Trust Chair reportSupporters & Partners
Thanking our donors
Wellington Zoo Trust would not be able to survive without the organisations who partner with us and the individuals who support us. As a charitable trust, our life blood is the support and enthusiasm of committed Wellingtonians, granting agencies, companies and visitors.
This year we installed a special ‘recognition tree’ in the Zoo to acknowledge significant supporters and donors. This is a stylised Kowhai tree made from coreten steel which recognises our donors by incorporating their name and logo upon the ‘leaves’ or tui bird figures.
Wellington City Council
Wellington City Council is the Zoo’s principal funder and continues to be our most important partner. This year, we opened the Wild Theatre, the first project of the Zoo Capital Programme (ZCP). Wellington City Council provided three-quarters of the funding for this project, and the Zoo Trust raised the remaining one-quarter.
Zoo Capital Programme
At the end of June 2008, Wellington Zoo Trust has raised $2.13m towards this capital campaign, so we still need to raise at least $2.87m for the planned programme.
Many organisations contributed to the fundraising success of the Wild Theatre, including Pub Charity, Trust House Charitable Trust, Trusts Charitable Foundation, Perry Foundation, Scottwood Trust, Rotary Club of Wellington and the Caversham Foundation.
This year, fundraising also began for The Nest, our Animal Hospital. We have secured funds with the help of The New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board, New Zealand Community Trust, Pub Charity, Estate of Alfred Charles Colcutt, The Community Trust of Wellington, Brian Whiteacre Trust, Southern Cross Hospitals, Koala Trust and Rotary Club of Wellington. In the coming year, we will be seeking the support of Zoo visitors and Wellingtonians as part of a community fundraising campaign for The Nest.
Commercial partners
This year, Wellington Zoo welcomed new caterers to the Zoo, Spotless Services (NZ) Limited. Spotless will run all catering services at the Zoo, as well as making a substantial capital investment in our facilities. In the coming year, we look forward to working with Spotless to maximise our return on these services while offering excellent service to our visitors and customers.
Operational donors
We would like to thank our valued donors who continue to offer contributions to support the Zoo, both through cash and in-kind donations.
- Pacific Radiology has committed to a further three years of invaluable support to the Zoo through provision of x-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, MRIs and any other diagnostic services the veterinary staff of the Zoo may require for our animals. Their support provides us with state-of-the-art equipment, and top notch diagnosticians that we wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. Pacific Radiology positively contributes to the health of all the animals at Wellington Zoo.
- Arataki Honey have also committed their support to the Zoo for a further three years by donating both cash and honey to help our sun bears. Through this partnership this year, both Wellington Zoo Trust and Arataki Honey have made donations to conservation project Free the Bears, which works to help bears in South East Asia.
- Saatchi & Saatchi continues to wow us with their creative ideas for the Zoo. This year we ran campaigns based around our new arrivals at the Zoo – our baby chimp and red panda, emperor tamarins and our new giraffe – and the opening of our new African Savannah exhibit. In the coming year, Saatchi & Saatchi will support us by providing creative ideas for our fundraising campaign for The Nest.
- The Dominion Post provides the Zoo with a donation and free advertising space, in return for the Zoo buying papers at a discounted rate to give to our customers. Zoo visitors love receiving a free paper when they visit the Zoo, and this partnership has proven so successful, both partners have agreed to continue for a further three years.
- Classic Hits remains proud sponsor of the red pandas at Wellington Zoo. Along with advertising contra and publicity opportunities, each year they bring four lots of lucky children up to the Zoo to have Close Encounters with the pandas. Classic Hits is also a major sponsor of Children’s Day at the Zoo.
- A new, five-year partnership with Tip Top ice cream was agreed to this year.
- Go Wellington continues to support the Zoo by providing a Zoo branded bus.
- We’d also like to acknowledge the valuable support of the following companies who made contributions in kind: Southern Cross Hospitals for hospital equipment; Outward Bound New Zealand for helping us to send two staff members on their outdoor adventure courses; New Zealand Post for Community Post Envelopes; and The Print Room who continued to print the quarterly Zoo newsletter for free.
- Many individuals also made wonderful cash and in kind donations to the Zoo this year.
| Funding Source | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Estate of Miss Margery Walton Colcutt | $2,000 | Hospital |
| New Zealand Lottery Grants Board | $10,422 | Kererü Research |
| Ministry of Education | $75,555 | Learning experience outside the classroom |
| New Zealand Lottery Grants Board | $400,000 | Hospital |
| Rotary Club of Wellington | $5,367 | Wild Theatre equipment |
| Brian Whiteacre Trust | $502 | Hospital |
| Pub Charity | $300,000 | Hospital |
| Koala Trust | $7,246 | Hospital |
| Private Donor | $20,000 | Hospital and interpretation equipment |
| Caversham Foundation | $5,274 | Wild Theatre equipment |
| Community Trust of Wellington | $100,000 | Hospital |
| Wellington Region Foundation | $28,000 | Bush Builders project |
| Ministry for the Environment | $5,776 | World Environment Day event |