Victoria University of Wellington Foundation — Education Charity in Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington Foundation is a Trust charity in the Education sector, based in Wellington, Wellington. This organisation also provides funding to other charities. CharityData rates this charity B (75.5/100). Annual revenue: $21.4M NZD. 1 red flag detected. Financial data as at December 2025.

Mission: Raising funds from external sources for the use of Victoria University of Wellington. The Foundation’s objective is to assist with the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination and maintenance thereof by teaching and research. The Trustees, in their discretion, administer the Trust funds to be applied for the benefit of the University for the purpose of the advancement of knowledge by teaching, research and student scholarships

Registration Number
CC10288
Charity Type
Trust
Registration Date
2007-05-16
Status
Active
CharityData Rating
B (75.5/100)
Sector
Education
Location
Wellington, Wellington
Email
vuw-foundation@vuw.ac.nz
Funder Status
Grant-making charity (university_foundation)
Data as at
December 2025

Beneficiaries: Other - All

Financial Summary

Total Revenue
$21.4M NZD
Total Expenses
$8.0M NZD
Total Assets
$131.5M NZD
Net Assets
$119.3M NZD
Reserve Months
49.8 months of operating expenses
Financial Year End
2025-12-31

Financial History

YearRevenueExpensesNet Assets
2025$21.4M$8.0M$119.3M
2024$16.0M$7.2M$105.9M
2023$21.9M$0.0M$83.5M
2022$5.3M$0.4M$74.6M
2021$15.2M$5.4M$83.6M
2020$13.4M$6.9M$73.7M
2019$16.4M$5.0M$67.2M
2018$4.6M$5.0M$54.1M
2017$11.4M$4.4M$54.8M
2016$5.9M$0.0M$46.5M

CharityData Rating

Overall Grade
B
Overall Score
75.5/100
Financial Score
90
Governance Score
75
Transparency Score
65

Red Flags

  • 4 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 (7)

NameRoleAppointed
Professor Bryony JamesVice-Chancellor2026-07-17
Megan EvansTrustee-Vuw-Council-Appointment2026-04-22
Aidan DonoghueTrustee-Student-Representative2026-01-01
John MccayTrustee and Chair2025-11-01
Souella CummingTrustee2021-10-18
Alan JudgeEx-Officio-Chancellor-Victoria-University-of-Wellington-Council-Appointment2021-01-01
Raphael HilbronTrustee2018-04-30

Former Officers (61)

  • Pania Gray — Trustee-Vuw-Council-Appointment (departed 2025-12-31)
  • Liban Ali — Trustee-Student-Representative (departed 2025-12-31)
  • Brooke Roberts — Trustee (departed 2026-06-30)
  • Timothy Pankhurst — Trustee (departed 2026-06-30)
  • Ruth Harley — Trustee (departed 2025-12-16)
  • Nic Smith — Vice-Chancellor (departed 2026-06-12)
  • Jennifer Windsor — Trustee-Ex-Officio (departed 2023-01-16)
  • Gregor Coster — Trustee (departed 2025-11-17)
  • John Allen — Ex-Officio-Chancellor (departed 2025-03-01)
  • Christopher Finlayson — Trustee (departed 2024-06-30)
  • Patricia Walbridge — Trustee (departed 2026-06-30)
  • Bernadette Courtney — Trustee (departed 2023-03-31)
  • Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone — Trustee (departed 2019-06-30)
  • Neil Paviour-Smith — Chancellor (departed 2021-12-31)
  • Richard Christie — Trustee (departed 2021-12-31)
  • Sos Farib — Trustee (departed 2020-12-31)
  • Bargh Robyn — Trustee (departed 2016-12-31)
  • Sir Maarten Weavers — Trustee (departed 2025-06-30)
  • Craig Stevens — Trustee (departed 2022-06-30)
  • Kerry Prendergast — Chair (departed 2025-03-26)

Executive Compensation

NameRoleCompensationYear
Ruth HarleyTrustee-2024
Raphael HilbronTrustee-2023
Sir Maarten WeversTrustee-2023
Jan TinettiTrustee-2021
Gregor CosterTrustee-2024
Kevin DewTrustee-2021
Tricia WalbridgeTrustee-2024
Ngāi Tahu Wānanga Charitable TrustTrustee-2021
Claire GummerExecutive Director-2021
Nic SmithTrustee-2024
Tricia WalbridgeTrustee-2023
Margaret BeethamTrustee-2021
Souella CummingTrustee-2023
Alan JudgeTrustee-2024
John AllenTrustee-2024
James LaurensonTrustee-2021
Karen GoughTrustee-2021
Gregor CosterTrustee-2023
Timothy PankhurstTrustee-2023
Liz DunnTrustee-2021
John AllenTrustee-2023
Dame Kerry PrendergastChairperson-2023
Ron CrawfordTrustee-2021
Sir Maarten WeversTrustee-2024
Steven FyfeTrustee-2024
David BorrieAuditor-2024
Marcail ParkinsonTrustee-2024
Ralph ZambranoTrustee-2023
Alison AndrewTrustee-2021
Bernadette CourtneyTrustee-2023
Susan CorbettTrustee-2021
Margaret PerlmutterTrustee-2021
Anne GlassonTrustee-2021
Raphael HilbronTrustee-2024
Peter WinderTrustee-2021
Nic SmithTrustee-2023
Richard MoirTrustee-2021
Christopher FinlaysonTrustee-2024
Dame Kerry PrendergastChairperson-2024
David DownsTrustee-2021
Souella CummingTrustee-2024
Timothy PankhurstTrustee-2024
Melanie SladeDeputy Chair-2021
Jessica YeTrustee-2023
Paul JendenChair-2021
Peter EnglertChair-2021
Brooke RobertsTrustee-2024
Fiona MurrayTrustee-2021
Christopher FinlaysonTrustee-2023
Michelle NeesTrustee-2021
David ShandTrustee-2021
Steven FyfeTrustee-2023
Jennifer WindsorTrustee-2023
Ruth HarleyTrustee-2023
Alan JudgeTrustee-2023

Funding Sources

  • New Zealand Community Trust — $100,000
  • Lion Foundation — $6,000
  • Pelorus Trust — $4,000

Service Providers

  • EY
  • ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd
  • ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd
  • Nikko Asset Management Limited
  • Chapman Tripp
  • Chapman Tripp
  • Greenwood Roche
  • Greenwood Roche

Similar Charities in Education

FunderEducationTrustUniversity Foundation

Victoria University of Wellington Foundation

CC10288Wellington, WellingtonRegistered 16 May 2007
Data updated: 4 days ago
Financials9mo agoRatingyesterday

Financial data as at December 2025. Sourced from Charities Services register.

B
76/100
Financial
90
Governance
75
Transparency
65
Revenue

$21.4M

Expenses

$8.0M

Assets

$131.5M

Financial data from Charities Services annual return (FY2025). Ratings calculated using CharityData v3.1.1 methodology.

1 red flag identified- Review the Rating tab for details

Endowment Foundation

Special Entity Type

This is an endowment foundation that holds investments and provides grants. High reserves are expected and appropriate - this is not an operating charity.

Rating Note: Endowment foundations are rated using specialized criteria that recognize high reserves as appropriate. Metrics like grant distribution rate and investment returns are prioritized over program spending ratios.

Funder Profile

Grantmaker

This organisation makes grants or donations to other charities and organisations.

Funding Sectors
Education
Beneficiaries
General Public
Geographic Focus
Wellington

About

Mission

Raising funds from external sources for the use of Victoria University of Wellington. The Foundation’s objective is to assist with the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination and maintenance thereof by teaching and research. The Trustees, in their discretion, administer the Trust funds to be applied for the benefit of the University for the purpose of the advancement of knowledge by teaching, research and student scholarships

Who We Serve

Beneficiaries
Other - All

Key Statistics

Annual Revenue
$21.4M
Total Expenses
$8.0M
Net Assets
$119.3M

Financial Trends

Financial Trends (19 Years)

Revenue Breakdown

Expense Breakdown

API Data

Based on annual return data. Detailed program/admin breakdown not available.

Financial Health Dashboard

Cents to the Cause
100c
For every $1 spent, 100c reaches programs
Strong
Sustainability
49.8mo
Could operate 49.8 months with zero revenue
Over-capitalized
Fundraising Cost
-
No fundraising data
No data

Based on latest annual return data. Metrics are calculated from reported financial data and may not reflect the full picture. View methodology

Revenue Diversification

50
Score /100
Concentrated
HHI: 5,017
Donations52.9%
Other47.1%

HHI (Herfindahl–Hirschman Index) measures concentration across 6 income categories. Lower HHI = more diversified. Score above 60 indicates healthy diversification.

Peer Comparison

Ranked against 500 peers · Education (all sizes)

Rating Score
76
#41/501
Revenue
$21.4M
#1/501
Reserve Months
49.8
#1/501
Surplus
$13.4M
#1/501
Staff Cost %
0%
#1/501

Peers are charities in the same sector and revenue size band. Rankings are based on the latest available data.

Rating History

B
2025
Score: 75.5
Financial: 90 | Governance: 75 | Transparency: 65
Current
A-
2024
Score: 87.8
Financial: 98 | Governance: 65 | Transparency: 65

Rating

B
Score: 75.5/100
Financial
90
Governance
75
Transparency
65
Why this grade: Financial 90 × 40% + Governance 75 × 60% = 81 → 76 after red-flag penalties → B.
View Full Score Breakdown

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Contact Details

Address
Wellington, Wellington

Registration

Registration NumberCC10288
Entity TypeTrust
Registered16 May 2007
StatusRegistered

Companies Office

StatusRegistered
Entity TypeCharitable Trust
Incorporated28 Feb 1990
Registered office
Hunter Building / Victoria University, Kelburn, Wellington

Sector & Activities

Primary Sector
Education
Activities
Makes grants / loans to individualsMakes grants to organisations (including schools or other charities)Other - Acts an Umbrella body

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.