Giving While Living

Christchurch Deputy Mayor sets up a personal Fund

One of the best ways you can support our city is to join our “giving while living” programme. It’s an alternative way to donate rather than leaving a gift in your will and is a style of philanthropy that suits some of our donors well. The Deputy Mayor of Christchurch, Andrew Turner, has already set up his own Fund which will achieve his personal passions for the city.

I wanted to be involved with The Foundation both as a trustee, and as a donor because the idea of a community foundation immediately resonated with me. The Christchurch Foundation is local with strong community connections, which means we can create real change in line with community aspirations and the wishes of donors. I felt we could achieve so much more in our city through a coordinated giving approach.

Investing in a community foundation means your giving goes further than a one-off gift. Donations are invested so that they can grow and become a reliable long-term funding stream for local causes. It’s the interest that your giving earns that will be distributed to local causes; the gift itself remains protected so it can continue to benefit your chosen causes well into the future.

The Foundation is also working with the experts at JBWere and KPMG to ensure that the fund is invested and grows so that it can achieve significantly more than if it were invested in a personal bank account. 

I chose to start adding to my fund now because it makes sense not to wait 50 years before having an impact. The benefit of giving while living is that it’s immediate and so donors like me get to see what changes they’re responsible for enabling.

You have total control; you can choose the name of your fund and which charities or causes will benefit from your fund’s income. I’m personally committed to community development, the environment, arts and culture, local economic development and social equity. My partner and I are long time passionate advocates for the arts and heritage, especially in Christchurch and on Banks Peninsula.

As Christchurch regenerates, and having lost so much, it’s increasingly our heritage and taonga that define us.  That contributes to our own personal sense of belonging and identity, and that anchor us to our communities and to our city. Heritage connects us: to this place, to each other, to the past and to those who will follow us.

The devastating environmental, social and cultural impact of the Canterbury earthquakes has changed the region forever and will always be a part of our story. But now we have an opportunity to treasure and celebrate what we have left and to explore, nurture and support that which we can recreate. It’s my hope that our fund will contribute to this special work.

If you want to talk to the team at The Foundation about setting up your own fund, please contact Amy Carter at amy@christchurchfoundation.org.nz or call us on 027 620 3208.