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 58% of charities with board data pay their trustees (297 of 509). The remaining 212 have volunteer boards. Total board fees across all paid charities: $162.7M. Highest: The Spectrum Foundation at $4.9M.
Unpaid Boards
212
42% of total
Paid Boards
297
58% of total
Total Board Fees
$162.7M
Highest Board Pay
$4.9M
The Spectrum Foundation
Paid Boards by Sector
| Sector | Paid | Unpaid | % Paid | Total Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Development | 21 | 8 | 72% | $10.1M | |
| Environment | 11 | 5 | 69% | $3.3M | |
| Arts & Culture | 24 | 11 | 69% | $14.8M | |
| Health | 129 | 70 | 65% | $61.3M | |
| Other | 9 | 5 | 64% | $6.7M | |
| Education | 60 | 51 | 54% | $33.8M | |
| International Aid | 2 | 2 | 50% | $1.5M | |
| Social Services | 21 | 23 | 48% | $11.9M | |
| Religion | 20 | 35 | 36% | $19.3M | |
| Advocacy | 0 | 1 | 0% | $0 | |
| Animal Welfare | 0 | 1 | 0% | $0 |
Charities with Paid Boards
297 charities with paid boards
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@charitydata.co.nz.
For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.