Rotorua's Geyser Community Foundation is managing funds worth $1.2 million and has given $210,000 back to the community since its launch in 2008.
But it is in its infancy compared with similar organisations around the world.
The foundation recently hosted the New Zealand Community Foundations Conference, which included a presentation by Community Foundations of Canada president and chief executive Monica Patten .
The chief executive of the Rotorua organisation, Annette Burgess, said it had been a valuable two days that helped the locals understand what they could aspire to.
Community foundations manage funds donated or bequeathed, using the interest to support worthy programmes within their communities well beyond the donors' lifetimes.
"We now have 30 donors, most of them enjoying 'living and giving'. We also have 17 endowment pledges with an estimated worth of $6 million." These donors leave money to the foundation when they die.
"We've returned $210,000 to the community to date and we're very proud of that."
Most donors have given money for a particular purpose, supporting passions such as the arts or education, but Mrs Burgess said people could donate any amount they wished and it could be used for a specific purpose or put into the foundation's general funds.
"We are a local organisation, helping local people to support local causes."
The foundation is also responsible for distributing money from the Tindall Foundation - a charity founded by Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall - in the Rotorua and Taupo area. It's expected to be about $50,000 this year.
As the invested funds grow, so does the work the foundation can support. The oldest community foundations in Canada are now almost 100 years old and Ms Patten said the longest running of these was now distributing up to C$22 million ($27 million) a year.
"It does take time to build up these sorts of resources; patience is very important in developing a new organisation."
She said things were at an exciting stage in New Zealand and she hoped to help the country's 12 foundations build up as those in Canada have.
Two key elements were forming good partnerships within the community - from donors to organisations the foundation could help - and asking the community what it needed, rather than making assumptions.
Among the 175 Canadian foundations, those needs include education and training, literacy, immigrant settlement, recreational activities for children whose families can't afford the costs involved and disaster relief.
She knew of a number of scholarships, including the New Zealand Aria and Speech New Zealand scholarships run by the Geyser foundation, calling them wonderful examples of contributing to arts.
"Rotorua has wonderful potential for giving in the community ... The Geyser Community Foundation has great leadership in its trustees and its staff. As the funds build up, there will be more and more impact in the community."
Information on the Geyser Community Foundation is at www.geysercommunityfoundation.co.nz