People Inspired By Purpose - Purposely Podcast

SHORT 'Making the Numbers Work for Small Charities' Duncan Matthews founder Good Numbers


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In this SHORT episode of Purposely, we’re back with Duncan Matthews – founder of Good Numbers – on funder reporting, the pain of being a volunteer treasurer, and why small charities deserve better tools.

Duncan opens with a familiar frustration: tier four charities – those under $140,000 in annual expenditure – are everywhere in Aotearoa (around 15,000 on the charities register alone), yet virtually no software has been built with them in mind. Small in money, perhaps. But not small in impact.

He talks about the reality of funder reporting – and how wildly it varies. Foundation North makes it simple.Gaming trusts? Not so much. Some require receipts, bank statements, and proof of every expenditure. That’s hours of work, printing and highlighting and photo-taking, just to stay compliant and keep the grants flowing. Good Numbersis built to make that whole workflow dramatically easier.

And then there’s the treasurer problem. Duncan has sat on four nonprofit boards at once – because the role isa “guaranteed vacancy.” Nobody wants it. It’s not because people don’t care; it’s because the tools make it needlessly hard. The xRB reporting standards that arrived in 2013 were a step forward, but most small organisations still struggle to match their old categories to the new ones. Duncan’s insight: if complex tasks can be made easy in other parts of life, why not here?

Good Numbers is his answer – a purpose-built tool that turns bookkeeping and funder reporting from a chore into something close to effortless. Because more time on compliance means less time on mission. And that’s a problem worth solving.

•   Why tier four charities are underserved – and what’s atstake when reporting feels impossible

•     The xRB reporting standards that changed everything,and why many small organisations still struggle

•      The real cost of funder reporting – from gaming trustrequirements to highlighting bank statements

•    Why the volunteer treasurer role is a “guaranteedvacancy” – and how to change that

•   Good Numbers: bookkeeping built for small charities,not adapted for them

•   Making compliance easier so organisations can focus onwhat actually matters

This episode ofPurposely is brought to you by Benevity.

Find Duncan and Good Numbers at goodnumbers.nz – including a free 15-minute demo booking.

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People Inspired By Purpose - Purposely PodcastBy Mark Longbottom


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