How do New Zealanders give?
Ethnicity and income research supplement

No matter their ethnicity or income level, approximately three quarters of New Zealanders support the community and voluntary sector in some way.

In 2007, three quarters (75.4%) of people 10 years and over supported the community and voluntary sector. This was by any combination of giving, volunteering or other support (such as purchasing products). When compared to this population average, the differences between ethnic groups or different personal or household incomes are relatively small.

However, what types of organisations New Zealanders support, and whether they give to or volunteer for these organisations, varies significantly by ethnicity and income.

Differences between ethnicity reflect different cultural backgrounds. For example:

• Māori have high rates of volunteering for marae, and are more likely than average to give to preschool education
• Pacific peoples have higher than average rates of both volunteering and giving to religious organisations such as churches.
  

Large numbers of people on low personal and household incomes give and volunteer. However, having a middle to upper income increases a person’s likelihood of giving or volunteering.

• The percentage of people volunteering is relatively consistent across personal and household incomes. However, middle income people are slightly more likely to volunteer than those on low or high incomes.
• The percentage of people making ad hoc donations is relatively consistent across personal and household incomes, apart from in the lowest income brackets.
• People with high personal or household incomes are more likely to make committed donations.

Total support is defined as a person supporting a community organisation in one or more of the following ways:

• volunteering – unpaid work outside of the home for or through an organisation
• ad hoc donations – gifts of money or goods in response to an appeal. Generally unplanned
• committed donations – planned, regular giving to a specific organisation or cause
• other support – such as purchasing products.

In terms of total support, 75.4% of people 10 years and over supported the community and voluntary sector in 2007.

When compared to this population average, the differences between ethnic groups or different personal or household incomes are relatively small, as shown in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Overall levels of giving and volunteering do vary slightly by ethnicity as Figure 2 shows.

For the total population 10 years and over, how volunteering and giving differs by sub sector is shown in Figure 3.
Committed donations follow the pattern of ad hoc donations, while most volunteering occurs mainly in a few key sub sectors.

Whether through volunteering, ad hoc or committed donations, the types of organisations different ethnic groups give to varies considerably. The following section gives a broad overview of these differences.

Europeans (not NZ born)

• Volunteering (34.8%)
  Europeans (not NZ born) are slightly more likely to volunteer than the national average. They follow the overall pattern of volunteering in Figure 3 closely, but have a slightly higher tendency overall to volunteer in many sub sectors - especially for animal rights and welfare, tertiary education, hospitals and rehabilitation, and other health services. They are less likely to volunteer for marae.
• Ad-hoc donations (51.6%)
  Europeans (not NZ born) are the most likely to make ad-hoc donations of any ethnic group, and follow the general pattern of ah hoc donations in Figure 3. They are more likely than average to make ad hoc donations to fair trade, animal welfare and rights, disaster relief, and some health/welfare causes; but are less likely to do so for marae.
• Committed donations (37.0%)
  Europeans (not NZ born) are more likely to make committed donations than the national average, following closely the pattern in Figure 3. They are more likely than average to make committed donations to arts and culture, other clubs and community organisations, animal rights, child sponsorship, disaster relief, religion, and most health services.

Asian peoples

• Volunteering (28.5%)
  Although their rate of volunteering is lower than the national average, Asian peoples are more likely than average to volunteer in arts and culture, religion and many health related sub sectors. They are less likely to volunteer in sports clubs, preschool, primary and secondary education and other clubs or community organisations.
• Ad-hoc donations (47.4%)
  Asian peoples are as likely to make ad-hoc donations as the national average, but to slightly different sub sectors. They are more likely to make ad hoc donations to tertiary education, hospitals/rehab, child sponsorship and religion, but are less likely to make ad hoc donations to hospice, mental health services and politics.
• Committed donations: (32.4%)
  Asian peoples are slightly less likely to make committed donations than the national average. They are more likely than average to make committed donations to politics, but less so to most health related sub sectors.
  

NZ Europeans/Pākeha

• Volunteering (33.9%)
  Making up 63% of volunteers, NZ Europeans/Pākeha drive the overall pattern of volunteering in New Zealand shown in Figure 3. The highest levels of volunteering by NZ Europeans/Pākeha are for sports clubs, other clubs and community organisations, preschool, primary and secondary education and religion. They are less likely than average to volunteer for marae.
• Ad-hoc donations (47.0%)
  NZ Europeans/Pākeha follow the overall pattern of ad hoc donations closely, making up 62% of people who donate in this way. They are however less likely to make ad hoc donations to marae and tertiary education.
• Committed donations (34.8%)
  NZ Europeans/Pākeha are slightly more likely than average to make committed donations, and follow closely the overall pattern in Figure 3. They are however less likely to make committed donations to marae.

Māori

• Volunteering (34.3%)
  Māori are slightly more likely to volunteer than the national average, focusing on sport clubs, preschool, and primary and secondary education. They are also more likely than average to volunteer for disaster relief and many health and welfare sub sectors. As would be expected, Māori have the highest levels of marae volunteering at 11.1%, compared to the overall average of 2.6%.
• Ad-hoc donations (43.9%)
  Māori are less likely to make ad hoc donations than the national average, but otherwise closely follow the pattern in Figure 3. Māori are more likely than average to make ad hoc donations to marae and preschool.
• Committed donations (28.1%)
  Māori are less likely to make committed donations than the national average. They are however more likely to make committed donations to marae and preschool. Māori are slightly less likely to make committed donations to arts and culture, as well as some health or welfare related causes.

Overall, the data suggests Māori are more likely to volunteer or give ad hoc donations in many subsectors than make committed donations.

Pacific peoples

• Volunteering (34.4%)
  Pacific peoples are slightly more likely than average to volunteer, and have the highest levels of volunteering of any ethnicity in many sub-sectors, especially in youth services and welfare, religion and services for people with disabilities. Pacific peoples are however slightly less likely to volunteer for sports clubs and other clubs/community organisations.
• Ad-hoc donations (49.3%)
  Pacific peoples are more likely to make ad-hoc donations than the national average, and are more likely to give in this way to most sub sectors - especially to religion, arts and culture, and all education subsectors.
• Committed donations (27.7%)
  Pacific peoples are less likely to make committed donations than the national average. They are however more likely to give in this way to tertiary education.

Similar to Māori, the data suggests that Pacific peoples tend slightly towards ad hoc donations and volunteering as their preferred methods of support, and less so toward committed donations.

All other ethnicities

• Volunteering: (31.6%)
  All other ethnicities tend to volunteer slightly less than average, but still follow the general pattern of volunteering. They are slightly more likely to volunteer for primary and secondary education, religion and internationally-focused causes. 
• Ad hoc donations (43.5%)
  All other ethnicities are less likely than average to make ad hoc donations. They are more likely than average to make ad hoc donations to marae, religion, and child sponsorship, but less likely to make ad hoc donations to many health and welfare related sub sectors.
• Committed donations (29.3%)
  All other ethnicities are less likely than the national average to make committed donations. They are more likely than average to make committed donations to religion, primary and secondary education, but are less likely to for many health-related sub sectors.

Volunteering

The majority of volunteers in New Zealand (52%) have a personal income of $30,000 a year or less. However, people in middle to upper personal income brackets are slightly more likely to volunteer.

Ad hoc donations

About half of people 10 years and over make ad hoc donations, regardless of personal income – with one exception. While 385,000 people with personal incomes up to $10,000 made ad hoc donations, overall they were significantly less likely to than those who earn more than $10,000 per year.

Committed donations

Almost one quarter (24.1%) of people earning less than $10,000 per year made committed donations, in contrast to half (50.3%) of those earning over $80,000 per year. The significant lift in the likelihood of committed giving from $10,000 to $60,000 and then another lift above $60,000 indicates three distinct sets of committed givers.
 

Volunteering

People from middle-income households are the most likely to volunteer. However, the spread of volunteers among income brackets is relatively even. This indicates that household income, while significant, is not a major factor in determining whether a person volunteers.

Ad hoc donations

People from middle to upper income households are the most likely to make ad hoc donations. Of people in households earning under $20,000, 44.3% make ad-hoc donations. This rises to a peak of 55.8% for those in households with incomes of $100,000 to $120,000.

Committed donations

The likelihood of a person making committed donations rises with household income, especially after $100,000 . However, this growth is not as steep as with personal income.

Note: The ‘more than $250,000’ household income bracket has been omitted in this analysis, due to small sample sizes