Community and Voluntary Sector

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• Strengthen the role of the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, including through a higher standing within Cabinet and a larger budget allocation.
• Fund a sector-led, independent group or group of groups to work with Government on strengthening the NGO-Government relationship and support initiatives which deepen and strengthen the relationship between Business, Government, Local Government and the third sector.
• Support hapu and iwi based initiatives through COGS and Lotteries.
• Have a limit on tax-deductible donations to registered charities, initially to be set at $20,000.
• Require all Government departments and agencies to accept the right of NGOs to advocate for those individuals, communities and issues in whose interests they work, without prejudice in regards to funding, contracting or tax status. (more here)

• Introduce a Social Inclusion approach as a new way of working together with communities.
• Review the decisions to disestablish the Charities Commission and the Office of the Community and Voluntary Sector.
• Work with the sector to establish long-term funding cycles so that the sector has more certainty around planning and delivering its programmes. (more here)

• Ensure Government departments understand and recognise the key role this sector plays in enhancing social, cultural, environmental, and economic wellbeing.
• Review the Charities Act 2005. Ensure that organisations which play an advocacy role are not denied charitable status. If a group carries out political advocacy in accordance with its kaupapa, this should not be used as a reason for refusing it Government or charitable funding.
• Improve access to grants and loan funding and facilitate an enabling legal environment for the development of community enterprises; consumer, worker and housing cooperatives; ethical, community-run finance and banking initiatives; and alternative barter and currency schemes. 
• Work to ensure Government understands and respects the worth of voluntary work in the community, on the marae, and in the home,  including the right of tangata whenua to determine what ‘voluntary’ and ‘community sector’ means to them. (more here)

• Introduce an Inquiry to shut down loan sharks. (more here)

• Continue to support and encourage Social Enterprise in New Zealand. We will review the accelerator pilot and an incubator initiative being developed by the Akina Foundation with a view to establishing a blueprint for start-up enterprises.
• Continue to work alongside the Community-led Development pilots. The four year trial is due to be completed by 30 June 2015. The results of this pilot will help us better empower communities to better identify and address their own needs and priorities.
• Introduce a new online grant application system, which will be more informative and user-friendly.
• Roll out new financial reporting standards.
• Work with Statistics NZ to update its official measure for the not-for profit sector. (more here)

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