When people ask me about philanthropy, here is what I usually say:

If we are lucky enough to live financially comfortable lives, we should be sharing some of our wealth. And, we should be giving in proportion to what we have.  Additionally, our giving should help address the injustices that enabled our wealth. 

In recent weeks, three relevant insights for philanthropy in Aotearoa New Zealand were released. And I would like to add in a fourth.

The first insight is the very useful Giving Gauge from the great team at Bloomsbury Associates.   This tool helps us estimate how much we can afford to give on an annual or monthly basis, taking into account our current financial state, how much we need for retirement and how much we want to leave in our estate when we die.  Many people who are financially comfortable are surprised at just how generous they can be.   Give it a go!

Possibly those in for the biggest surprise are people listed in the second useful insight – the newly released 2026 National Business Review Rich List.  (See the NBR Rich List or this summary.)  This year, the combined wealth of the 150 most wealthy households has grown by one quarter from $102.1b to $129b.  And, as commentator Max Rashbook points out, this is twice the wealth of the poorest 2 million New Zealanders.  It is worth reading that statement again.  Think about that, the richest 150 New Zealanders own twice the wealth of the poorest 2 million.  Well sorry, this isn’t okay.  Why should some people to have way more than they need, while others are sleeping on the street, or in a tent on an unused sportsfield?

Luckily, philanthropy – alongside better taxation, helps to address this.

And wait, this NZ Herald article ‘Inside NZ’s mega-philanthropy: What drives richlisters and millionaires to donate’ is a third source of useful insights.  It finds that the wealthy are indeed philanthropic, and it’s amazing to know that Starship Foundation can raise $3.65m in one fundraising evening for cancer research. But I can’t help thinking that there is room for improvement:

• Increasing how much is given:  I played around entering some typical net worth figures from the rich list into the giving gauge. While my calculations rely on a bunch of unverifiable assumptions, it seems that even assuming what most of us would consider a lavish lifestyle with hefty bequests to offspring, many rich listers could give close to $50m per year.  And the most wealthy can probably give more than $100m per year.  But based on the figures in the NZ Herald’s article, very few are.
• Rethinking the causes supported: According to the NZ Herald article, by far the favourite cause of the ‘million dollar givers’ is medical research and health.  Why?  Several of the featured givers describe being motivated by health conditions affecting themselves or family members.  Which is understandable – we give to causes which touch our heart (no pun intended).  But supporting causes that affect us personally is not very empathetic or imaginative.  And we miss out on major opportunities to contribute to building a better world.  Medical research, while worthy, will provide little direct benefit to a family sleeping in their car this winter, or to the existential challenge we face through climate change and other environmental disasters.

So I would like to propose a fourth insight, which is a blog I wrote in 2024 called ‘Good philanthropy involves looking wealth squarely in the eyes’.  This dive into the nature of philanthropy is one of my personal favourites, and is only a 6 minute read.  But the key point is the importance of a justice lens in our philanthropy, by considering what has enabled our wealth, and by returning wealth to its source.  In particular:

• Wealth gained through buying and selling property is enabled through Māori being dispossessed of 95% of their land.  Therefore, support Te Ao Māori causes.
• Wealth gained through consumer products, agriculture and mining are enabled by the exploitation of the earth.  Therefore, support environmental causes.
• Wealth gained through inheritance and “the bank of Mum and Dad” is enabled through inequality.  Therefore, support causes which reduce inequity and poverty.

All in all, many of us can give more than we think, and the giving gauge is a useful tool for figuring out how much this is. And, it seems that many of the very wealthy have capacity to significantly increase their giving.  So let’s give in proportion to what we have.   Finally, let’s take another look at the causes we support, so that our giving addresses the injustices that enabled our wealth.

And then let’s build a better world together.