Q. What is The Young New Zealanders Foundation?

A. The Foundation is a national children's and youth charity dedicated to educating, empowering and supporting young people in their families and in the wider community. Based in Auckland, it also has offices in Wellington and Christchurch. It works, among other things, to reduce youth suicide, to prevent child abuse, and help young people into successful careers. It is a registered charity, which receives no government funding.

Q. How did the Foundation get started?

A. The Foundation originated within the police force as the Safer Streets Trust and was formed to assist teachers and members of the Police Education Service. It was set up to complement Government expenditure in education by supporting police safety programmes. As is explained elsewhere on this website, the Foundation has moved into a much wider community focus due to the needs of our young people and their caregivers, and more recently has expanded further under the new name of Young New Zealanders Foundation. It no longer has formal links with Police or any other organisation.

Q. Where does the Foundation's money come from?

A. The Foundation operates three contact centres in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Each contact centre employs a number of part-time professional fundraisers who call people's homes and businesses seeking support for our work.

Our contact people are highly trained and extremely ethical in their approach to fundraising.

The Foundation chooses not to use commercial agents in order that, after expenses, all the money raised can go directly towards those programmes for which is has been donated.

Q. Where will my donation be used?

A. All of the Young New Zealanders Foundation projects are available nation wide. For that reason we conduct nation wide campaigns to make sure the resources or programmes are accessible throughout New Zealand.

Q. How can I be certain I am being called by your Foundation and not someone posing as your organisation?

A. We sometimes receive calls from our loyal supporters informing us that commercial fundraisers have telephoned them and "dropped our name" into the conversation. They assumed they were giving to our organisation but when their receipt arrived they found it was an organisation they have never heard of before.

When you receive a call from our Foundation it is ALWAYS one of our members calling you from our own premises. We state very clearly that it is the Young New Zealanders Foundation calling you.

If you are uncertain of a caller, ask the question: "Who do you work for?" If you have any further questions please call us on our Information Toll Free Line: 0800 800 525.

Please advise us if you ever feel misled.

If you have caller ID you will always see our phone number displayed. If you ever receive a call with caller display withheld, ask for a phone number to ring back.

Q. How many campaigns does the the Foundation organise?

A. We organise various campaigns throughout New Zealand every year. Each one has a different purpose. Some donors give to all while others choose specific campaigns to support. We are grateful for any support you choose to give.

Q. Do you have any volunteers helping you?

A. Yes, we value the contributions of all who offer their services. As a charitable trust we are always interested in hearing from anyone who can help us in our work. We encourage those who contact us to join our ranks of hardworking volunteers.

Q. How do I know if the children get real value from my donation?

A. Our Trustees take great care to ensure that funds are used for projects which genuinely promote the safety and wellbeing of people, especially children and youth. We make sure the use of our grants is monitored. We select vital activities which are professionally evaluated. As a 'not-for-profit' organisation we constantly strive to keep our costs down so as to increase what goes to our young people. There can be no compromise: all our efforts must go towards our goal for healthy young New Zealanders to achieve their highest potential in educational, employment, recreational and cultural pursuits.

Q. How often will you call me?

A.

i) We are proud to call and offer you the opportunity to become part of an ever expanding range of vital community activities.

ii) We call our supporters about every five months, usually just twice a year.

Q. Why does the Foundation run its own call centres?

A. A special feature of our policy is to offer professional training to our callers. We respect the fact that the public allow us to take a few moments of their evening and accordingly we like to ensure our call informs them correctly of what we are doing and how people can help. We found this worked more satisfactorily when we trained our own telephone callers to meet our own standards. We are very proud of these standards.

Q. Why doesn't Government provide the things the Foundation is offering?

A. No government anywhere can answer every human need. We work with Government where this is appropriate. However, essentially, we are a group of community people who want to put all our skills and energy into making New Zealand a safer and more productive place for EVERYONE to live in. And so there will always be a place for those who are determined to make a difference. Please join us!