Registered Charities
Updated June 2010
In short, the Charities Register helps the public and other users to make better-informed decisions about charities they may wish to support financially, volunteer for, or whose services they may wish to use.
On this page:
The Charities Register is a “live” database of, at the time of writing, about 24,000 charities registered by the Charities Commission under the Charities Act. It holds information about the charities, their work, and their finances.
If a charity is on the Register it has proved to the Commission that it has a charitable purpose, and its name and officers comply with the Charities Act’s criteria.
Anyone can look at the Register to find specific information about charities - for example, their activities, charitable purpose, and financial position.
The Register helps build and maintain public trust and confidence in the charitable sector by making information about charities easily and publicly available.
It provides useful information to the public and other users who may need to make important decisions based on the information it contains. It also provides information to government, from which it can make more effective policy decisions.
Charities that want to be tax exempt on the grounds of charitable purpose must register with us before Inland Revenue will consider them as eligible for charitable tax exemptions. This is because Inland Revenue can be sure that every charity on our Register has met the criteria to be considered charitable under New Zealand law.
No. Registration with us does not incorporate a charity or impact on its legal status. Charities that wish to have the legal status of an incorporated entity must register with the Companies Office under other Acts such as the Incorporated Societies Act, the Charitable Trusts Act or the Companies Act.
This means that some charities will register with both the Charities Commission and the Companies Office.
No. Registration is voluntary, so not every charity will choose to register..
The Charities Register makes it easy for people to:
In short, the Charities Register helps the public and other users to make better-informed decisions about charities they may wish to support financially, volunteer for, or whose services they may wish to use.
The following information about each charity is publicly available on the Register:
The Register also shows each notice of change, Annual Return and financial statement filed by the charity.
The Charities Commission restricts public access to certain information and documents if it considers it in the public interest to do so. This means that in some cases, we do not show particular information on the public Register.
Visit the Register and click on the links to search. The Register is easy to use and there are instructions and help notes on the website.
Alternatively, you are welcome to enquire about a particular charity by calling our free information line 0508 242 748 or by contacting us at info@charities.govt.nz or PO Box 8072, Wellington.
The Charities Register: Benefits for the public
The information on this webpage is available in PDF format for you to view, download, or print.
Rate our information sheets
Please visit the Charities Commission information sheets survey - 2012 before Monday 14 May to let us know what you think of our information sheets.
