Leave a gift in your Will
© Dave Hansford

Leave a gift in your Will

A lasting legacy for the planet

Do you remember spending time outside growing up? Summer days spent swimming in the river. Winter tramps in the mountains. The joy of hearing a ruru/ morepork call out in the night. The first time the beauty of nature made your heart skip a beat. 

Ensuring that future generations have the chance to experience nature as you did, can be a part of your legacy.

Our country, our planet is in trouble. We’re losing biodiversity at an alarming rate. Climate change and habitat loss are placing increasing pressure on nature, and communities around the world are feeling the impacts.

But people like you are changing things. You're helping to halt the loss of nature, restore the environment and put it on a path to recovery. You are helping to build a nature-positive future (one with more nature than we currently have).  

By leaving a gift in your Will to WWF you can continue to protect and restore the ocean, the land, the precious native species that make New Zealand unique. That make it home.

WWF Nature Forever Impact Fund

Unless you direct otherwise, the gift you leave in your Will, will be directed to the WWF Nature Forever Impact Fund (managed by the WWF-New Zealand Nature Forever Charitable Trust CC64797). 

It will be responsibly invested and grown to provide WWF-New Zealand with a secure, long-term income stream.

Through the WWF Nature Forever Impact Fund, your gift will still be making a difference for people and for nature 50 years from now.

Why we're leaving a gift

Some of our amazing supporters share why they have decided to include WWF in their Wills.

  • Pip Callinan

    I have devoted my life to animal welfare both in Taiwan (where I lived for a couple of years in the early 2000's) and then in NZ once I came home again. So for more than 25 years I have supported organisations that strive to protect ecosystems, environments, and species.  

    I have supported WWF for many, many years and I am so impressed by their brand ethics and their range of activities that I am leaving them a gift in my Will. 

    I have chosen to support WWF by leaving a legacy because I trust them to continue working to ensure a lasting impact on the environment long after I’m gone and securing a future for those generations to follow which includes as rich a biodiversity as we have had the good fortune to experience.

  • Rev Dr Alan Missen

    I am a seventy-eight-year-old Christian and Presbyterian minister. I am glad that our church embraces "Five Faces of Mission" of which the fifth is Caring for Creation: Protecting the environment and acting as faithful stewards of the earth. 

    All my life I have appreciated New Zealand, the wonderful country we live in. In my childhood I enjoyed bird watching, and then as a Boy Scout I grew to appreciate our native trees and the forest. As a young adult I started skindiving - which I carried on until six years ago. The marine landscape when there is good visibility is awesome. 

    My wife Sue (now deceased) and I first became supporters of WWF in 2012. 

    They do fantastic work to preserve and protect our natural environment, which is why we have and will leave them a legacy in our Wills. 

  • Sophie Toutain

    I’m in my late fifties. I originally come from France, emigrated to New Zealand in 2002 and am now a New Zealand citizen. I am very grateful that this country has welcomed me, and I feel very privileged that I can enjoy the beautiful environment and the wildlife of Aotearoa. 

    I am a keen tramper and there is nothing more dear to me than being in the mountains. The birds, mammals, invertebrates of Aotearoa are what make this land so special to me, they are my identity. I have had so many moving encounters with orcas, dolphins, seals, native birds. These spontaneous and unique moments have enriched my life and I can’t imagine losing these precious taonga. 

    This is why I am a regular supporter of WWF and have left them a gift in my Will. They are professionals who are dedicated to this cause and they have the expertise and the enthusiasm to do so much with my gifts. 

  • Dr Morgan Williams

    I am a former Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment and former Chair of WWF-New Zealand and my late wife, Dr Pamela Williams, was former Co-Chair of Enviroschools Foundation and former Chair of New Zealand Association for Environmental Education, and we have left a gift to WWF in my Will.

    In a severely climate impacted world, where our relationship with our lands, seas, ecologies and species is increasingly understood to be essential to our own wellbeing, the role of an environmental NGO is ever more critical.

    We see WWF engaging widely to champion our natural systems and species for all of us in Aotearoa. They draw on good science, and the passion of people in all walks of life, to shape the changes in the way we value and care for our natural world.

    Our bequest, and yours, will empower many and ensure WWF’s critical contributions endure.

Nature Forever Legacy Society

When you leave a gift in your Will, you have the option of joining the Nature Forever Legacy Society.

The Society exists to recognise and thank supporters who have chosen to leave a lasting legacy for nature and conservation.

To become a member of the Society, all you need to do is let us know that you have included WWF in your Will. We don’t need any further details. To find out more about the Society, contact us or request a copy of our booklet below.

How to leave a gift to WWF

 A gift in your Will, of any amount, is welcome and can be simply stated, either in your Will or in a codicil (addition). When making or revising a Will you should consult your legal advisor to ensure it completely represents your wishes.

 The following wording is suggested for leaving a gift in your Will (bequest) to WWF:

“I give to World Wide Fund for Nature New Zealand, (% of estate, the residue of my estate, or sum of money) for general purposes, for which the receipt of an authorised officer of the organisation shall be a full and sufficient discharge to my trustees.”

Our promise to you

Leaving a gift to WWF in your Will is an important decision. That’s why we promise that:

Your family and loved ones come first 

But we hope that, once you have provided for them, you will also remember WWF.

We won't pressure you 

Leaving a gift in your Will is a personal matter and your decision to make at your own pace. But from time to time, we might be in touch to share news of our work and invite you to special events.

We respect your privacy

We’d love to know if you’ve decided to remember WWF in your Will. But we’ll keep any details you share with us confidential.

We'll use your gift with the greatest care

If there is an area of our work you’d particularly like to support, we will work with you to make that happen. Otherwise, we’ll invest your gift where it is most needed to give future generations a world where people and nature thrive together.

We're here to help

If you have any questions at all, we're more than happy to help. Contact Chris Hooper on 021 193 5010 or email [email protected]. 

Or you can request a copy of 'Their Future, Our Planet, Your Legacy', WWF-New Zealand's guide to leaving a lasting gift.

Just fill out the form and we'll post your copy to you.

Cover of bequest booklet

Need help making a Will?

Write your Will today for just $25 through our trusted partner, Footprint.

Footprint is New Zealand’s largest online Will provider supporting Kiwis to protect their whānau and their hard earned assets. It only takes on average 15 minutes to complete your Will on their solicitor approved platform. All Wills are reviewed by professional Will drafters and are legally valid, giving you the peace of mind that your story is told the right way.

Even just a small portion of your estate will make a serious difference to our conservation work in the long-term, resulting in lasting change for the environment.


About Footprint

Footprint, founded in 2018 is New Zealand’s largest online Will provider. They come from a long line of industry experts and partner with one of New Zealand’s oldest (135 years) and credible trustee companies, Perpetual Guardian.

Find out more about writing your discounted Will.