Manaakitanga | Fundraising

Blue Penguins Pukekura is run by a Charitable Trust. Our values are based on Manaakitanga (hospitality/care) and Kaitiakitanga (care of the land and of the wildlife).

MANAAKITANGA

In the true spirit of Manaakitanga, Blue Penguins Pukekura offers opportunities where we invite specific groups to experience the tour to see kororā, (Little Penguins) returning home from sea.

FUNDRAISING

Blue Penguins Pukekura also offers exclusive nights for fundraising events. We know how hard it can be for groups/organizations to thrive and often many only do so by continued fundraising. Team up with us for an awesome experience and a way of raising some significant funds easily.

We invite groups that wish to participate in one of our evening tours for fundraising opportunities to contact us at: blue.penguins@pukekuratrust.org

There are a number of criteria used by Blue Penguins Pukekura to determine suitability of offering an evening tour for fundraising groups and some of these criteria are listed here:

a) That we (Blue Penguins Pukekura, a Charitable Trust) have nights available for fundraising events. Fundraising nights are generally only available between 1 May and 30 September.

b) That groups/organizations applying are based in Otago, Southland or Canterbury.

c) Priority is given to groups/organizations where many people will benefit from a fundraising evening with Blue Penguins Pukekura E.g., schools, local clubs/societies. This is the priority, but doesn’t mean that smaller groups/individuals should not apply, as there maybe unallocated fundraising nights still available for smaller groups/organizations.

d) Blue Penguins Pukekura will significantly reduce the tour fee to $15 per person (but requires a minimum $750 for the experience to proceed) and allow the chosen organisation to sell up to 75 tickets for one evening tour on an agreed date.

The fundraiser working with Blue Penguins Pukekura can continue to sell tickets up to the day (up to 75 tickets total).

Our minimum rate of $750 is based on Blue Penguins Pukekura rate of $15 per person for 50 people, but that doesn’t mean the fundraiser needs 50 persons as a minimum e.g. if the fundraiser sold just 40 tickets, $750 of that total value would go to Blue Penguins Pukekura and any profit over that value will go to the fundraiser.

Ticket price set for this fundraising night is at the fundraiser discretion but must be more than $15 per person (for the fundraiser to make a profit) but less than (or equal to) $49 per person (which is Blue Penguins Pukekura current adult ticket price). For example, tickets sold at $25 per person would result in the fundraiser receiving $10 of this amount per person, whereas tickets sold at $45 per person, the fundraiser would receive $30 per person (and 75 tickets sold at that price would result in a profit for the fundraiser of $2250).

While the fundraiser can set the price (per person) anywhere between $16 to $49, Blue Penguins Pukekura suggest the fundraiser consider selling tickets at $30-35 per person as this is still a significant discount on our normal price for an adult (being $49), making it an attractive offer to help encourage participation from people approached by the fundraisers team to support their fundraising.

e) That the organization will liaise with Blue Penguins Pukekura to help organise their chosen evening. The fundraiser is expected to collect and hold money from ticket sales, inform their guests to dress warmly and for guests to arrive at the royal albatross centre 15mintues prior to the tour start time (as the tour will start promptly at the stated start time). We recommend telling guests to leave Dunedin 1 hour prior to the start time of the tour (for the guests to arrive 15 minutes prior to the actual tour start time. The 35km drive from Dunedin can take 40-50 minutes to drive).

Blue Penguins Pukekura requires the fundraiser to arrive at the royal albatross centre 45 minutes prior to the tour start time (on the agreed night) to meet with Blue Penguins Pukekura staff and for the fundraiser to check in their guests (with help from Blue Penguins Pukekura staff). Once checked in and the tour has started, the Blue Penguins Pukekura staff will run the remainder of the tour, so at that point the fundraiser can relax and enjoy the experience too !

f) That if the tour is cancelled by Blue Penguins Pukekura due to circumstances outside our control (e.g. extremely wet or windy conditions, where taking people on tour could be unsafe), that monies received by the fundraising group/organization are returned by them to the individual/s who purchased the ticket/s. Weather events like this are rare as we operate in most weather.

g) It is important that the fundraiser remind guests to dress warmly, we operate in most conditions

The penguin and cultural experience we offer on tour is of a very high standard and this is reflected in our reviews: Check out this TripAdvisor link to our awesome wildlife/cultural experience :

BLUE PENGUINS PUKEKURA (Dunedin) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (tripadvisor.co.nz)

Takiharuru-Pilots Beach is one of the main kororā breeding areas in mainland Otago. Their population has dramatically increased from 6 pairs in the early 1980s to over 300 pairs currently. This increasing population of penguins is largely due to increased protection of the birds by the local whanau (families) and the Pukekura Trust who operate Blue Penguins Pukekura.