Charities: Information Hub

Kia ora,

Charities are in many ways the backbone of New Zealand, delivering services, providing resources and support that strengthens our communities. We enjoy supporting the great work that charities do, whether that be assisting with setting up a new charity, updating existing charities, supporting with commercial or employment matters of charities and much more. In this information hub we have compiled our guides and articles to keep the charities sector well-resourced and up to date on the latest developments.

We welcome your questions and there is an FAQ with dozens of questions and answers below.

Ngā mihi nui

Steven Moe
Partner
Member of Charities Services Sector Group, XRB Advisory Panel, EHF Fellow
stevenmoe@parryfield.com
021761292

Interested in what other people had to say? You can see our Testimonials here.

How to review your Charity’s Governance Procedures

All registered charities are now required to review their governance procedures every three years and, for many, this will need to be confirmed by October 2026 in their annual return.

Learn more about what is required and the steps charities can take to meet this new obligation in the webinar recording from 1 July 2026.

Steven Moe sends out monthly emails which inform what is happening in the Impact Sector space and events that are coming up. If you would like to join the mailing list, you can subscribe by filling out the form on the right.

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Collaborate! How Charities can Advance their Purpose by Working Together

“To go fast, go alone. To go far, go together.”

Collaboration is our future. It has to be.

In this paper, published in August 2026, we consider how charities can collaborate to advance their purpose and the legal options to enable that.

With challenges including a high charity-to-population ratio in New Zealand, charities providing services in overlapping areas, fragmentation of funding, and high administrative costs, it clear that collaboration is not only desirable but potentially necessary across the sector.

This paper considers the opportunity for charities to do things differently, some of the key barriers to collaboration, and the different ways that we see collaboration happen along a broad spectrum that runs from “simple” to more “complex”.

Download the Paper

Charitable Purposes – Can they be Changed?

Charitable purpose is more than a line in a trust document. It is the beating heart of an organisation, its North Star, and the aim which it must legally pursue.

If a charity needs to change its purposes and does not have the power to do so within its trust deed or the change is too big, it must apply to the High Court.

For more on Charitable Purposes and if you can alter them, watch a recording from our August 2026 webinar, or view the related articles below. 

Understanding Charitable Purposes: Preventing Purpose Drift
When Purposes Become Outdated: Can Charitable Purposes be Changed?

Charities: Policies Package

Designed for Purpose-Driven Organisations

Getting started with policies can seem daunting, but they’re essential to protecting your people and your organisation’s purpose.

To support you, we’ve developed an affordable, one-off Policies Package designed specifically for for-purpose organisations.

Whether you’re building your policies from the ground up or reviewing existing ones, we’re here to make the process simple and practical.

Explore our Policies Package

Does your charity need a healthcheck?

Organisational Healthchecks

Our Organisational Healthcheck sets out the key legal risks that charities and organisations should know about, and could work to improve, in order to mitigate risks to Board members and the organisation.

You can download the Overview or the more in-depth guide, which are both designed to help advise you on the right questions to ask and what the correct steps are to ensure your charity is as healthy as it can be.

Download the Organisational Healthcheck
Download the Organisational Healthcheck

Q&As for Charities

Click here or on the image above to access the Q&A for Charities

Incorporated Societies vs Charitable Trusts

Purpose Words in Aotearoa New Zealand

An explanation of key terms and concepts for charities and purpose driven organisations.

We have helped many hundreds of charities and purpose driven organisations. Some of these are brand new and others have been going for many decades. So, we have seen first hand which words are often confusing.

In this guide we have set out brief explanations to help you to be able to easily look up and understand key terms and concepts.

Download Purpose Words

Comparing Australia and New Zealand Charity Policy

What can we learn from each other? 

Published in July 2026, this paper from Parry Field Lawyers and the Council for International Development (CID) Aotearoa New Zealand considers and compares key policy settings in New Zealand and Australia, their similarities and differences, and what we might consider learning from this. It is designed to inform and to encourage discussion.

Find out more about CID on their website.

Download the Paper

Our Free Guides Available to Download

Charities and Tax

The Leaky Bucket: Analysing the proposed changes for Donation Tax Credits

New Zealand’s Donation Tax Credit system is intended to encourage charitable giving, but many donors do not claim the one-third tax credit available to them. That means money which could potentially support charities is effectively “leaking” out of the system.

Proposed changes would allow donors to transfer their Donation Tax Credit directly to the charity they supported. We welcome that change, but our paper considers how the system could go further — including allowing donors to make that choice at the time they make their donation.

Published October 2026

Download the Paper

Charities: What has changed in Budget 2026?

In this paper, Partner Steven Moe discusses the recent changes announced in Budget 2026 and their implications for charities in Aotearoa New Zealand.

With analysis and a short commentary on each change, the paper aims to support Boards to easily understand the implications, as well as consider how charities can be proactive regarding the future.

Download the Paper

Charities, Donation Caps and the missing analysis

In this paper, Dr Juliet Chevalier-Watts, Te Piringa – Faculty of Law, University of Waikato and Steven Moe, Partner, Parry Field Lawyers, discuss the missing analysis for charities and donation caps. 

Note: This paper is a pre-publication version of an article forthcoming in the June 2026 edition of the New Zealand Law Journal (NZLJ).

Download the Paper

Our Informative Videos

Webinar: What has Changed in Budget 2026?

Budget Changes 2026: Cap on Donation Tax Credits

Recorded June 2026

Budget Changes 2026: Increase of Tax Free Threshold for Small Charities

Recorded June 2026

Budget Changes 2026: In Year Tax Credit Refunds

Recorded June 2026

Budget Changes 2026: Membership Subscriptions and Levies

Recorded June 2026

Budget Changes 2026: Transferring Tax Credits to Charities

Recorded June 2026

Budget Changes 2026: Active Investor Plus AIP Visa Changes

Recorded June 2026

Demystifying Your Charitable Trust Deed

Recorded Sept 2026

Charities and Tax

Recorded Feb 2025

Charting the Future

Recorded June 2020

Charities: What has Changed?

Recorded May 2024

Fundholding Paper

Recorded March 2025

Key Issues to be Considering Right Now

Additional free resources that you may find helpful include:

Recent Articles

What Powers do the Trustees of Charitable Trusts have?

Our charitable trust clients often ask what powers Trustees have. It is a great question to be asking. While Trustees tend to have quite wide powers, sometimes the powers are restricted by the wording of the Trust Deed. Knowing what is permitted…
Read more

Delegation within Charitable Trusts – What is Permitted?

It is relatively common for Trustees of charitable trusts to delegate some functions and responsibilities to other people. However, it is important to understand what delegations are legally permitted and what is not able to be delegated, and…
Read more

Trustee Duties: Demystifying your role

Thousands of New Zealanders are Trustees of charitable trusts, providing governance for thousands of diverse charities. In our series of articles on “demystifying the role of Trustees of charitable trusts” we answer some of the questions…
Read more

Contact us- Feel free to reach out to discuss with one of our experts in this area or let us know your enquiry below

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