Become an approved charity so your overseas volunteers can have interest-free loans

Follow these steps to join our list of approved charities. Your overseas volunteers can then apply to keep their student loans interest-free.

Before you start

You’ll need to write us a letter explaining why you should become an approved charitable organisation. Details are in step 1.

If you’re not a registered charity in New Zealand, we will need additional information, such as:

a copy of your trust deed, constitution or other governing rules
if you’re recognised as a charitable organisation with an overseas tax authority or Government charity regulator (you will need to provide copies of relevant documentation)
your standing and credibility as a charitable organisation
if you’re publicly accountable
the monitoring and evaluation processes you have in place
your accounting and record keeping practices
other matters you consider relevant to your application.

Write to us explaining why you should become an approved charitable organisation. You should include:

whether you are registered as a charity with Charities Services
whether you are a non-resident ‘tax charity’ with an income tax exemption approved by us
information on the work your organisation does
details of the work volunteers will do for your organisation
details of any payments the volunteers would qualify for.

Attach any supporting information you gathered in ‘Before you start’.

Other ways to do this

You can also post your application to us at:

Inland Revenue
PO Box 1147
Palmerston North Central
Palmerston North 4440

You can also send your application by email to [email protected].

We will contact you if we need any more information. We’ll tell you if we’ve approved or declined your request.

If it’s approved, your volunteers can apply to keep their student loans interest-free while they’re working for you overseas.