Koha

Koha is a payment or receipt of money, similar to a donation. You will need to think about the purpose or reason for which it was given and record this amount in a category that reflects the type of koha it is. For example, a charity runs a community class and asks for koha to attend. This could be considered as payment for the class rather than a donation, and would therefore be recorded under “Receipts/Revenue from providing goods or services.” Once your charity decides which category to record koha under, the category should be used consistently in future. You may want to record the reasons your charity has decided to record koha in a certain category so that it’s clear in years to come, and for the readers of the performance report. 

Below are some examples.

Example 1: Koha received as part of a powhiri at a Marae

Sometimes groups of people hire out the facilities at a Marae for a meeting or hui which may involve staying overnight. It is likely there will be fees for this set by the Marae which include use of the facilities, meals and any planned activities. In addition to this, it is customary for the visitors (manuhuri) to provide koha in cash to the people of the Marae (tangata whenua). In this situation, a Marae charity might consider the fees payable by the group “Revenue from providing goods and services” and the koha as “Donations, fundraising and other similar revenue”.  From the point of view of the group hiring the Marae, the koha would be “Grants and donations made".

Example 2: Koha received for putting on an event

It’s common for charities to host events which they do not charge entry fees for but request koha which is generally understood in New Zealand to be a gift of an amount that you can afford to pay. The charity will need to decide which category to record the koha under. Think about what the main purpose of the event was. If it was to fundraise then record it in "Donations, fundraising and other similar receipts".  If the purpose was to provide a low cost service to people who might not otherwise be able to attend.then record it under “Receipts from providing goods or services".

Example 3: Payments of koha

It is common for charities to pay amounts of money or buy gifts for people or organisations which is often called koha as it is more of a gesture rather than a payment for services. A decision will need to be made about which category to record this under. Make sure you are consistent going forward. For example, it may be usual for a charity to give petrol vouchers to its volunteers as a thank you for the work they have done which they refer to as koha. This would be recorded under “Volunteer and employee related expenses”

Other charities might regularly get guest speakers in to talk to their members and they say thank you with a bottle of wine. This might be recorded under “Volunteer and employee related expenses” or it could be “Expenses related to providing goods and services”. This would be dependent on the type of charity and what their main purposes were.