New Zealand Charity Organisations that Accept Cryptocurrencies

Christmas is almost here, at least at the time of writing. While this is the perfect time to give each other gifts, it’s also the perfect time to give back to the community. 

Did you know that in New Zealand, many charity organisations are opening a new door for donors to donate in cryptocurrency?

If your crypto investments have paid off, and would like to donate some for good causes, here are four exemplary charity organisations that accept cryptocurrencies in New Zealand.

New to crypto? Be sure to explore our get started guides and articles.

Whānau Āwhina Plunket

The historic New Zealand Plunket Trust is spread out across New Zealand. For decades, the foundation has been doing incredibly good work in providing guidance and health services to support children under five as well as their families.

Some of the services of Whānau Āwhina Plunket includes offering free health and development checks as well as a 24/7 hotline for parenting support. In essence, they support parents in whatever they need to ensure that the first 1000 days of a child’s life is of the highest quality.

Plunket is also empowered by crypto donors. If you visit this page, you can find a little window where you can enter the amount of crypto you want (currently they support 36 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum) and the wallet addresses you can send your assets to.

The interface is powered by The Giving Block, a software that allows crypto donors and charity organisations to connect.

ChildFund New Zealand

Child Fund focuses on causes such as Children and Community Sponsorships, which help children in poverty-stricken places around the world. However, the organisation does not leave out Aotearoa families who are in desperate need of local community support. 

The basic principle behind Child Fund is to work on multiple areas that can give wholesome empowerment for children and youth. 

“Our Programmes are holistic, meaning projects form part of an overall plan and are interlinked. Projects are typically a mix of water and sanitation, healthcare and nutrition improvements, education support, child protection, resilience-building, livelihoods and advocacy.”

As a forward-looking charity non-profit, they are more than happy to receive donations in crypto. If you would like to join their cause, here is a link to their donations page.

UNICEF New Zealand

Through a UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund established in 2019, the UNICEF became the first UN Organisation to receive, hold, and disburse cryptocurrencies for its operations. Apart from New Zealand, UNICEF national committees of Australia and USA also accept cryptocurrencies.

UNICEF New Zealand currently accepts four cryptocurrencies — Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). Donations would be converted to fiat before disbursement. 

Apart from direct donations to children and families in need, the UNICEF Innovation Fund has also been helping to fund open-source technologies. 

For example, the organisation supports Grassroots Economics in Kenya, which offers an alternative “community currency” to help shift produce in some of the poorest neighborhoods. Apparently, cash distribution is still a problem in some areas in Kenya.

The Giving Block

Alternatively, you can go directly to The Giving Block and search for all the non-profits that accept crypto donations. Although not a charity organisation in itself, The Giving Block plays a crucial role in supporting more than a hundred non-profits.

They educate non-profits on how to secure a crypto donation, as well as raise funds in the decentralised financial world. The fact that there is a service for making it easy to utilise crypto in charity supports the belief that crypto is here to stay, and will become a part of our lives.

Why donate in crypto?

One of the perks that you get when donating in crypto is tax deduction. According to The Giving Block, donating cryptocurrency directly to a “503c3” nonprofit can save you on tax by as much as 30% (and sometimes even more).

This is because the IRS classifies crypto assets as property for tax purposes. If you instead sell the crypto assets for fiat currency before donating, you would have incurred the capital gains tax on money you want to use for charity.

Therefore, using cryptocurrency for donations (at least for the time being) is a great way to maximise your impact on society.

Related: Read our guide on crypto tax in New Zealand.