NZ Volunteers lead OECD in generosity

  • Jo Goodhew
Community and Voluntary Sector

Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Jo Goodhew is driving a call for recognition of those 429,000 volunteers who give up their time every week for their community.

“Tomorrow is International Volunteers Day and I want to encourage everyone to stand back and take notice of the time and energy poured into the community by our voluntary sector,” Mrs Goodhew says.

“We are a small country, and yet the average person in New Zealand donates far more of their time volunteering each day than any other country in the OECD.

“Volunteers are an enormously important part of our community and without them, many organisations wouldn’t be able to offer their programmes and services to those who need a helping hand.

“In New Zealand, 1.8 million hours a week is donated to voluntary activities. This generosity is the force behind sports clubs, animal welfare groups, training organisations, faith communities, social services, human rights groups and conservation groups, to name a few. 

“Our latest figures from Statistics New Zealand show that New Zealand has 97,000 non-profit organisations which, combined with the volunteer labour force, contribute 4.9 per cent to our GDP.

“These figures were taken from the 2004 Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account report, which is currently being updated by Statistics New Zealand. I am looking forward to receiving the updated figures next year which will show the size of the sector and the contribution it makes to our community.”

This year’s theme is inspired by the whakatauki ‘Ma tini ma mano ka rapa te whai’ which means ‘By many, by thousands, the work will be accomplished’.