Employment Impact

The economic contribution of NZ charities as employers

Key Finding: New Zealand charities employ 273.3K people and engage 8.8K volunteers. The top 10 employers account for 52% of all charity sector employment.
Total Employees
273.3K
Across all charities
Volunteers
8.8K
Volunteer workforce
Employing Charities
10,493
With paid staff
Total Staff Costs
$8.9B
Annual remuneration
Avg Revenue/Staff
$80K
Productivity metric
Top 10 Share
52%
Of total employment

Employment by Sector

Average Staff per Charity

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Sector:
Showing 50 of 10,493 employers (the 3,221 largest by each measure can be listed)
1
Wellington Chinese Baptist Church
Religion • Wellington
Employees
100,152
2
Employees
9,600
3
University of AucklandB
Education • Auckland
Employees
8,818
4
University of OtagoA-
Education • Dunedin
Employees
6,400
5
Victoria University of WellingtonA-
Education • Wellington
Employees
4,908
6
PAWS 'N CLAWS TRUST BOARD
Community Development • Temuka
Employees
3,682
7
Massey UniversityA-
Education • Palmerston North
Employees
3,147
8
University Of WaikatoC-
Education • Hamilton
Employees
1,713
9
Visionwest Community TrustC-
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
1,648
10
Employees
1,390
11
Nurse Maude AssociationD-
Health • Christchurch
Employees
1,267
12
The Spectrum FoundationB-
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
1,261
13
CHT Healthcare TrustA-
Health • Auckland
Employees
1,255
14
Spectrum Care LimitedF
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
1,197
15
Presbyterian Support Central
Social Services • Porirua
Employees
1,104
16
Royal New Zealand Plunket TrustD+
Health • Wellington
Employees
1,075
17
Presbyterian Support (Northern)C
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
812
18
Pact Group D
Social Services • Dunedin
Employees
783
19
Te Oho Mana Charitable Trust
Education • Invercargill
Employees
740
20
Employees
666
21
Shine Montessori Educare
Education • Lower Hutt
Employees
645
22
Employees
637
23
Lincoln UniversityA-
Education • Lincoln
Employees
630
24
Employees
600
25
YMCA North IncorporatedC-
Sports & Recreation • Auckland
Employees
590
26
Community Care Trust AotearoaC-
Social Services • Dunedin
Employees
576
27
Employees
571
28
New Zealand Red Cross IncorporatedA-
Social Services • Wellington
Employees
561
29
Employees
560
30
Brackenridge Services LimitedC+
Social Services • Christchurch
Employees
504
31
Maatulimanu Ministry
Religion • Auckland
Employees
500
32
Kāhui Tū Kaha LtdA-
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
487
33
MASH TrustD+
Health • Palmerston North
Employees
478
34
Methodist Mission NorthernB+
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
436
35
Pegasus Health (Charitable) LimitedF
Health • Christchurch
Employees
428
36
Presbyterian Support SouthlandA-
Social Services • Invercargill
Employees
427
37
Employees
418
38
Te Kohao Health LimitedA
Health • Hamilton
Employees
408
39
Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau TrustC
Social Services • Auckland
Employees
392
40
Employees
379
41
Employees
371
42
Hinengakau Maatua Whangai
Social Services • Taumarunui
Employees
369
43
Masonic Care LimitedB+
Health • Lower Hutt
Employees
365
44
Employees
355
45
Ngāti Hine Limited
Community Development • Bay of Islands
Employees
349
46
Ngati Hine Health Trust BoardA-
Health • Whangarei
Employees
349
47
Northcorp LimitedC+
Health • Kawakawa
Employees
349
48
St Peter's School Trust Board
Education • Cambridge
Employees
342
49
Kristin School Charitable TrustB+
Education • Auckland
Employees
340
50
Employees
331

Employment data sourced from annual returns filed with the New Zealand Charities Register. View data sources & methodology

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@charitydata.co.nz.

For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.

Data as at 9 Nov 2026 · refreshed weekly from the Charities Register data we hold