What Nikau Foundation does

Nikau Foundation is a community foundation established in 1991 and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, serving the Greater Wellington region (Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui). It operates as a permanent endowment platform — pooling donations, bequests, and named funds, investing the corpus, and distributing grants to community organisations in perpetuity. The foundation offers four core product lines: Organisational Funds, Forever Funds, Regional Funds, and Corporate Trusteeship services. It also administers a Funding Hub (annual grants round, 370+ applications in 2023) and a Scholarships programme. Notable named funds under management include the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, the Mark Dunajtschik Foundation (described as one of New Zealand's most significant philanthropic bequests), the Lilburn Residence Support Fund, the Mike and Margaret Olsen Fund, the June Oakley Memorial Youth Fund, and the Lidgett Scholarships Fund.

The foundation's operational infrastructure is built on commodity SaaS: a Squarespace-hosted website with an online donation portal (Donorbox + Stripe, PCI Level 1 compliant), Salesforce for CRM, and Gravity Lab as a database partner. It does not operate proprietary technology or disclose any AI/ML capabilities. Revenue is generated from three sources: donations and bequests, investment returns on the endowment pool, and corporate trusteeship fees for managing external charitable trusts. The customer base is highly bifurcated — on the supply side, a small number of high-net-worth donors and large trust clients (notably the Dunajtschik Foundation and the Borrin Foundation) concentrate the fee-paying mandates, while on the demand side, a broad long tail of more than 300 community organisations receives grants each year. The foundation employs 16 people, is led by Executive Director Emma Lewis and Chair Dame Fran Wilde, and is governed by a volunteer board of trustees as a registered New Zealand charity (CC24793).

Name

Nikau Foundation

Legal name

Nikau Foundation

Website

https://nikaufoundation.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nikau Foundation is a Wellington-based community foundation (non-profit, est. 1991) that manages endowment funds, distributes grants, and provides corporate trusteeship services for charitable trusts across the Greater Wellington region of New Zealand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA), Institutional Capacity Building & Training (Workforce/Systems Strengthening) (BPADAEAC), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Community foundation
• Endowment funds
• Grant making
• Corporate trusteeship
• Philanthropy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Bequests: Nikau Foundation receives donations and bequests from individuals, families, organisations and trusts who want to establish named funds to support charitable causes in the Greater Wellington region. These gifts are invested and grown to provide sustainable, long-term funding.
2. Investment Returns: The foundation invests the gifts it receives and uses the returns to fund grants to community organisations. The endowment model ensures long-term sustainability.
3. Corporate Trusteeship Fees: Nikau Foundation provides corporate trusteeship services for trusts and foundations, charging fees for governance, investment oversight and grant-making administration. They serve as sole trustee for significant foundations including The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Nikau Foundation is a community foundation serving the Greater Wellington region (Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui) of New Zealand. It operates an intergenerational endowment model where it invests and grows donations and bequests to provide sustainable, long-term funding for community causes. Its core offerings include Organisational Funds, Forever Funds, Regional Funds, Corporate Trusteeship services, a grant-making Funding Hub, and scholarship administration.

Product overview

Nikau Foundation is a community foundation serving Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui (the Greater Wellington region) of New Zealand. It operates as a platform of philanthropic services comprising named endowment funds, grant-making programmes, scholarship administration, and corporate trusteeship. The core offerings include Organisational Funds (for businesses and trusts), Forever Funds (perpetual endowments), Regional Funds (geographic-specific funds for Porirua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa), and Corporate Trusteeship services for charitable trusts. The Foundation manages a diverse portfolio of named funds including the Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, Lilburn Residence Support Fund, and the Mark Dunajtschik Foundation (forthcoming). Its Funding Hub distributes grants to community organisations, while its Scholarships programme supports educational opportunities for youth. The Foundation's endowment model invests and grows gifts to create sustainable impact for communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Organisational Funds

Quantifiable outcome

• Has supported over 300 community organisations across the Greater Wellington region
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Wellington North RotarycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaborative grant-making partnership where Wellington North Rotary works with Nikau Foundation to identify and fund organisations providing life skills programmes for youth. Nikau performs due diligence and presents proposals to the Rotary club for their consideration. In 2023, $10,000 was granted to three organisations through this partnership.
• The Michael and Suzanne Borrin FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2020Nikau Foundation serves as sole trustee for The Michael and Suzanne Borrin Foundation, providing governance, investment oversight, and grant-making administration. This established their corporate trustee credentials.
• Community Foundations NZminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAffiliation with Community Foundations NZ, the national body for community foundations in New Zealand. Nikau displays the CFNZ endorsement badge.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rātā Foundation: New Zealand community/grantmaking foundation originally established from the Christchurch earthquake appeal. Comparable endowment-driven grant-making model and donor-advised fund offerings.
• Foundation North: Large NZ grantmaking foundation (formerly ASB Community Trust) serving Auckland and Northland. Comparable grant-making and donor fund management, but a much larger incumbent operation.
• Acorn Foundation: Tauranga-based community foundation using an endowment model and regional grant-making closely analogous to Nikau's. Direct peer in scale, structure, and activities.
• Auckland Community Foundation: NZ's largest community foundation serving the Auckland region. Most directly comparable peer — operates the same community foundation model (endowment, grants, donor advised funds) but in a different (and larger) geography.
• The Tindall Foundation: NZ family-led grantmaking foundation distributing funds via a partner network of community organisations. Comparable grant-making mission and donor/fund management approach.

Others

• Community Foundations of New Zealand: National umbrella body that Nikau is affiliated with. Comparable as an ecosystem/network player supporting community foundations; not a competitor but a strategic partner and sector representative.

Broad incumbents

• Lion Foundation: One of NZ's largest gaming-derived grantmaking foundations. Comparable in scale and grant-making activity but funded differently (gaming machine proceeds rather than community endowments).
• Perpetual Guardian: Large NZ corporate trustee and wealth management firm that competes with Nikau's corporate trusteeship offering. Comparable service line (trust administration, investment oversight) but commercial scale and broader product suite.
• Public Trust: NZ government-owned corporate trustee providing will, trust, and estate services. Competes in the same corporate trusteeship space as Nikau with significantly greater scale and brand recognition.

Emerging players

• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: Large US community foundation operating a donor-advised fund model at scale. Comparable community foundation operating model and donor services; useful international benchmark for what a scaled NZ community foundation could become.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nikaufoundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nikau Foundation