[ad_1]
New Zealand charities that rely heavily on older donors could lose $ 1.4 billion annually as banks scrap checks over the next year.
All of New Zealand’s big banks already have or plan to stop accepting checks next year, a move that has already raised the alarm that some older people without internet access might have a hard time paying their bills.
Michelle Berriman, executive director of the charity group Fundraising Institute of New Zealand, said people who donated to charities were disproportionately older and paid by check.
READ MORE:
* Coronavirus: 27,000 charities is too many when struggling to survive?
* Kiwibank makes payment: last day for customers to use checks
* Gray Power manager concerned about check disposal could affect some members
* Inland Revenue will stop accepting postdated checks starting in February
Supplied
New Zealand Fundraising Institute Executive Director Michelle Berriman predicts that the disappearance of checks will have a major impact on charities.
He said that some charities received as much as 90 percent of their income through checks and estimated that annually, in the worst case, charities could lose up to $ 1.4 billion in change.
The SPCA alone received more than 15,000 checks annually for a total of approximately $ 1.5 million.
“This has the potential to result in devastating social, economic and environmental consequences that will have a shocking impact on New Zealand communities.”
Leanna Bruce, Lower Hutt Te Omanga Hospice fundraiser, said Stuff getting rid of checks was a major problem and would have a “significant impact” on fundraising.
Bejon Haswell / Stuff
Maureen Harper, 77, has been paying by check since 1987 and worries that banks are eliminating them. Many older Kiwis like Harper rely on checks to support charities. (File photo).
“We have reached out to donors, many of them elderly, and it is fair to say that some are struggling with change. While the Covid-19 lockdown forced people to find alternative ways to bank, many older people now rely on family members to do their banking. “
Almost 40 percent of Te Omanga donations come from checks, he said.
“We are already 22 percent less due to Covid-19 and there is still uncertainty with the pandemic. As an essential service, we must continue our care and support for the people of the community no matter what level of alert we are at ”.
Forest and Bird fundraising group manager Jess Winchester said she expected the change to cost more than $ 200,000 a year.
“What we are seeing is quite sad. Some of our senior donors have sent us notes saying this will be the last year they can donate. “
Staff have been in contact with donors to discuss ways they can continue to donate, but Winchester said many older donors did not understand online banking.
Staff Photographer
Checks have long been a part of New Zealand culture. This 1979 photo shows Roy Dickson receiving a check for New Zealand Yachting’s 1980 Olympic campaign.
New Zealand Cancer Society executive director Lucy Elwood said the society receives up to a third of its income from checks.
“Many of our donors are very familiar with checks and have used them to donate to charities for a significant number of years without a problem. They are concerned about the safety of using credit cards online and are not comfortable using online banking. “
However, he was more optimistic that donors would switch to other payment methods and said there were already signs that this was happening.
Berriman said that in 2019 New Zealand donated $ 2.4 billion, or 2.6 percent of our GDP, to charities, making us one of the most generous donors to charities in the world.
Supplied
Middlemore Hospital staff receive a check for $ 30,000 for procedure rooms that were part of a major planned upgrade for Kidz First Children’s Hospital. Images like this are a great opportunity for charities to generate publicity and thank donors, in this case Lions.
“Being generous and giving to charities is good for your health.”
However, even though it remains a favorite medium of donating to charities, the use of checks in general in New Zealand has been in sharp decline for years.
ANZ, which plans to phase out checks next year, has seen check usage drop by about 20 percent year-on-year since 2015, while online payments have risen 8,000 percent in the past five years.
ANZ spokesman Stefan Herrick said that less than one percent of the bank’s customers now use checks regularly.
“We have been in contact with thousands of check users since July to let them know what is happening, the digital payment options available and how we can help them make the switch.”
ANZ has also been working with companies that receive payments by checks, including charities, so that they can receive payments or donations through telephone banking or Internet banking.
According to the Word Giving Index, New Zealand ranks third behind the United States and Myanmar when it comes to supporting charities. New Zealand is the only country in the top ten for donations, helping strangers, and volunteering.
