Wellington Museums Trust Incorporated — Arts & Culture Charity in Wellington
Wellington Museums Trust Incorporated is a Trust charity in the Arts & Culture sector, based in Wellington, Wellington. CharityData rates this charity C (60.8/100). Annual revenue: $2.7M NZD. 1 red flag detected. Financial data as at June 2025.
Mission: To manage and operate Space Place (Carter Observatory), museum and art gallery assets for the benefit of the inhabitants of Wellington, and the public generally.
- Registration Number
- CC22571
- Charity Type
- Trust
- Registration Date
- 2008-04-06
- Status
- Active
- CharityData Rating
- C (60.8/100)
- Sector
- Arts & Culture
- Location
- Wellington, Wellington
- accounts@experiencewellington.org.nz
- Data as at
- June 2025
Beneficiaries: Children / young people, General public, Migrants / refugees, Older people, People of a certain ethnic / racial origin, People with disabilities
Financial Summary
- Total Revenue
- $2.7M NZD
- Total Expenses
- $0.1M NZD
- Total Assets
- $6.2M NZD
- Net Assets
- $4.4M NZD
- Reserve Months
- 340.5 months of operating expenses
- Staff Count
- 127
- Volunteers
- 0
- Financial Year End
- 2025-06-30
Financial History
| Year | Revenue | Expenses | Net Assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $2.7M | $0.1M | $4.4M |
| 2024 | $2.7M | $0.1M | $2.3M |
| 2023 | $2.4M | $6.1M | $2.4M |
| 2022 | $4.0M | $6.9M | $2.0M |
| 2021 | $14.2M | $14.8M | $2.0M |
| 2020 | $2.8M | $5.9M | $1.8M |
| 2019 | $4.3M | $13.6M | $-0.8M |
| 2018 | $3.6M | $13.0M | $-0.5M |
| 2017 | $13.1M | $13.9M | $1.8M |
| 2016 | $11.9M | $6.0M | $1.8M |
CharityData Rating
- Overall Grade
- C
- Overall Score
- 60.8/100
- Financial Score
- 77.5
- Governance Score
- 55
- 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 (16)
| Name | Role | Appointed |
|---|---|---|
| Kaine Thompson | Chief Operating Officer | 2025-12-18 |
| Geordie Rogers | Trustee | 2025-11-01 |
| Chris Parkin | Trustee | 2025-07-01 |
| Manea Sweeney | Trustee | 2025-07-01 |
| Charlotte Davy | Director, Art & City Gallery | 2024-10-14 |
| Brent Fafeita | Director History & Science | 2024-09-01 |
| Tanemahuta Gray | Kaihautū | 2024-08-05 |
| Diana Marsh | Chief Executive | 2024-03-04 |
| Alicia Harris | Director Visitor Experience | 2023-10-01 |
| Carolyn Mettrick | Director Fundraising, Marketing & Communications | 2023-10-01 |
| Judith Cooke | Director Exhibitions | 2023-10-01 |
| Delyse Diack | Director Te Matapihi Transition | 2023-10-01 |
| Suzanne Snively | Trustee | 2022-07-01 |
| Martin Matthews | Trustee | 2022-07-01 |
| Heather Galbraith | Trustee | 2021-07-01 |
| Peter Jackson | Trustee | 2019-06-01 |
Former Officers (24)
- Clare Helm — Chief Operating Officer (departed 2025-12-18)
- Councillor Ben McNulty — Trustee (departed 2025-10-31)
- Peter Johnston — Trustee (departed 2025-06-30)
- Holden Hohaia — Trustee (departed 2019-03-13)
- Diane Calvert — Trustee (departed 2021-12-31)
- Jane Wrightson — Trustee (departed 2024-12-31)
- Rachel Farrant — Trustee (departed 2021-12-31)
- Jill Wilson — Trustee (departed 2018-06-30)
- Steven Tanner — Financial Manager (departed 2013-11-27)
- Ray Ahipene-Mercer — Trustee (departed 2013-10-31)
- Jo Bransgrove — Trustee (departed 2012-12-31)
- Jackie Lloyd — Trustee (departed 2020-07-01)
- Rhonda Paku — Trustee (departed 2010-12-31)
- Hayley Wain — Trustee (departed 2010-10-31)
- Alick Shaw — Trustee (departed 2013-06-30)
- Simon Charles Marsh — Trustee (departed 2007-12-31)
- Vivienne Beck — Trustee (departed 2010-12-31)
- Peter Blades — Trustee (departed 2008-12-31)
- Quentin Morris Hay — Trustee (departed 2015-12-31)
- Peter John Cullen — Trustee (departed 2011-06-30)
Funding Sources
- Lion Foundation — $60,000
- The Lion Foundation — $55,000
- Foundation North — $20,000
- Foundation North — $13,777
- Pelorus Trust — $9,560.86
- New Zealand Community Trust — $7,119
- Trust House Foundation — $5,000
- Aotearoa Gaming Foundation — $5,000
- ILT Foundation — $3,000
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Wellington Museums Trust Incorporated
Financial data as at June 2025. Sourced from Charities Services register.
Reasons to look carefully (2)
These structural observations are drawn from public data and are worth considering before a donation. They are not allegations of wrongdoing, and they don’t affect the charity’s letter grade.
- No chair recorded on the registerNo chair or presiding role is recorded in the register for this board of 16. The Charities Register does not require one to be identified, so this is a gap in the public record rather than a finding about the board.
- Government-funding concentration447% of latest-year revenue came from government grants — single-stream dependency
Each signal is a data-driven observation, not a judgement. They fire automatically from the figures filed with Charities Services. A charity can address any of these by filing fuller disclosure or updating its officer register. Methodology: /about/methodology/concern-signals.
$2.7M
$110.2K
$6.2M
127
Financial data from Charities Services annual return (FY2025). Ratings calculated using CharityData v3.1.1 methodology.
Endowment Foundation
Special Entity TypeThis 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.
Funded By
Registered charities that have funded this organisation.
About
To manage and operate Space Place (Carter Observatory), museum and art gallery assets for the benefit of the inhabitants of Wellington, and the public generally.
Who We Serve
Key Statistics
Financial Trends
Financial Trends (17 Years)
Revenue Breakdown
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
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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: 28 September 2026.
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