With a vision to enhance lives, Foundation North holds in trust for the communities of Auckland and Northland an endowment, or pūtea, of $1.4 billion. This comes from the sale of the community’s shares in what was previously the Auckland Savings Bank. That perpetual endowment allows it to make around $40 million in grants each year to not-for-profit groups and community initiatives in Auckland and Northland. Since it was founded as the community trust for Auckland and Northland in 1988, the Foundation has returned around 1.25bn dollars in grants to the region.