Government Funding vs Reserves Growth
Are charities receiving government funding also accumulating reserves? This analysis compares the growth rate of government grants against reserve accumulation to identify patterns in fund deployment.
Key Finding (2012-2025)
Reserves grew at 650.8% annually while government funding grew at 336.6%. This 314.3 percentage point gap suggests some government-funded charities may be accumulating reserves rather than spending on programs.
Government Funding vs Total Reserves Over Time
Bars show total government grants distributed. Line shows combined net assets (reserves) of all charities receiving government funding.
Year-over-Year Growth Rates
How to Interpret
- Healthy: Reserves growth roughly tracks government funding growth (within 5 percentage points)
- Concerning: Reserves growing significantly faster than government funding suggests charities may be accumulating reserves rather than deploying funds to programs
- Reserve Accumulators: Individual charities where reserves grew 10+ percentage points faster than their government funding
Data sourced from Charities Services register and annual returns. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz.
For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.