Kiwis pay forward the giving to charities this Christmas

Kiwis pay forward the giving to charities this Christmas

New Zealanders showed their generosity this Christmas, spending more than $100,000 on charitable giving instead of traditional gifts at NZ giving website The Good Registry.

“It’s been an incredibly generous and heart-warming Christmas,’ says The Good Registry co-founder and Chief of Good Christine Langdon.

“It’s just our second Christmas since we launched in November 2017 and we’re blown away by the generosity we are seeing — and by how much joy people say that they’re getting from helping good causes instead of from scented candles, mugs or socks.”

“New Zealanders spent more than $100,000 to give the gift of giving with us this Christmas. Along with that, thousands of New Zealanders have experienced the joy of giving to charities they care about instead of receiving gifts they might not have wanted or needed. We love that so many people are choosing more generosity over more stuff,” Christine Langdon says.

“We’ve also saved thousands of unwanted gifts and their associated packaging and wrapping going to landfill or going into the back of people’s closets — which is something to celebrate in a year where there has been so much focus on conscious consumerism, the environment and things like reducing our use of single use plastics. A $10 donation sure beats a $10 Secret Santa that gets left on the table at the end of the party and put in the bin for landfill.”

Christine Langdon says givers of The Good Registry’s Good Gift Cards have included some big Kiwi corporates and small businesses who have given to staff and customers, as well as New Zelanders of all ages and backgrounds giving to parents, children, extended family, friends, and even school teachers and sports coaches. They’ve even had a beagle giving Good Gift Cards to its doggy daycare centre and vet.

“I think people love that they don’t have to give much to make a difference. You can say “Merry Christmas” with a $10 Good Gift Card and if every New Zealander did that, there are 4.7 million of us, so that would be $47 million of good. And for one of our partner charities like Bellyful, $10 would buy the ingredients for three Bellyful meals for a well deserving New Zealand family.”

The Good Registry has more than 60 partner charities. Recipients have already starting spending their Christmas gift cards and favourites charities so far have included the SPCA, KidsCan and the Mental Health Foundation. Many lesser known charities have also been well supported, such as Big Buddy, the Neonatal Trust, and Alzheimers NZ.

The Good Registry’s Good Gift Cards are delivered electronically and people were still purchasing them as late as 9am on Christmas Day.

“We wouldn’t be surprised if we get a few more purchases coming in throughout Christmas Day for those last minute gifts. Our Good Gift Cards are one of the few gifts that you can buy anytime on Christmas Day and have delivered instantly — and know they will be put to Good use.”

ENDS

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