysis is to examine the extent to which registered charities have overseas purposes, to review the charities with overseas purposes that have deregistered (in case they have subsequently sent all of their accumulated NZ funds overseas), and to review religious charities within this dataset.

Summary

Approximately 11% (2,797/25,279) of charities that are currently on the register have some overseas charitable purposes.  This means either they have recorded a percentage of NZ-sourced income spent overseas, or they have recorded grants paid overseas, or they have indicated at least one of their areas of operation is overseas.

These charities paid $142m grants overseas in their most recent financial year for which a return is filed.  They received donations of $556m, government grants of $874m, total gross income of $4.3b and recorded a net surplus of $305m.  Their total equity is $8b and total assets are $11b.

Oceania (Australia and the pacific islands) is the most common overseas area of operation, with 36% of the 2,797 charities recording this in their most recent annual return.  It is followed by Asia (33%), Africa (18%), North America (14%), Europe (14%), South America (12%) and Antarctica (1%).

Approximately 60% (1,676/2,797) of charities that have some overseas charitable purposes are involved with religion. 

Since 2007 over 10% of the subset of charities with overseas purposes have deregistered (302/2797).  The largest of these are research charities and they appear to have continued to operate after deregistration.  However, if the voluntarily deregistered charities decided to send their funds overseas, the accumulated funds available for overseas transfer would have been at least $8m.

Four of the top five charities which pay the most money overseas have donee status approved by the Government and are listed on schedule 32.

Charities which pay the highest proportion of their funds overseas tend to be religious charities, especially at the top end where gross income exceeds $500k.  Unusually, many of these have IRD approved donee status, despite operating mainly overseas and having religious purposes.  However it is possible that IRD has verified that they are maintaining separate funds and are using NZ donation income exclusively for NZ purposes.

Curiously, NZ does not appear to have the same concerns Australia does about tracing where funds are ultimately spent.  So it is quite possible for conduit charities to exist here.  For example, you could legitimately donate to (and claim a tax credit for) a charity with approved donee status, and that charity could then pass funds on to another NZ charity that does not have donee status, which will ultimately send the money overseas.

The key lesson from this analysis is to keep an eye out for NZ charities that have overseas purposes or for NZ charities that have NZ purposes but which donate some of their funds to NZ charities that have overseas purposes.   With 11% of NZ charities falling in the former category, and an unknown amount falling into the latter category, they are relatively common. Donors, as well as the taxpaying public, might be surprised to find out where their money is really going. 

The Details

Area of operation

Charities can record multiple areas of operation in the regulator return.  The number of times each continent was recorded is as follows: Oceania 1006 (36%), Asia 921 (33%), Africa 496 (18%), North America 390 (14%), Europe 380 (14%), South America 340 (12%) and Antartica 37 (1%).

Deregistrations

Since 2007, 302 charities with some overseas purposes have been deregistered.  Just over half of these were voluntary deregistrations initiated by the charities themselves (169) and the remaining charities were removed because they failed to file returns (some of the latter group may have subsequently re-registered so I haven’t analysed them further).

Charities that deregister and disappear from the public spotlight have the potential to distribute funds inappropriately (for example, to benefit private individuals) and the public are unlikely to know.  They may also wind-up and distribute some of all of their accumulated funds overseas.

Based on the last returns of the charities that had some overseas purposes and who voluntarily deregistered, they had total equity (accumulated funds not yet distributed) of $8m.  What happened to those funds and how much went overseas?  Unfortunately, because charities do not have to provide financial accounts at the date of deregistration, and no agency monitors them after deregistration, we don’t know.   

However, to give some insight into the types of charities being deregistered, we do know that the largest final equity amounts were recorded by the following charities:

·         Equine Trust:  This is a research charity with a profit of $240k and equity of $5m as at December 2009; 0% was spent overseas in its last return with the regulator, but it indicated the areas of operation were NZ and North America; the financial accounts it filed were for the Massey University Foundation.  It is still listed as an approved donee organisation by IRD today so it appears to be an active but non-registered charity. 

·         Estendart Limited: This is also a research charity with a profit of $167k and equity of $491k as at December 2010; 1% was spent overseas in its last return with the regulator, but the area of operation unknown.  The company appears to be still active on the companies register and is owned by A&A Alexander and H Padman.

·         Morris Trust for animal and human health:  This is also a research charity with profit of $30k and equity of $433k as at December 2009; 0% was spent overseas in its last regulator return, but it indicated the areas of operation were NZ, Asia and Europe.  It is still listed as an approved donee organisation by IRD today so it also appears to be an active but non-registered charity.

·         Ecpat NZ Incorporated: This is a children’s charity with a $68k loss and equity of $108k as at March 2009; 0% was spent overseas in its last regulator return, but it indicated the areas of operation were in NZ and Asia.  IRD ceased it as a donee organisation in 2010 so it is possible that it no longer exists.

·         Get smart charitable trust: This is a religious charity with profit of $23k and equity of $104k as at March 2009; 0% was spent overseas in its last regulator return, but it indicated the areas of operation were in NZ and Oceania.  IRD ceased it as a donee organisation in 2010 so it is possible that it no longer exists.

Highest amount of funds paid overseas

1,063 charities paid grants overseas in the most recent financial year. The grants totalled $142m. The largest payers were:

·         World Vision of NZ Trust Board ($39m)

·         ChildFund NZ Ltd ($12m)

·         The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund (TEAR fund) ($8m)

·         Save the Children New Zealand ($5m)

·         The Salvation Army New Zealand Group ($3.4m)

The first four charities have donee status which has been approved under schedule 32 of the Income Tax Act.  They must be listed in schedule 32 to be eligible for donee status if their funds are not paid wholly or mainly to charitable purposes in NZ. 

The Salvation Army has donee status but is not listed in schedule 32.  In its case it doesn’t need to be because funds are paid mainly to charitable purposes in NZ (its total expenditure is $134m so $3.4m is only a small proportion of what it spends its money on). 

Highest percentages of funds spent overseas

Excluding charities approved under schedule 32 (which are subject to higher scrutiny by Government, see above) and some of the charities which appear to have recorded an overseas percentage incorrectly (because their areas of operation are all in NZ) there appear to be 10 charities with overseas percentages of 70% or more and gross income over $500k:

·         Derek Prince Ministries Overseas Ministries Trust: This religious sector charity makes grants to schools and orphanages.  100% of its funds were spent in Asia/Oceania in 2010.  It recorded 2010 gross income of $634k and accumulated funds of $477k.  It does have NZ donee status but recorded no donation income.

·         The Atawhai Trust: This religious sector charity provides services (eg care/counselling).   100% of its funds were spent in Oceania in 2011.  It recorded 2011 gross income of $592k and accumulated funds of $584k.  It does have NZ donee status and recorded $33k donation income.

·         World Outreach NZ Trust and World Outreach International incorporated:  These religious sector charities provide services.  94% and 93% of their respective funds were sent to Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania in 2010.  They recorded 2010 gross income of $944k and $834k and accumulated funds of $103k and $1.3m.  The Trust has donee status and recorded donation income of $907k; the incorporated society does not have donee status and recorded donation income of $834k.

·         NZ Association Of Jehovah's Witnesses: This religious sector charity provides religious services.  99% of its funds were spent in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania in 2011.  It recorded gross income of $889k and accumulated funds of $144k.  It does not have donee status and donation income was $854k.

·         Leadership Development International:  This religious sector charity makes grants to Christian training agencies.  90% of its funds were spent in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and South America in 2011. It recorded gross income of $630k and accumulated funds of (only) $10.  It does have donee status and donation income was $630k.

·         Edudev Services:  This community development charity acts as an umbrella body and makes grants to organisations.  90% of its funds were spent in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America in 2011.  It recorded gross income of $607k and accumulated funds of (only) $95.  It does not have donee status and donation income was $607k.

·         Woolf Fisher Trust: This education/research charity benefits teachers and students.  80% of its funds were spent in Europe and North America in 2011.  It recorded gross income of $1.9m and accumulated funds of $38m.  It does not have donee status and donation income was $0.

·         GFA (Gospel for Asia) NZ Trust: This religious sector charity provides human resources to the socially disadvantaged in India. 85% of its funds were spent in Asia in 2011.  It recorded gross income of $1.3m and accumulated funds of (only) $64k.  It does not have donee status and donation income was $1.2m.

·         Pontifical Mission Aid Societies: This religious sector charity provides facilities and religious services. 80% of its funds were spent in Africa, Asia, Oceania and South America in 2011.  It recorded gross income of $690k and accumulated funds of $1.2m (NB this is taken from the financials – the return was completed incorrectly).  It does not have donee status and donation income was $552k.

·         Arrowmight International Limited: This research charity, owned by the Aotearoa Institute Te Kuratini o Nga Waka Trust Board (itself a registered charity with equity of $20m, being related to Te Wananga o Aotearoa, the Maori tertiary education institution), operates in the education area.  70% of its funds were spent in North America in 2010.  It recorded gross income of $613k and accumulated funds of negative $2.5m.  It does not have donee status and donation income was $0 (income is from its subsidiary, Arrowmight Canada Ltd).

Religious charities with overseas purposes

About 60% (1,676/2,797) of charities that have some overseas charitable purposes are involved with religion.  In other words, 60% have recorded “religion” as at least one of their sectors, activities or beneficiaries.

These 1,676 charities paid $91m grants overseas, received donations of $346m, received government grants of $110m, received total gross income of $1b and recorded a net surplus of $120m.  Their total equity is $4b and total assets are $5b.

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).