Why support the work of the New Zealand Institute?

We need your support

The New Zealand Institute is a small organisation trying to do a big job. We want to grow, and we need to grow.

New Zealand needs a non-partisan broad-based think tank that is sustainable long term. That means building a team that is big enough to have expertise across the range of topics we cover, to develop and maintain strong work processes, and to develop successors for leadership. We need more researchers to expand our output.

Two kinds of support are needed:

• The New Zealand Institute Council guides the work of the Institute. Council members are usually leaders of substantial organisations able to provide funding and support for our work. We are seeking to recruit a few more members for the New Zealand Institute Council.
• We also welcome supporters from organisations large and small, and from individuals, who provide financial support by becoming associate members or by making donations.

For those not in a position to provide financial support, we also welcome your engagement. Sign up for our Newsletter, give us feedback about our work by email, or join the discussion on Facebook.

Our purpose

The New Zealand Institute’s purpose is to improve long term outcomes for New Zealand and New Zealanders.

The Institute aims to contribute to economic prosperity, social well-being, and environmental quality and environmental productivity.

We are committed to the generation of debate, ideas and solutions.

Our work involves research, policy proposal formulation and advocacy.

The Institute’s work is non-partisan, is based on evidence and analysis, and draws on the best ideas and practice from around the world as well as New Zealand.

The Institute is a registered charitable trust.

Ideas matter

Politicians are always looking for good policy ideas. Those ideas used to come from the bureaucracy, political parties and universities.

Over the last few decades, independently-funded public policy ‘think tanks’ have become a leading source of new ideas for public policy in many developed countries, such as the United States, Australia and Great Britain.

There are good reasons for the growth of think tanks:

• Like all human organisations, government departments have an inertia that keeps them doing what they are already doing.
• Bureaucracy and academia are siloed – organisational boundaries can constrain how they approach issues but many New Zealand challenges require a wider view.
• People who can think freely and creatively about big issues are often unwilling to work within large public sector organisations focused on service delivery.
• Think tanks can test new ideas in public without politicians or officials risking embarrassment.

We are unique in New Zealand

The New Zealand Institute was established in 2004 to carry on the ground-breaking work of the Knowledge Wave: to stimulate better conversations about how we can tackle our social, economic and environmental challenges to be the best little country in the world.

The three most important characteristics of the Institute are:

• we are research-driven – not ideological. We want to know what will work in practice, not in theory.
• we are broad-based – we are not advocates for one sector or one industry, or one social group, or on one issue. Rather, we try to understand how everything is connected.
• we are relentlessly optimistic about New Zealand's potential to get it right and committed to making a strong contribution.

We are successful

Our research and advocacy on issues ranging from retirement savings to broadband to the innovation eco-system has framed the public debate and led directly to new policy initiatives.

“… a think tank that offers a new view of the world.”

Sunday Star-Times, August 2004

“… an uncanny knack of picking salient issues and seeing its recommendation translate into policy action.”

Dominion Post, June 2008

“… delivers a much-needed kick in the pant