Tomorrow fund

This is a new initiative to ensure the future of the West End Rowing Club.

The object of the WERC Tomorrow Fund is to establish an endowment fund, the income from which can be used to assist WERC, its coaches and rowers. An endowment is a permanent investment account that provides interest income to WERC to fund top class coaching and athletic talent and the physical resources to support that talent. The principal remains intact, growing through prudent investment strategies and generating increasingly larger interest revenue.

Endowments are essential in order to advance our mission of attracting top athletic talent, providing state-of-the-art equipment, fielding competitive teams and offering WERC Rowers the best possible athletic experiences internationally as well as domestically.

The WERC Tomorrow Fund seeks to build on our club’s strong reputation and, as we enter WERC’s sesquicentenary, will reinforce our status within New Zealand’s rowing environment, and enable us to compete on the international stage.

Please feel free to contact any Trustee to discuss the WERC Tomorrow Fund. Thank you for your interest.

WERC has the ambition to be New Zealand’s top rowing club and one of the best performing rowing clubs in the world.

Established in 1884, WERC has grown from small beginnings to become one of the leading rowing clubs in the world and a national success story. Since 1949, when WERC won its first redcoat in the men’s premier eight, and the team then went on to win a silver at the 1950 Empire Games, 65 members have won NZ premier titles and 48 members have represented NZ at an elite level.

WERC members have also produced strong Olympic performances with 28 members representing NZ at the Olympic Games producing an impressive tally of 5 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze Olympic medals.

WERC’s culture is known for fostering life-long companionship, teamwork, and community spirit. Regardless of the skill level, the Club’s aim is to support every WERC member to become the best they can be and enjoy the wider benefits that rowing brings.

WERC’s history includes many stories of generous supporters and each year our volunteer coaches and administration staff dedicate thousands of hours to ensure WERC’s success is maintained. However, increasingly, our best coaches and athletes are being enticed by employment offers and scholarships to take their skills and talents overseas.

In an increasingly professional environment and with recent changes to disband the Regional Performance Centre model in NZ, WERC has an opportunity to step into the gap and fulfill our ambition to be New Zealand’s leading rowing club. To do this, WERC needs to attract top class coaching and athletic talent and find the funding to do so

We have established the WERC Tomorrow Fund. Over the next five years we aim to raise $2.5 million in trust funds with the intention

of generating sufficient annual earnings from these funds to help drive WERC to the top of the ladder not just in New Zealand but internationally. The capital of the fund will not be spent, and must meet a hurdle rate or return over which earnings can be distributed to the Club.

With your generous support, the WERC Tomorrow Fund will be able to provide an enhanced experience to our leading athletes and prospective rowers long into the future. The additional funding will allow us to employ more coaches, expand our administrative capacity and enhance our equipment and facilities.

The Trustees expect to utilise earnings from the fund to:

• Establish a novice programme and new recruitment drive;

• Offer academic scholarships to promising athletes - retaining existing talent and attracting new athletes;

• Establish WERC’s presence on the international stage;

• Attract top coaching talent; and

• Plan a more economical long-term fleet replacement programme and enhance our existing infrastructure

You can gift donations of any size. Every little bit helps, and all donations qualify for a tax rebate of up to 33.3% depending on your taxable income.

Donate now by:

• Internet banking to our bank account ANZ 06-0293-0144656-46

• Setting up a regular automatic payment.

Please contact us if you would like a receipt for your tax claim. Let us know if this is a regular payment and we will send you a receipt at the end of the financial year.

Leave a legacy in your will

You may consider leaving a percentage of your estate, or a specified sum, to the WERC Tomorrow Fund, confident in the knowledge your bequest will be an enduring legacy for the club. Your donation to support WERC Tomorrow Fund is a gift that never ends. A gift in your will or a bequest is a chance to create a long lasting gift that will continue to support West End Rowing Club. Every bequest regardless of its size, makes a real difference and ensures that WERC can look forward to a future as bright and exciting as its past.

A bequest costs nothing now, yet gives the donor the satisfaction of knowing that they have provided for future generations of WERC’s rowers. Bequests can also be in the form of gifts such as property, art collections, jewellery, stocks or shares.

By including a gift in your will, you have the option of leaving a specific amount, an item or a percentage of your estate to WERC Tomorrow Fund.

Donor levels

The opportunities for donors to support the WERC Tomorrow Fund are as follows:

• Gold Donor: $25,000 (alternatively $5,000 x 5) or more.

• Silver Donor: $10,000 (alternatively $2,000 x 5) or more but less than $25,000.

• Bronze Donor: $5,000 (alternatively $1,000 x 5) or more but less than $10,000.

• Friends of WERC: payments of less than $5,000.

• General Donation of $125.00 per annum.

• Corporate Donation of $500.00 per annum

Contributions by way of bequest or pledge will qualify for these categories on receipt of donation.