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
We are grateful to our friends at GRANT THORNTON NEW ZEALAND who have alerted us to an IRD discussion document which could potentially have major ramifications for a wide variety of “mutual associations” including incorporated societies that are not also registered NZ charities. -o0o- Inland Revenue has just released a Read more
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Updated 31 May 2024 Q: We are a church which is a Registered NZ Charity. Some members have suggested that we should, in addition to registration with DIA Charities Services, ‘Incorporate’ with the Companies Office (Registrar of Incorporated Societies). Is this step necessary or advisable? What are the pros and Read more
This article is updated and replaced here Before you register as a Charity
Asking “What is the “best” legal structure for a non-profit organisation” may be seen as the ‘how long is a piece of string’ type of question as the answer is far from straightforward and is dependent upon a number of factors. Indeed, in some cases, a not-for-profit organisation doesn’t even need Read more
Q: Can you define a not for profit organisation? “There is no single agreed term that fully describes the nonprofit sector in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Rather, a number of terms are commonly used that refer to all or part of it. The application of these terms to organizations and to fields Read more
(Updated) In our discussions with those thinking about establishing a not-for-profit organization, it is apparent that there is still a lot of confusion about the terms ‘non-profit’, ‘not for profit’ etc. The various terms are used imprecisely and interchangeably, though the term ‘Registered Charity’ is used to refer to an organisation Read more
Q: I am trying to determine if a non-profit is registered. Is there a list of ‘official’ not for profit organisations? A: There is no complete list of non-profit organisations in NZ. Not all non-profits are formally registered with a government department (and not all not for profit groups have to Read more
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