Charities take huge hit
The nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic has left charities grappling with a significant financial hit, with one expecting a loss of $1 million.
Charity organisations such as SPCA, St John Ambulance, The Salvation Army, Hospice New Zealand, and Red Cross get part of their income from sales through their retail op shops.
However, with the stores deemed unessential and forced to close for the duration of the four-week lockdown, it’s left the charities out of pocket.
SPCA, whose services are deemed essential and are attending to calls of animals in urgent need, has 56 stores across the country which bring in about $6.5m each year.
‘‘We are taking a hit and what that will look like in its entirety is unknown, but we’re currently estimating a loss of $1 million,’’ Dominique Leeming, SPCA general manager of marketing and fundraising, said.
‘‘We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.’’
Other factors, such as a drop in regular donations, and fundraising events including annual cupcake days potentially not being able to go ahead, had also impacted the business.
‘‘We’re focusing on what we can do and that’s a lot more digital fundraising like sending out email requests for donations and on Facebook.’’
The Salvation Army had also suffered financially due to the closure of its 132 Family Stores.
A spokesperson said exactly how much the loss would be depended on how long the lockdown lasts, but last year Family Stores raised $11.8m.
The Salvation Army’s other revenue came from corporate and individual donors as well as the Government funding or cofunding some of its services.
Ambulance service and charitable organisation St John receives about 70 per cent of its funding from the Government and the remaining 30 per cent comes from its 43 retail stores, emergency ambulance part charges, fundraising and donations.
One of its biggest fundraising events is the annual appeal, which St John had to postpone last week. It had a target of raising $2m.
‘‘We made the difficult decision to put it on hold as it didn’t seem right when New Zealanders are facing such uncertainty,’’ Pete Loveridge, St John director of customers and supporters, said in a statement.
‘‘The money raised by the annual appeal would have gone towards much-needed clinical equipment and ambulances.’’
In the meantime Loveridge said St John was focusing its efforts on the coronavirus response as an emergency ambulance service on the frontline and as a community health service supporting Healthline with calls and providing shuttles so people can get to essential medical appointments.
While Hospice New Zealand is still operating healthcare wise, its more than 130 retail stores across the country are shut, leaving a significant dent in its income.
In Taranaki alone there are are five retail shops and the closure saw a 55 per cent drop in income overnight.
Paul Lamb, chief executive of Hospice Taranaki, said the organisation had some cash reserves and had applied for the Government’s wage subsidy scheme.
Lamb was also aware Hospice New Zealand was in talks with Government about other forms of support available.
His focus now was managing the budget and cutting back on expenditure where possible as he was determined to avoid any redundancies through this period.
‘‘We’re going to need all our people when we re-start our service. When we can.’’