Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily. Today on The Spinoff: The architect of Christchurch’s most internet-famous building speaks. Plus: Who is Matua Kahurangi and does it matter if he’s fake? And are book cover blurbs anything more than a circle jerk? But first: In a cost of living crisis, what compels people to give money away?
Shanti Mathias: “Is New Zealand really a generous country? It’s difficult to quantify. Giving to registered charities can be counted through tax returns, but giving to overseas causes, giving money to friends or family, or giving cash is much harder to count. While New Zealand will occasionally pop up in reports as the second-most generous country per capita, the latest edition of the comprehensive CAF Giving Index places New Zealand at 17, well behind Australia (#8), the US (#6), Ukraine (#7) and Indonesia (#1, for the seventh consecutive year). ‘New Zealand has more than 27,000 registered charities, which is a lot,’ says Rahul Watson Govindan, chief executive of Philanthropy New Zealand. For comparison, Singapore, a similarly sized country (#3 on the Giving Index) has just 2,400 government-registered charities. Most of New Zealand’s charities aren’t big organisations with dozens of staff; Govindan says the bulk of money that gets given away goes to the top 10 or 20 largest charities, like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, St John and the Cancer Society. ‘That means there’s a long list of 26,000 charitable entities that don’t have much funding at all.’ Against the backdrop of a cost of living crisis and rising unemployment in New Zealand right now, what persuades people to give money away?”
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Is New Zealand really a generous country?
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