New Chair for The Gift Trust

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It’s the end of an era and the start of a new phase as we farewelled our founding Chairman Glen Saunders last week from his role and welcomed Phil McKinstry as our new Chair.


The Gift Trust team and Trustees: Back row L to R- Alanna Irving, Anake Goodall, Annette Culpan. Front row L to R- Glen Saunders, Tessa Vincent, Cheryl Spain, Phil McKinstry. Note our Trustee David Woods was absent. Image credit: Andy Spain

The Gift Trust team and Trustees: Back row L to R- Alanna Irving, Anake Goodall, Annette Culpan. Front row L to R- Glen Saunders, Tessa Vincent, Cheryl Spain, Phil McKinstry.

Note our Trustee David Woods was absent. Image credit: Andy Spain

It’s the end of an era at The Gift Trust and the start of a new phase as we farewelled our founding Chairman Glen Saunders last week from his role and welcomed Phil McKinstry as our new Chair.

Glen founded The Gift Trust in 2009 with the vision of providing a service to donors in New Zealand who needed support with their giving strategy. The idea for The Gift Trust came from a wonderfully generous family who immigrated to New Zealand from the US and wanted to set up a charitable fund to give to causes they cared about, but to stay anonymous as they were very humble. They wanted an independent ‘donor-advised-fund’ in NZ and found that there wasn’t a national version here. Glen took this vision and turned it into reality and these donors are still with us today and have seen their vision spread to many other donors. You can read more about our founding story here.

Thank you Glen for your stewardship and vision in setting up The Gift Trust and getting us to where we are today. We wish you well on your next journey!

Phil McKinstry has been a long-standing Trustee of The Gift Trust and so brings a breadth of experience and background to his new role as Chair. Phil is an experienced senior banker and executive manager bringing more than 20 years corporate, business, rural banking and social finance expertise to the board. You can read more about him here.

“The Gift Trust provides a personalised service for my plan to give, donate and support the causes that are important to me at a reasonable cost.”

— Gillian, Gift Trust donor

"The gift accounts offered by The Gift Trust are a good option for individuals or organisations wanting to consolidate their charitable giving. I encourage all financial advisers to consider this important development."

– Dr Rodger Spiller, Financial Adviser, Money Matters

“An area of importance to our clients is charitable giving. The Gift Trust offers an opportunity to streamline the gifting process, while adding increased confidence and transparency. It also provides robust due diligence of eligible charities and access to additional support services for clients with complex needs.”

— Philip Stevenson, Bloomsbury Associates. CEFEX Certified Investment Adviser

“We would like to recognise and offer thanks for the support we receive though The Gift Trust’s donation. An annual donation from one of your donors is one of the largest donations that Kaibosh receives each year and has been absolutely pivotal to our ability to operate with confidence and to expand our operation across the Hutt Valley. We are extremely thankful.”

— Matt Dagger, Kaibosh, Gift Trust grant recipient

“My gift account has made my giving easy. It lets me get straight to the fun and satisfying part of giving to the causes I care about, without the hassle.”

— Anake, Gift Trust donor

"The Gift Trust provides a flexible and robust structure, to support donors' charitable giving intentions, while still enabling them to have a say in the investment of donated funds."

– David Ireland, Partner, Dentons Kensington Swan

"A Gift Account with The Gift Trust is a great option as an alternative to setting up a charity or private foundation while still preserving clients' control over their giving."

– Steven Moe, Partner, Parry Field Lawyers

"The administration and ongoing compliance requirements involved in setting up a private charity can be onerous, and even risky. Setting up a Gift Account allows The Gift Trust to look after those requirements, and provide support that allows the donor to focus on what they really want to do with their gifts."

– Sue Barker, Sue Barker Charities Law

"The Gift Trust takes the guesswork out of giving. Having support with research and due diligence on donations ensures that funds are truly making the desired impact. It has been a real pleasure to work with The Gift Trust."

– Ben, Gift Account holder

Get in touch

    PO Box 19120, Marion Square
    Wellington, New Zealand

    04 391 4438