We are grateful to Lawyer Susan Barker and Charities Law Reform Aotearoa New Zealand for the following comment: Budget 2026 makes 10 tax changes for charities, falling broadly into 3 categories: Donations tax credit changes: 1. New cap of $100,000 for donations tax credits 2. allowing in-year donation tax credit Read more
Introduction Funding pressure is one of the most immediate challenges facing small NZ charities as grants are harder to secure, more competitive, and often tied to stronger expectations about outcomes and reporting. Community sector commentary in 2026 has highlighted the growing cost of resilience in the sector, while NZ grant Read more
Clarifying Roles Between Boards and Managers in Small NZ Charities Blurred lines between governance and management remain one of the most common and least openly addressed sources of tension and inefficiency in small NZ charities, particularly as organisations grow beyond purely volunteer-led models. In many small charities, the question of Read more
When “Good Practice” Becomes Too Much: Managing Compliance Overload in Small NZ Charities Running a small non-profit (“charity”) in New Zealand has never been simple—but in recent years, many organisations have found the burden quietly slipping from “doing good” to “keeping up.” What used to be a manageable set of Read more
This post was drafted with the assistance of AI. A significant number of incorporated societies missed the 5 April 2026 re-registration deadline. Many will have made a deliberate decision not to re-register. However, others for a variety of reasons may have missed the deadline and thus may be wondering how Read more
Applications are open for TCS Tech4HOPE, a pro bono technology and strategy programme supporting not‑for‑profits and charities across New Zealand. With limited funding and operational pressure often pushing digital priorities down the list, Tech4HOPE helps purpose‑led organisations strengthen capability without the cost of a major technology investment. If your organisation is Read more
We were recently asked about the legal requirements for the retention of financial records when an organisation winds up. Our basic understanding is that these records must be retained for 7 years. This in itself brings certain problems and potential liability for officer holders. The enquirer then asked specifically about Read more
Contributed by Parry Field Lawyers Get started with a Constitution Template Almost half of the Incorporated Societies in New Zealand are yet to re-register under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. Is your society one of them? If you are preparing to re-register and don’t know where to start, Parry Field Read more
Understanding the Role A charitable trust exists to advance one or more charitable purposes, not private benefit, and its trustees are those legally responsible for making that happen. If the trust is incorporated as a charitable trust board, the board becomes a legal entity, but the individuals on it still Read more
Updated 13 December 2025 Late in November we received a newsletter from lawyer Sue Barker which contained the following information: “In a new consultation paper issued on 14 November 2025, entitled Taxation and the not-for-profit sector: Targeted consultation on detailed design, IRD is proposing to create a new category of “donor-controlled” charity Read more
We recently came across an article with the above title. This time of year and the start of the new is a time when many boards are looking back and starting to think about strategic planning for the future (once the festivities are over!). So we thought that the article Read more
Our friends at GoodNumbers have recently provided some advice on the above topic, a topic which can cause confusion or even disharmony in an organisation. The GoodNumbers article is entitled “What are Related Party Transactions? It starts: “What are transactions with close relationships (sometimes called related party transactions)? These are Read more