BNZ and Kiwis for kiwi end long-term relationship

Media Release
22 July 2015
BNZ and Kiwis for kiwi end long-term relationship

BNZ has made the difficult choice to end its sponsorship of Kiwis for kiwi, the national charity that raises and distributes funds to support kiwi conservation projects.

BNZ has supported the national kiwi recovery programme since it began in 1991, contributing more than $12 million to kiwi conservation over that time.

BNZ’s director of retail banking and marketing, Craig Herbison, said BNZ started the discussion and the transition with Kiwi for kiwi three years ago, to help them broaden their support base and start to remove the formal association with BNZ.

“We hold Kiwis for kiwi in high regard, and we’re immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together. A partnership of this tenure, and what it has delivered to the conservation effort, is one to be respected, which is why we’ve taken some time to end the association,” said Herbison.

“For us at BNZ it was time to look at our partnership and how it aligned strategically with our efforts in the community, and our objective to help New Zealanders be good with money,” he said.

Mr Herbison said BNZ will be focusing its community support on Plunket, a $10 million commitment to the Community Finance initiative, financial literacy, and Closed for Good, New Zealand’s single largest day of corporate volunteering.

BNZ customers who currently have a kiwi EFTPOS card Customers with a current Kiwi EFTPOS card can continue using it as normal until the expiry date. will still be able to support Kiwis for kiwi through its annual fee, which raises more than $100,000 each year.

Executive director of Kiwis for kiwi, Michelle Impey, says the organisation is appreciative of the contribution that BNZ has made over the years to the kiwi recovery programme.

“The bank and its customers have contributed millions of dollars to kiwi conservation projects and this commitment has made a huge difference.

“The important work underway to save New Zealand’s national icon has been acknowledged and supported by the government who recently committed $11.2 million in funding over the next four years to help halt the decline of kiwi and save it from extinction,” she says.

However Ms Impey says that funding from other sources is still needed to support for Kiwis for kiwi.

“While we are disappointed to lose a major corporate sponsor, the fight to save kiwis continues, and we are hopeful there are other businesses out there that will be eager to take up the reins. There couldn’t be a more Kiwi cause than this,” she says.

Visit www.kiwisforkiwi.org to make a donation directly to Kiwis for kiwi.

ENDS

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