Philanthropy at Perpetual Guardian

Philanthropy at Perpetual Guardian

Philanthropy is over 100 years old at Perpetual Guardian, and with that we’ve established a reputation for long-term planning, prudent management and specialist Trust administration.

We are very proud to be New Zealand’s pre-eminent provider of philanthropic services with a long history of structuring and honouring clients’ philanthropic intentions. With almost 600 charitable entities under management, we have the pleasure of distributing in excess of $30 million into the community on behalf of our generous donors each year.

But what does philanthropy actually mean, and is it just for the ‘rich and famous’? Spoiler alert: it’s not. Every person can be a philanthropist.

How “Charity” became “Philanthropy"

In its earliest form, the word philanthropy (from the Greek ‘philanthropia’) simply meant the love of mankind. Throughout the centuries this word evolved, yet human civilisation still, as always, depends on kindness directed towards strangers.

Charity focuses on reducing the immediate suffering caused by social problems, whereas philanthropy aims to eliminate the social problems themselves.

Today we define philanthropy as the practice of organised and systemic giving to improve the quality of human life.

Giving is not new. Neither is charity. But the idea of using private funds imaginatively, constructively, and systematically to attack the fundamental problems of mankind is new, and is what we call ‘philanthropy’ today.

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