The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Foundation — Arts & Culture Charity in Wellington
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Foundation is a Trust charity in the Arts & Culture sector, based in Wellington, Wellington. This organisation also provides funding to other charities. CharityData rates this charity B+ (82.5/100). Annual revenue: $3.4M NZD. 1 red flag detected. Financial data as at December 2025.
Mission: To provide support to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ("NZSO") or any successor of the NZSO to maintain it at the forefront of artistic achievement.
- Registration Number
- CC24274
- Charity Type
- Trust
- Registration Date
- 2008-05-12
- Status
- Active
- CharityData Rating
- B+ (82.5/100)
- Sector
- Arts & Culture
- Location
- Wellington, Wellington
- Website
- https://nzso.co.nz/support-us
- fundraising@nzso.co.nz
- Funder Status
- Grant-making charity (foundation)
- Data as at
- December 2025
Beneficiaries: Children / young people, General public
Financial Summary
- Total Revenue
- $3.4M NZD
- Total Expenses
- $1.2M NZD
- Total Assets
- $15.4M NZD
- Net Assets
- $15.3M NZD
- Reserve Months
- 0.3 months of operating expenses
- Financial Year End
- 2025-12-31
Financial History
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $3.4M | $1.2M | $15.3M |
| 2024 | $2.6M | $1.4M | $13.1M |
| 2023 | $2.4M | $1.4M | $11.9M |
| 2022 | $3.4M | $1.6M | $10.9M |
| 2021 | $1.9M | $1.2M | $9.1M |
| 2020 | $2.3M | $0.7M | $8.4M |
| 2019 | $1.8M | $0.8M | $6.9M |
| 2018 | $1.7M | $0.9M | $5.9M |
| 2017 | $1.2M | $0.6M | $5.1M |
| 2016 | $0.9M | $0.5M | $4.4M |
CharityData Rating
- Overall Grade
- B+
- Overall Score
- 82.5/100
- Financial Score
- 100
- Governance Score
- 75
- Transparency Score
- 65
Red Flags
- 2 trustees of this charity also sit on multiple other charity boards — concentrated trustee bandwidth may warrant board-skill-mix review.
Board Members and Officers
Current Officers (2)
| Name | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Liz Lovell | Trustee | 2026-05-27 |
| Susannah Robinson | Trustee | 2025-02-10 |
Former Officers (27)
- S Robinson — Trustee
- Kirsten Mason — Trustee (departed 2026-06-22)
- Edwin Read — Trustee (departed 2024-02-02)
- William Moran — Trustee (departed 2024-02-20)
- Bill Moran — Trustee (departed 2024-02-20)
- Bronwen Holdsworth — Trustee
- Christopher Finlayson — Trustee (departed 2025-01-15)
- Patsy Reddy — Chair of the Board
- Ross Steele — Trustee
- Gaye Gardner — Trustee (departed 2021-12-03)
- Gerald Johnstone — Trustee (departed 2022-07-31)
- Paul McArthur — Trustee (departed 2026-05-14)
- Sally Morris — Trustee (departed 2019-07-19)
- Ainsley Walter — Trustee (departed 2022-09-02)
- Daniel Wong — Trustee
- Timothy Wilkinson — Trustee (departed 2020-07-31)
- Jillian Friedlander — Trustee (departed 2015-10-16)
- Peter Diessl — Trustee (departed 2022-07-31)
- Lisa Bates — Trustee (departed 2020-07-31)
- Mark Barrow — Trustee (departed 2021-07-02)
Funding Sources
- Pub Charity Limited — $550,000
- Aotearoa Gaming Foundation — $60,000
- Dragon Community Trust — $40,750
- Pelorus Trust — $28,000
- Four Winds Foundation Limited — $20,000
- One Foundation — $18,000
- Blue Sky Community Trust — $17,000
- Four Winds Foundation Limited — $15,000
- Pelorus Trust — $12,000
- Foundation North — $10,000
- New Zealand Community Trust — $10,000
- The Trusts Community Foundation — $10,000
- The Lion Foundation — $10,000
- Grassroots Trust Central Limited — $5,000
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The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Foundation
Financial data as at December 2025. Sourced from Charities Services register.
$3.4M
$1.2M
$15.4M
Financial data from Charities Services annual return (FY2025). Ratings calculated using CharityData v3.1.1 methodology.
Funder Profile
GrantmakerThis organisation makes grants or donations to other charities and organisations.
Funded By
Registered charities that have funded this organisation.
About
To provide support to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ("NZSO") or any successor of the NZSO to maintain it at the forefront of artistic achievement.
Who We Serve
Key Statistics
Financial Trends
Financial Trends (18 Years)
Revenue Breakdown
Expense Breakdown
API DataBased on annual return data. Detailed program/admin breakdown not available.
Financial Health Dashboard
Based on latest annual return data. Metrics are calculated from reported financial data and may not reflect the full picture. View methodology
Revenue Diversification
HHI (Herfindahl–Hirschman Index) measures concentration across 6 income categories. Lower HHI = more diversified. Score above 60 indicates healthy diversification.
Peer Comparison
Ranked against 22 peers · Arts & Culture · $1M – $10M
Top Peers in Group
Peers are charities in the same sector and revenue size band. Rankings are based on the latest available data.
Rating History
Rating
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Sector & Activities
Data sourced from Charities Services register and publicly available annual returns. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. Scores are calculated using disclosed methodology and are analytical tools, not investment ratings or recommendations. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@charitydata.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice. Last updated: 27 September 2026.
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