Supporting people through the New Zealand Disaster Fund

We know many of our members have been asked questions about the New Zealand Disaster Fund and how it works. The key points to remember are:

• The Fund is used to support impacted communities. Spend is based on need and where there’ll be the most impact. To make sure this can happen, we’re planning to absorb costs for things like administering grants, processing donations, IT systems and communications from other funding. We expect to need to contribute up to $1 million.
• One hundred percent of donations – and any interest earned – will be spent directly supporting and assisting affected communities.
• We’re working to distribute money as fairly, effectively, and as quickly as we can. We don’t want to duplicate or complicate existing services. We’ll continue to work alongside other entities providing support to support the most people in ways that bring the biggest impact.
• We know recent events have affected thousands of people. We want to be fair to everyone who has been affected by recent events.
• There is a pause on new grant applications to the Fund from 5pm Thursday 25 May, and at this stage, we will not be able to accept applications after this date. We expect the existing applications to exceed the funding allocated to this programme.    
• We’re a registered charity. We exist to improve the lives of vulnerable people. We follow all legal obligations, publicly report how we spend money, and we're audited. We're a not-for-profit.

Downloadable flyers

These simple flyers can help tell the New Zealand Disaster Fund story at local events or meetings. We will be updating these regularly as more information becomes available.