A legacy for the arts

The Arts Foundation has been notified of over $10 million in legacies. When received, these legacies will grow our endowment to almost $20 million.

A gift through your will is a powerful way to assist artists. Making provision in your will does not affect your income during your lifetime. It will, however, benefit New Zealand by helping us grow our Endowment Fund.

A legacy can be a specific amount of money, part of an estate, the residue an estate after distributions, or specific property including real estate, shares, securities, and any other realisable assets. We preserve legacies as capital sums to generate annual income in perpetuity (unless the donor specifies otherwise). We recommend that you consult with your legal advisors and the Arts Foundation on the most appropriate arrangement to meet your philanthropic aims if you'd like to leave a legacy.

The Arts Foundation helps simplify the process of leaving a legacy to the arts. All that is necessary is a gift to the Arts Foundation for the purposes of its general endowment, which is a permanent fund, established to support the Foundation's core programme of support for the arts. 

However, by prior arrangement, legacies of $500,000 or more can be directed to a "donor-specified" sub-trust, to be invested for specific purposes in the arts. These are called specified sub-trusts. If a donor prefers to gift funds to support the arts in a particular geographical area, a specified sub-trust can also be established for this.

For example, it would be possible for a specified sub-trust to be set up to benefit the arts in Southland or North Shore City, or to benefit a particular discipline such as dance, theatre or the visual arts. Gifts can also be made to supplement the funds in existing specified sub-trusts.

More information is available by downloading the PDF "Guide for Solicitors" or by contacting us.