Ways to give

How Future Giving works

By virtue of our charitable status, our aggregated funds scale and the diversified risk profile, an endowment fund like Momentum Waikato's provides consistently better returns over time than a small sum privately invested, or left in a bank deposit or private Trust. The Momentum Waikato endowment fund portfolio is invested using leading investment advisors like Craigs Investment Partners and JBWere alongside the experienced stewardship of our local Board of Trustees.

For individuals, if your initial donation or gift-in-Will (bequest) is $50,000 or more, it can become a ‘named fund’ within the Momentum Waikato endowment - we work with you to establish how much of the income generated is to be distributed to charity each year and how much of it is to be reinvested for further growth and future grants to local causes. We establish with you where and what the fund will support by way of local causes and projects.

If you want to leave future decisions about who best to support, of your initial gift is less than $50,000, you can either donate to an existing Momentum Waikato named or community group fund that matches your interests or meets your concerns, or create your own named fund that will start making distributions once it has grown to $50,000.

This graph below shows how this model works over fifty years, using the example of an initial $100,000 gift.

The infographic below shows how the Endowment Fund established with Momentum Waikato by local donor Kiri Walker (in 2018) that has grown and given since, and will grow and give forever.

Create Your Legacy – Leaving a Bequest in your Will

Why do we recommend you consider leaving a gift in your Will that gives forever through an endowment fund? Simply, it grows and gives back now and forever, rather than being a "one and done" donation that has no lasting impact. Endowment funds provide a perpetual benefit to the causes you care most about. Leaving a lasting legacy.

New Zealanders are remarkably generous people, especially in times of crisis and immediate need. Most of us readily donate our time and/or money in our community in some way. Many of us provide support to charities or causes dear to us. Endowment Funds mean we each can help create a lasting benefit for future generations.

If you're not in a position to donate now, probably the most significant charitable decision you will make in your lifetime is whether to leave a gift in your Will (a bequest) to support a charity and/or your community.

Getting this right can be a challenge, you want to be confident you’re making the best call. How to balance a meaningful and effective bequest while still supporting your family? How to choose from all those worthy charities and causes out there? How to ensure your support will grow and always sustain your chosen recipients long after you’re gone?

Globally donors have found community foundations, like Momentum Waikato, are an ideal solution to these dilemmas - leaving a bequest to one or more of the philanthropic endowment funds at Momentum Waikato then provide perpetual income for local causes or projects you care most about.

To formalise a bequest intent we work with you to understand your wishes and what you care about most. We help you build a Gifting Plan covering what you want to leave in your Will and which charity, community

cause or project is to receive the resulting income forever into the future. Forming such an agreement with our knowledge and assistance is ideal but it is not essential – sometimes community foundations only learn they are receiving a bequest when a Will is opened.

However you approach it, we always recommend engaging the independent advice of a lawyer too. We're happy to help you find a local lawyer than can work with us both to bring your wishes to life. We have several local professional services firms - lawyers, accountants and wealth advisors that understand endowment funds that we recognise as community champions, people like you that understand and value generosity.

Whether it’s via donations now or a bequest in the future, Momentum Waikato will help you make informed decisions for achieving meaningful social and environmental impact. We ‘connect and convene’ generous local people with front-line organisations across the Waikato, so we can offer you the tools to give wisely.

Establish a Philanthropic 'Named Fund'

You can start your own philanthropic investment fund, a 'named fund', by either making a significant donation to Momentum Waikato or by telling us you are leaving a bequest in your Will to Momentum Waikato. In either case, distributions from your Fund now and in future can be to the charities of your choice or to Momentum Waikato's projects, as per your wishes in the Fund's Deed of Gift.

The monies are invested as part of the Momentum Waikato regional endowment, as per the information above, but your balance is specifically tagged and tracked to your named fund.

Transfer a Trust

Momentum Waikato offers the opportunity to existing charitable, family and corporate trusts, along with other agencies, to transfer the operation and management of their trust to us as your local Community Foundation.

In the process of transferring your trust, we will work with you and your current trustees to address any issues and concerns, developing a tailor-made plan that provides the level of future involvement you may desire.

Once the Trust is transferred, it becomes a 'named fund' of the Momentum Waikato Community Foundation and we take care of it in perpetuity.

The named Fund will have no loss of identity or purpose, but will benefit from collective investment knowledge, sound governance, legal and financial advice, and a local management team and Board of Trustees experienced and knowledgeable about growing endowment funds, grant-making, and dedicated to supporting great local causes and projects, now and forever.

We will keep you updated each year with the continuing work being undertaken as a result of your generosity. As well as annual financial reporting, there is the option of building in impact reporting, having catch-ups with grantees or engaging in site visits at projects/causes supported by the Fund your generosity created.

Payroll Giving

Momentum Waikato encourages employees and businesses to work together for the mutual benefit of their communities, and Payroll Giving, a big part of how New Zealanders now support charities, is a great way to do it.

‘Payroll Giving’ is the IRD scheme where employees can choose to make donations to charities via a deduction from their regular pay packet, at the same time as their income tax and student loan repayments, with the tax on the donation being able to be claimed back at tax return time.

Anyone can set up their own Payroll Giving to donate to an existing Momentum philanthropic fund or as part of setting up a new fund supporting the charity of your choice - as with all other ways of giving, you direct how the resulting investment returns are granted and disbursed (see above).

Payroll Giving is also a great way for people to directly support the work of Momentum Waikato, as scheduled ‘untagged’ contributions towards its regional endowment generate income that is used to enable our Transformational Projects aimed at creating 'A better Waikato for everyone, forever'.

Coupling Payroll Giving with a philanthropic investment fund at Momentum Waikato is a great way for employers to enable their staff to get the maximum ongoing impact for their charitable donations, especially when contributions are matched by the firm.

Leaving a portion of the resulting income invested each year keeps the fund growing. Companies setting up a Fund fed by Payroll Giving should include information about the scheme in their on-boarding packs and actively promote it to all their staff.

To set up Payroll Giving, talk to your employer, or your employees, complete the forms at the links below, and contact Momentum Waikato.