By Roselyn Fauth
Over the next 25 years, around NZ$1.2 trillion in assets will shift from baby boomers to the next generation, and most of that wealth will be managed by women. It is a tidal wave of generosity waiting to happen. The question is not whether the money will move, but how we catch it. How do we make sure this extraordinary transfer of wealth becomes leverage for good rather than something that quietly disappears into private accounts or offshore investments?
If we do not have the nets in place, the opportunity will scatter. But if we build the right structures now, this could become one of the most transformative chapters in South Canterbury’s history. The decisions we make today will determine where this wealth lands, who it lifts, and what kind of future it helps us build.
Philanthropy is no longer just about giving. It is about shaping the world we want to live in.
This year something shifted for me. I have spent years helping out where I can, usually behind the scenes, usually just getting on with things. I never thought much about what it all added up to. Then the 2025 Aoraki Woman of the Year award landed in my lap and, to be honest, I froze. Recognition was not something I had ever chased. I felt awkward and a little exposed. I have experienced New Zealand's tall poppy chopping and I gotta say, its not that fun, or helpful.
It took a bit for me to get my head around it, an to be even able to articulate how the recognition made me feel. But once the dust settled, I learned something important. Being lifted up by others feels unexpectedly powerful. It changes the way you see your own contribution. It reminded me that encouragement is not a pat on the back, it is fuel. When I realised this, I could see how much difference empowering others could make if more women in South Canterbury felt that push of confidence behind them. So while I have refocused my goals, I have also made sure I am not a "Mana Muncher" and I give people the fuel they deserve and need too. When we help each other grow, instead of chop, the whole garden blooms together.
South Canterbury Woman of the Year award 2025, presented by the Aoraki Womens Foundation.
That is why I said yes to the invitation to join the Aoraki Women’s Fund committee. I want more women to feel supported in a tangible way, not just with kind words, but with opportunities, resources, belief and fuel. Philanthropy is no longer just about giving money, things, time or skills. It is about shaping the future we want to live in.
And this year’s Impact Event made that vision feel very real. We tried something different. Instead of the old model of one hundred women giving one hundred dollars, we opened the doors wide. $35 tickets. A “give what you can” approach. People turned up, including people who had never been part of something like this before. We were a sell out, hit our fundriasing targets and everyone left with a smile, feeling great.
By the end of the night, we had met our $10,000 dollar target. Raine and Horne Timaru generously stepped in with $2500 in sponsorship, many businesses shouted tickets for others so they could attendand people gave what they could. Some small, some large, all meaningful. The grants went straight to our community:
- cancer rehabilitation through Pinc and Steel.
- leadership development for Year Thirteen girls through Thrive for Life.
- and support for women leaving Gloriavale, rebuilding their futures from the ground up.
Representitives from the groups spoke that night and it was really humbling to hear thier story. No big slogans, no glossy stories. Just honest accounts of what these grants would fuel them to do next. And that is what philanthropy really is I learned. People standing up and saying, “This will help me.”
I got a facebook message a couple of nights ago showing me video of women from the South Canterbury Tongan Society. They were parading at a 7s tournament for the first time in their sports uniforms. The South Canterbury Tongan Society introduced an under seventeen girls’ grade into their regional rugby tournament. In their culture, girls taking part in a contact sport can be tapu, so this was not just about jerseys and socks. It was about visibility, courage and opening doors that had been closed for generations. The Women’s Fund stepped in to help them get established, and the pride on those girls’ faces reminded me exactly why lifting women matters at every age and in every community. I loved seeing our logo on their shirts, it was like the Womens Fund had their back.
What I have learned this year since recieving the award and joing the Womens Fund committee is that women can see gaps that others miss.
We notice the struggles, the sometimes invisible labour, the opportunities that slip past girls. And when women give, we tend to give differently. We look at the whole family, the whole community, the whole journey. Our focus is usually practical, nurturing and long term. We give to remove barriers that we ourselves have bumped up against.
This is a really interetsing story about Women reshaping philanthropy by Eleanor Cater https://communityfoundations.org.nz/latest-news/women-reshaping-philanthropy. I really incourage you to read it, by a writer who has done her masters in philanthropy! She was in Timaru recently sharing her views and knowledge and I really enjoyed hearing what she had to say. There was a lesson though. It is one thing to have the money to give. But it is another to have the right place to donate it. This reinforced that I have made the right choice in backing the Aoraki Foundation.
Who do we support to make the most impact.
We are also living through a moment of extraordinary change. Over the next 25 years, around NZ$1.2 trillion in assets will shift from baby boomers to the next generation, and according to Eleanor's article, most of that wealth will be managed by women. Although men currently hold about two thirds of global wealth, an estimated 95% of spousal inheritance will pass to women, and in New Zealand baby boomers and those born before 1966 hold 60 percent of the country’s wealth.
As women tend to outlive men by three to four years, they will increasingly become the decision makers around family wealth, estate planning and philanthropy. This matters because women give differently. Women’s philanthropy is more collaborative, community focused and front-line centred. It often funds the practical needs and overlooked gaps that traditional philanthropy misses. Across Aotearoa we are already seeing this shift through the rapid rise of women-led giving circles and personal philanthropic funds. As more wealth moves into women’s hands, philanthropy in New Zealand will not only grow, it will change shape in ways that strengthen communities and create more equitable outcomes.
Women’s philanthropy is not about having more money. It is about having a different lens.
It is about lived experience shaping where support goes and why. And the truth is, even in 2025, women and girls still receive only a tiny fraction of charitable investment worldwide. The things that matter most to women are often the least funded. This is why the Women’s Fund exists. Not to compete with other causes, but to make sure women are not an afterthought in philanthropy. When we back women, the impact ripples outward.
- Confidence grows.
- Families stabilise.
- Communities strengthen.
- Women reinvest what they are given.
- The return is generous, and it is generational.
Eleanor Cater | MA Philanthropic Studies (Dist) CEO Community Foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand. Addresses guests from the Aoraki Foundation donors afternoon tea with a really inspiring talk about what she has learned about philanthropy. Photo: Richard Brown
So I write to you with the solution. The part that excites me the most.
While these immediate grants matter, they are only part the story. In the background, our endowment fund is rapidly growing. I am used to counting in 10s, but the funds bank statements have a lot more zero's. And I am seeing first hand how rapidly the fund grows. I think this is where the long term impact is going to hit a new chapter. We are building on decades of advocation for womens right to choose, be safe and valued. Right now it sits at 67,000 dollars! Now when you do the maths, it gets really exciting!
If 100 people gave $25 a month, we can raise around $30,000 a year. Combine that with the Foundation’s average return of 6.5% and our modest 3.5% annual distribution, and then we see the compounding do the heavy lifting. In 10 years, that little seed of $25 becomes a fund worth around $435,000!. Andy, even while growing, the fund could have give out 80,000 to women and girls during that time.
Stretch the timeframe to 25 years and the impact will blow you away. The fund reaches more than one million dollars! Nearly half a million would have been granted out along the way. And still the capital remains for the next generation of women.
All from people giving small amounts regularly. The idea that you do not need to be wealthy to change your region. You only need to decide to be part of something bigger than yourself. And if you dont have the funds to give, you can give your time and skills.
As we approach Christmas, the feeling of empowerment and giving is timely, but in a wider timescale perspective... we are in what might be the largest generational wealth transfer the world has ever seen. Decisions made over the next few years will shape the wellbeing of South Canterbury for decades. We need to have our plans in place and nets set to catch peoples generousity. I am grateful that the Aoraki Foundation is here, with its long view and careful stewardship, ready to make sure local generosity stays local and creates a real legacy. We need it.
So this is my invitation... If you have ever thought, “I wish I could do something,” this is your chance. $5 a month. 10. 25. Whatever feels right. Come to an event. Send a friend, shout some tickets... Share a link. Plant a seed.
Because when women put their hands in, we can make a change. And when a whole community join, the change becomes a movement.
We are building something here in Aoraki. Something generous. Something that lasts. Something you can trust. And I would love you to be part of it.
Help us Grow the Fund
If you feel a pull to be part of something bigger, this is your moment. Join us. Set up a small monthly gift, come along to one of our events, or simply help spread the word. Every person who raises their hand strengthens the future for women and girls in South Canterbury. Your support, whatever shape it takes, genuinely matters.
https://www.aorakifoundation.org.nz/womens-fund
Guest speaking at the Aoraki Foundation Donors Morning Tea - Photo Kirsty Burnett 2025