Otago Community Trust

Working together with our communities

Otago Community Trust is a community-owned charitable trust that provides grants to assist community projects that make a significant and positive contribution to Otago communities.

The Government established Otago Community Trust by statute in 1988, to hold and manage the shares of Trust Bank Otago. In 1996, Otago Community Trust left banking and the shares were sold to Westpac New Zealand, with the proceeds of the sale invested.

This sale gave the Trust its founding capital of $131 million and the freedom to operate independently of a commercial entity. Since then, Otago Community Trust has managed those investments, using a portion of the profits each year to support community groups and projects throughout the Otago region. 

Otago Community Trust receives no income from other funders or gaming machines.

Over the last 35 years, the Otago Community Trust has given back approximately $212 million to Otago communities. These grants range in size including small one-off grants, multi year and regular grants to community organisations, and large capital grants for one-off major community projects.