We believe in giving back

15% of all fees go to the Simplicity Foundation which supports charities across Aotearoa.

Charitable donations to date

$7,523,910

About the Simplicity Foundation

Foundation story

 

The Foundation was born at the same time as our business in 2016. From the very start, the Foundation has been receiving 15% of our KiwiSaver and Investment Fund management fees. With the growth of Simplicity, the Foundation is able to help Kiwi charities doing good.

Structure

 

The Simplicity Foundation is a charitable trust, and the ultimate owner of Simplicity NZ Ltd. The Foundation has a manager and funding decisions are made its Trustees who meet on a quarterly basis. You can find out more about the team below.

Giving approach


Based on member feedback the Foundation provides charitable funding to four core sectors: the environment, youth development, education, and homelessness and hunger. The majority of its giving is directed through medium and long-term charity partners, with the rest allocated to smaller, one-off grants.

Impact

 

It started with a few thousand dollars and has grown to millions. Whether it's redistributing food destined for landfill, planting native trees, supporting career aspirations and education pathways for our young people, the Foundation aims to support charities having real impact in our communities.

Our pillars

Based on our members' feedback, the Foundation has four core priorities.

Environment


The Foundation supports the conservation and renewal of Aotearoa New Zealand's natural environment and biodiversity.

 

It believes that a thriving ecosystem will enable flora, fauna and sea life to flourish and improve our climate resilience.

 

With a primary focus on funding tree planting and projects that protect and restore diverse natural habitats across land and sea.

Youth development

 

Within this pillar the Foundation funds charities working to improve the future of rangatahi in Aotearoa, focusing on those young people who have the greatest challenges to thrive. It currently backs long-term programmes that support:

  • Youth mentoring
  • Employability and work transition
  • Volunteering and civic engagement

Education

 

The education pillar aligns closely with the Foundation's youth development work and supports programmes that improve educational opportunities for rangatahi and others within the community that face barriers to access learning. These include scholarships and training initiatives.

 

The Foundation believes in the importance of improving financial literacy for all New Zealanders, and particularly young people, and looks to compliment the work already being done by Simplicity.

Homelessness and hunger

 

Funding for homelessness and hunger aims to support those in our community who struggle to meet their basic needs of housing and food security. The Foundation is interested in partnering with organisations who not only support those in immediate need, but also seek to address the systemic causes of these issues and reduce reliance on these interventions over the longer term.

 

Hunger support is currently directed toward food rescue programmes that reduce waste and facilitate a wide distribution of kai to community groups.

Applying for grants

The Foundation is governed by volunteer Trustees who approve the distribution of funds on a quarterly basis in alignment with its strategy.

If you're a charity that aligns with the Foundation's funding pillars and strategic priorities, please feel free to contact to learn more about potential funding opportunities. Because the majority of giving is directed through charity partners, availability of additional funding may be limited, however the Foundation is always interested to learn about innovative and sustainable projects in our community.

Please email a brief summary of who you are and what you do to: foundation@simplicity.kiwi and they'll get back in touch.

We love planting native trees

Progress so far

155,374

Total trees planted

35,364

Tonnes of carbon sequested

Auckland

18,262

Northland

19,244

Bay of Plenty

9,400

Taranaki

4,900

Gisborne

13,285

Hawke's Bay

9,300

Manawatu-Whanganui

4,408

Wellington

1,586

Tasman

15,181

West Coast

650

Canterbury

8,155

Otago

17,901

Southland

15,297

Trustees & Manager

The Trustees bring a breadth of experience and expertise to the Foundation, and are responsible for its strategic direction and funding decisions.

Marisa Fong, Chair

Entrepreneur, Co-founder TBC Partners

Ngapera Riley

CEO at Figure NZ

Frances Arns (she/her)

LGBTIQA+ advocate, strategy and experience designer

Amanda Morrall

Simplicity co-founder and personal finance expert

Sam Stubbs

Managing Director, Simplicity (NZ) Ltd

Rebecca Roberts

Manager

Rachel Taylor

Partner, DLA Piper