From 40 Friends to Full Funding: Our Next Big Chapter Begins

Great news! One Percent Collective is now fully-funded by Simplicity Foundation. This is huge for us. 

From day one, we've promised that when you donate to charities through One Percent Collective, we don't take a cut or charge a fee. The charities get 100% because our work is independently funded. But with rising costs and a shifting economy, keeping that promise was getting tougher.

Simplicity Foundation sits alongside Simplicity, the not-for-profit KiwiSaver and investment fund provider. Here’s how it works: 15% of the fees from Simplicity’s KiwiSaver and Investment Fund accounts go straight into the Foundation, and that money gets spread out to charities across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Based on what Simplicity members care about most, the Foundation focuses on four main areas:

• The environment
• Youth development
• Education
• Homelessness and hunger

Most of the Foundation's funding goes to its medium and long-term charity partners, with some set aside for smaller, one-off grants. What started with just a few thousand dollars has now grown to millions. Whether it's rescuing food from going to waste, planting native trees, or helping young people reach their career and education goals, Simplicity Foundation is all about backing charities that make a real difference in our communities.

If a lot of that sounds familiar, it’s because Simplicity Foundation’s mission and values very much align with ours.

This partnership means we can stay financially sustainable and keep that 100% promise – at a time when the work of our partner charities is needed most.

Looking ahead, One Percent Collective and Simplicity Foundation aspire to combine superpowers to support more charities to give more Kiwis a hand up, to restore and protect more of our environment for future generations, and be advocates for more positive and equitable change.

We wouldn’t be where we are now without those that got us here.

From the beginning, the Founding 40 helped us avoid charging fees, so charities get 100% of donations. This group of 40 friends and family each gave $20 weekly for a year to cover our costs. As expenses grew, the group expanded to 50, then 70 generous everyday Kiwis who supported our work.

Businesses did their bit through sponsorship, too. Thank you to FNZ, Supergood, Klim Type Foundry, 1000minds, The Original Cocoa Traders, Sam Newble, Real Steel, PaySauce, Wellington Hospitality Group (Now StarSocial), TradeMe, and Flick Electric.

We're also grateful for grants we received over the years from Tai Shan Foundation, Namaste Foundation, The Puffin Charitable Trust and more.

And lastly, Friends of the Collective – donors who provided a bridge to our current financial sustainability by allocating a % of their regular donations towards our operating costs.

We’re very excited about this new chapter and can't wait to see what One Percent Collective and Simplicity Foundation can achieve together.