Share My Super founder Liz Greive donates $10 million for child poverty; how retirees can help

Philanthropist Liz Grieve has donated $10 million to cover the operating costs of charity Share My Super so it can continue helping lift Kiwi kids out of poverty long into the future.

Aucklander Liz Greive is gifting $10 million to charity in the hope it may grow into tens or even hundreds of millions in donations aimed at lifting Kiwi kids out of poverty.

The philanthropist from the well-known family associated with Barkers Men’s Clothing started charity Share My Super in 2019.

Now she is guaranteeing to pay its operating costs in perpetuity.

It allows older New Zealanders - who are well off and may not need their national superannuation - the chance to instead redirect part or all of their pensions to charities supporting children.

Greive believes up to $100m in pensions goes unclaimed each year by Kiwis who don’t accept the payments because they don’t need them.

But if that money was instead funnelled into the hands of great charities it would be a more effective investment in New Zealand’s future, she says.

“If we lift these children up, they will achieve so much more and they are less likely to have health care needs, less likely to go to prison, less likely to end up in psychiatric hospitals,” she said.

“So they will be less likely to end up on a benefit because they will be better educated and they will be better contributors to society.”

Share My Super works by making it easy for older Kiwis to redirect their pension payments.

It has chosen 11 charities to support because of “their effectiveness and ability to make impactful change”.

The organisations are Women’s Refuge, First Foundation, Hillary Outdoors, Digital Future Aotearoa, Child Poverty Action Group, Te Pā, Variety, Wellington City Mission, Kids Can, Pillars, Ako Mātātupu: Teach First NZ.

Pensioners can subsequently choose which charity they want to help and then direct all or part of their payments to Share My Super, which passes the money on.

Greive’s latest $10m donation aims to ensure Share My Super runs long into the future.

The $10m is being invested into a trust managed by Harbour Asset Management that will use proceeds from the investment to cover all Share My Super’s operating costs.

That means 100 per cent of all money donated goes straight to the charities.

As a side note, Greive said she read recent media reports that Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s charity the Archewell Foundation recorded a NZ$1.1m (US$674,000) loss in 2022 because its donations were less than its expenses.

That’s a situation her new trust will avoid because it will pay for Share My Super’s costs rather than donations.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle visit Pillars in Manukau City - a New Zealand charity that supports children who have a parent in prison. Photo / Jason Dorday

Greive said starting Share My Super had given her a “fantastic sense of purpose as I get older”, something she thinks those who donate also feel.

“When you face thinking about going out the backdoor, you want to have achieved and given something back,” she said about facing one’s own mortality and reflecting on the life you’ve lived.

She said she and Share My Super’s chief executive regularly visit the charities they support.

Last month she was back at the offices of Te Pā, an organisation that helps ex-prisoners and their whānau reintegrate into society.

She said their offices are always “filled with laughter from the staff”, who sometimes face an incredibly challenging job.

Share My Super’s donations help Te Pā to work with children who may be at risk of falling into a cycle of crime by helping build their self-esteem and life options.

“They recognise that in order to prevent this huge number of Māori going into the penal system, they need to start young,” she said.

Similarly, Greive recently met the team from Pillars charity.

Share My Super’s help has “enabled them to employ a social worker who can work with children, who have a parent in prison - and some of them have two parents in prison”, she said.

Another event she recently attended was the Kids Can breakfast at Avondale College, which helps children from all backgrounds, while Share My Super’s donations also play a big role in supporting First Foundation.

First Foundation helps children make it through school and into university by paying their fees, helping them get internships for job experience and connecting them with a mentor who helps them along their entire journey.

“I’ve met the parents who have a sense of pride and astonishment that their child is going to university because they don’t know anyone who’s been to university before,” Greive said.