Tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector overview
Every corner of New Zealand life is touched by tangata whenua, community and voluntary organisations. Organisations do everything from saving lives at the beach to taking rest home residents on day trips in the mountains.
New Zealand has more than 97,000 of such organisations. These organisations do not form a neat sector with a single accepted name. Labels include non-profits, third sector, not-for-profit sector, non-government or 'NGO' sector. Nor does everyone working in a community and voluntary organisation see themselves as belonging to a sector. However, there are some commonalities.
How the sector works
All these organisations rely in some way on voluntary contributions. In 2004 it was estimated 1.01 million people over the age of 12 volunteered in New Zealand. This amounted to 270 million hours of donated labour, the equivalent to employing 133,799 full time staff.
Organisations have some form of internal organisational structure - such as a charity, incorporated society or Māori land trust. Each entity is self-governing.
The purpose of organisations is to serve others not financially benefit the board or governance team, so community and voluntary organisations are "non-profit". No profit is returned to the owners or members.
Tangata whenua, community and voluntary organisations organisations assert their independence and value their role as advocates for citizens and the environment. While many organisations may receive government funding they maintain their right to speak out on issues.
Contribution to New Zealand
Collectively tangata whenua, community and voluntary organisations make a large contribution to society. The estimated monetary value of the work of community and voluntary organisations, including volunteer time, amounted to $6.95 billion in 2004. This sum is equivalent to 4.9% of GDP, greater than the individual contributions of several industries, including construction, and transport and storage.
The sector covers a lot of ground: culture and recreation; education and research; health; social services; environment; development and housing; law, advocacy and politics; grant making, fundraising and voluntarism promotion; international; religious; and business and professional associations, unions.
As well as social services, the sector includes groups as diverse as sports clubs, cultural groups, marae committees, residents associations, environmental lobby groups, trades associations, hospitals, art galleries and many more. In fact, sports and recreation groups make up about 45% of all organisations in this sector.
The purpose of these organisations is to serve others, not to financially benefit a board or governance team. No profit is returned to the owners or members.
Promoting effective relationships
The Office for the Community and Voluntary Sector (OCVS) exists to inspire co-operation and superb relationships between the government and the community and voluntary sector. OCVS works within government on practical and policy issues, and responds to priorities for capacity development.
To promote effective funding practices by government agencies and to improve the standard of community engagement, OCVS runs two websites:
These websites are primarily aimed at public servants, but they provide useful information for anyone interested in or working in the Tangata whenua, community and voluntary sector.
