How Generous is Business?

When communities thrive, businesses benefit. Corporate philanthropy isn't just generosity, it's strategy. Strong communities mean strong businesses, loyal customers, engaged employees, and sustainable growth.

Alanna and Lani - two of Fundsorters co-founders, and also co-founders of Share Collective.

But how generous is the business community in Aotearoa? Treasury data shows that in 2024, New Zealand companies claimed about $30 million in tax-deductible charitable donations. That’s down from $32 million in 2023.

Set against the $112 billion in pre-tax surplus reported by businesses in 2024, monetary donations work out to less than 0.03% of profits – well short of the often-quoted 1% benchmark. 

Of course, these figures don’t capture non-financial giving - skilled volunteering, donations of goods and services, and support through networks and relationships. And there are some incredibly generous corporates and SMEs out there - like Te Rourou, MAS Foundation, Harcourts and Zespri.

Nevertheless, this data shows us that more is possible and that possibility feels particularly pointed when we compare our data to other countries. German companies (in aggregate) give 2% of profits, US companies 0.8%, and in the UK it’s 0.5%, all significantly higher than our 0.03%.

For start-ups, generosity can be hard. Early-stage companies (like Fundsorter) often run on sweat equity and tight margins, with every dollar going into product and growth. One solution is Share Collective*, a platform that encourages founders to donate shares in early-stage companies. Share Collective then holds those shares in a charitable portfolio and donates any funds generated through dividends or liquidation events to charity - they’re just about to donate their second round of grants. 

At Fundsorter, we believe generosity should be built in from the start. We’ve donated shares to Share Collective, and each of our seven team members has the opportunity to give away one annual subscription every year. That means seven community organisations get access to our service for free - and that number will grow as our team does. 

So if you own a business, what can you do? Maybe it’s setting up a volunteering programme, offering a community discount, or gifting surplus stock. Maybe it’s partnering with a local charity or donating shares to Share Collective. Or maybe it’s as simple as starting a kōrero with your team about what generosity could look like for you.

Times are tough right now. But if we all find creative ways to give – together – we’ll come out stronger. Generosity isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s how we build a better Aotearoa, for everyone.

*Fundsorter co-founders Lani and Alanna, were also co-founders of Share Collective