Momentum Waikato Community Foundation

12/06/2026

Today at the Fieldays®, we continue to promote the John Luxton Legacy Fund.
Our sincere thanks to Andrea Clayton and DairyNZ for inviting us to have a presence on their site. John was the former Chair of Dairy NZ. His legacy will support the talent in our primary sector to grow their skills through scholarships. Learn more by visiting www.momentumwaikato.nz/johnluxtonlegacyfund

12/06/2026

Attracting Gifts-in-Wills, as a principal way to create and build endowment funds, is a key element of Momentum Waikato’s mission to create a better Waikato forever.

Large donations are made by the living of course, but the reality for most people is that the finalisation of their estate after they’re gone will be their only opportunity to make a significant contribution towards the charities and or causes they care about.

The message we therefore need to get out to people planning and writing their Wills is that the ‘smart giving’ endowment model offered by community foundations like Momentum is the best and surest way to turn a charitable gift in a Will into a perpetual local legacy.

Professional advisors – lawyers, accountants and wealth advisors – are well placed to start the conversations with their clients about whether they have considered leaving a charitable gift in their Will, and to then ask whether they are aware they can create or add to an endowment.

So last year we launched a ‘Professional Advisors Network’ programme to foster our relationships with legal and financial professionals who are keen to introduce their clients to the opportunity to create a meaningful legacy and grasp the need for a strategic approach to building generosity in the Waikato.

Pictured is our Bequest Patron Ken Williamson speaking at our first 'PAN' event.

Read more about how far we've got with this initiative, from our latest Annual Report - https://momentumwaikato.nz/news/shaping-tomorrow-s-legacies-klciy9

11/06/2026

We're underway at the Westpac NZ tent at Fieldays, introducing the new John Luxton Legacy Fund, with Richard Luxton, John's son (centre), Richard Anderson from Westpac and our own Pamela Storey.

Find out more about this exciting initiative at https://momentumwaikato.nz/news/john-luxton-s-legacy-supports-m-ori-in-agriculture-e68ff0

DairyNZ Ahuwhenua Trophy Federation of Maori Authorities Te Tumu Paeroa Te Puni Kōkiri Tooku awa koiora - Waikato River Authority

10/06/2026

It was an enormous privilege for us to launch the John Luxton Legacy Fund at Fieldays today. These photos show Richard Luxton, John's son, and Hon. Tama Potaka, the Minister for Māori Development, speaking to the packed room, and then the presentation of a pou and the waiata that followed.

John is most well remembered as the Minister of Agriculture in the Bolger and Shipley Governments of the 1990s, and he was also an accomplished dairy farmer, company director, public board member, and international agricultural development consultant.

Following his wishes, John’s family wanted to focus his legacy on manifesting his respect for Māori and his desire to open doors for them into agriculture and other primary industries, so that ultimately everyone prospers. They have now set up the John Luxton Legacy Fund at Momentum Waikato to realise this vision.

Donations to the John Luxton Legacy Fund are now invited from anyone who also wishes to provide scholarships and other support for members of Waikato Tainui and Hauraki iwi to access education and training in agriculture and other primary industries.

Find out more at this article on our website, which also includes an illustrated biography of John written by his wife Mary > https://momentumwaikato.nz/news/john-luxton-s-legacy-supports-m-ori-in-agriculture-e68ff0

DairyNZ Ahuwhenua Trophy Federation of Maori Authorities Te Tumu Paeroa Te Puni Kōkiri Tooku awa koiora - Waikato River Authority

09/06/2026

We share the concerns of our peak body Community Foundations of Aotearoa NZ about the new cap on donation tax credits - such a move would have made our fundraising for construction of the BNZ Theatre much more challenging. Philanthropy needs to be encouraged and enabled!

The Cancer Society warns planned facility in Tauranga is at risk after the Government capped tax rebates for major donors.

08/06/2026

In the latest Waikato Business News our Chair Margaret Wilson tells the tales of two Schools - Law and Medicine - at The University of Waikato...

"The campaign for the NZ Graduate School of Medicine revives memories of 36 years ago when Te Piringa Faculty of Law opened at The University of Waikato as the country’s fifth law school.

While the circumstances differ, concerns raised now echo those back then around the Law School - will the graduates practice their profession in the Waikato?"

Read more at momentumwaikato.nz/news/an-asset-for-the-region-j5das0

Foster Group Limited

07/06/2026

He’s possibly best known for establishing a store that for decades has helped many Hamilton youngsters find material for their school art projects - Davids emporium hamilton.

Now David Lloyd is taking that role one step further with the establishment of a philanthropic fund that will help supply the city’s schools with money to foster their pupils’ creativity.

Managed by Momentum Waikato, the D Lloyds' Art Fund is named after both David and his son Dax, who died last year in Sydney following a cardiac arrest.

Read more of this Waikato Times article at https://momentumwaikato.nz/news/waikato-times-for-the-fun-of-it-emporium-founder-sets-up-arts-creativity-fund-for-city-school-children-ivd2yc

05/06/2026

Thanks to everyone who came along to our Professional Advisors Network lunchtime event today, which included a backstage tour of the BNZ Theatre.

If you are a lawyer, accountant or wealth manager and would like to be invited to our future PAN events, contact Pamela Storey, our Manager - Professional Advisors Network, via [email protected].

04/06/2026

Further to our post last night, thanks to everyone who then joined us at the TBA Tairua Business Association BA5 event, it was great to introduce our Tairua & Pāuanui Future Fund to everyone.

The gathering was all well organised and the room was full of very enthusiastic business owners. Afterwards there was lots of chat and networking, and genuine interest in our Coromandel Future Funds project.

We are looking for volunteer Fund Champions in Tairua & Pāuanui, so if you're keen to support this effort, please contact us at [email protected] or 07 834 0404.

Our Tairua & Pāuanui Future Fund webpage has some intro info, although is still a work in progress until we recruit said Champions, check out momentumwaikato.nz/tairuapauanuifuturefund

The Coromandel Informer Coromandel's CFM Thames-Coromandel District Council

04/06/2026

The team in beautiful Tairua this evening at their business association BA5 event at the Pepe Grand cafe, talking Tairua-Pauanui Future Fund. Help us connect and grow support for these communities.