Paid vs Unpaid Charity Boards

The overwhelming majority of NZ charity trustees serve voluntarily with no remuneration. This page identifies the exceptions — charities that pay board fees, trustee honoraria, or director remuneration. Paid boards are uncommon in the NZ charity sector and may indicate commercial-style governance structures.

Key Finding

Only 70% of charities with board data pay their trustees (269 of 384). The remaining 115 have volunteer boards. Total board fees across all paid charities: $85.2M. Highest: Whanganui Regional Health Network at $4.8M.

Unpaid Boards

115

30% of total

Paid Boards

269

70% of total

Total Board Fees

$85.2M

Highest Board Pay

$4.8M

Whanganui Regional Health Network

Paid Boards by Sector

Sector	Paid	Unpaid	% Paid	Total Fees
Other	269	115	70%	$85.2M

Charities with Paid Boards

269 charities with paid boards

Charity	Sector	Board Fees	Paid Trustees	Revenue	% Revenue
Whanganui Regional Health Network	Other	$4.8M	4	$31.9M	15.07%
Trust House Limited	Other	$4.4M	3	$29.9M	14.83%
Te Matatini Society Incorporated	Other	$3.5M	15	$27.4M	12.95%
Lincoln University	Other	$2.7M	19	$139.6M	1.91%
The Spectrum Foundation	Other	$2.5M	3	$74K	3315.22%
Hutton Wilson Charitable Trust	Other	$2.3M	2	$54.0M	4.22%
Monte Cecilia Housing Trust	Other	$2.1M	2	$33.7M	6.32%
Cognition Education Limited	Other	$2.0M	2	$17.6M	11.55%
Medical Council Of New Zealand	Other	$1.8M	28	$24.5M	7.24%
Anglican Diocese Of Waikato & Taranaki	Other	$1.6M	1	$7.2M	22.08%
Institute of Managers and Leaders Limited	Other	$1.6M	10	$7.0M	22.28%
Simplicity Foundation	Other	$1.5M	1	$17.4M	8.46%
Your Way \| Kia Roha Charitable Trust	Other	$1.4M	2	$4.9M	27.89%
Canterbury West Coast Air Rescue Trust	Other	$1.3M	1	$49.8M	2.68%
National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges Nga Whare Whakaruruhau O Aotearoa Incorporated	Other	$1.3M	1	$3.7M	34.76%
Reconnect Trust Board	Other	$1.2M	2	$16.3M	7.59%
Roman Catholic Bishop Of The Diocese Of Hamilton	Other	$1.2M	2	$25.4M	4.64%
Te Puna Hauora O Te Raki Paewhenua Society Inc	Other	$1.2M	1	$7.6M	15.50%
Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa - New Zealand School Boards Association Incorporated	Other	$1.1M	1	$11.4M	9.88%
Cognition Education Trust	Other	$1.1M	1	$26.1M	4.22%
The Royal New Zealand Ballet	Other	$1.0M	1	$16.0M	6.50%
Internet New Zealand Incorporated	Other	$1.0M	49	$14.7M	6.88%
Equippers Auckland Trust	Other	$973K	1	$6.4M	15.25%
Penina Trust	Other	$966K	5	$20.9M	4.61%
Waitakere City Stadium Trust	Other	$908K	1	$4.8M	18.97%
Kerikeri Retirement Village Limited	Other	$840K	2	$4.0M	20.89%
Northbridge Lifecare Trust	Other	$792K	2	$18.2M	4.35%
The Methodist Church Of New Zealand Te Haahi Weteriana O Aotearoa Auckland - Manukau Tongan Parish - Parish (7510)	Other	$749K	1	$7.8M	9.60%
Greenpeace Aotearoa Incorporated	Other	$709K	1	$9.8M	7.25%
Spectrum Care Limited	Other	$706K	2	$195K	361.84%
Refugees As Survivors New Zealand Trust	Other	$675K	1	$713K	94.71%
The Wilberforce Foundation	Other	$656K	7	$4.2M	15.68%
NEW ZEALAND FOOD RESCUE TRUST	Other	$640K	4	$3.4M	19.07%
Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand	Other	$632K	1	$4.7M	13.52%
Pegasus Health (Charitable) Limited	Other	$620K	1	$13.5M	4.58%
Comprehensive Care PHO Limited	Other	$609K	3	$62.7M	0.97%
Te Runanga o Ngati Whatua	Other	$591K	4	$121.3M	0.49%
Elim Christian Centre Trust	Other	$586K	1	$10.2M	5.76%
Events Centre Enterprises Limited	Other	$581K	1	$5.7M	10.23%
Whai Maia Charitable Trust 1	Other	$580K	12	$22.2M	2.61%
Ngati Koata Trust	Other	$562K	30	$61K	922.13%
Grafton Downs Limited	Other	$548K	1	$28.3M	1.94%
Te Puna Ora O Mataatua Charitable Trust	Other	$544K	2	$32.5M	1.67%
Masonic Care Limited	Other	$542K	2	$28.8M	1.88%
Dilworth Trust	Other	$534K	1	$53.0M	1.01%
Tui Ora Limited	Other	$520K	2	$30.2M	1.72%
Tasman Smith Charitable Trust	Other	$493K	1	$92K	537.96%
Tuwharetoa Ki Kawerau Health, Education and Social Services Trust	Other	$475K	1	$8.0M	5.92%
University of Auckland	Other	$462K	2	$1481.1M	0.03%
CHT Healthcare Trust	Other	$458K	1	$148.7M	0.31%

Methodology & Context

Board remuneration data is extracted from charity annual reports via AI. Coverage: top ~1,100 charities by revenue.
Most NZ charities have unpaid volunteer boards. Paying trustees is not inherently problematic — some charities operate commercially (e.g. community trusts, licensed businesses) and require professional directors.
Some reports disclose aggregate “governing body” compensation without naming individuals. These are included where identifiable as board (not KMP) pay.
Charities with no extractable board data are excluded from the paid/unpaid count.

Data sourced from Charity annual reports filed with Charities Services. 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.