FAQ

  • If you are a Volunteer or have donated goods and services, Yes. If you are a recipient of help, No.

    East Coast Exchange is giving public recognition to community efforts to recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and build resilience on the East Coast. The Programme involves recording the value of action and goods contributed to the Gisborne, Wairoa and Hawkes Bay districts and publishing this information on a publicly available record accessible via the website eastcoastexchange.toha.nz. 

    To be included on the Record, Participants must provide their name, contact details and details of their action (including a realistic estimated value) in a form provided by East Coast Exchange - either in hard copy or on the Website.

    Participants in the Programme consent to the publication of their name and action details on the Record and to East Coast Exchange providing their name to Funders. 

  • You own the data you record on the East Coast Exchange.

    Some of your action details will be visible on the public record and map, but you can request it be removed or edited at any time.

    ECX and Toha will not reuse your data outside the ECX, except with your express permission.

    If we become aware of interest in buying or licensing your data, we will pass this on to you. If there is an opportunity to monetise your data it is at your discretion.

    Your action may be used in marketing or public communications about the ECX to attract funders or educate other contributors, but the ECX and Toha do not take any ownership of data you provide.

    Check out our privacy policy for more details on our policy around sharing data with third parties.

  • Actions for which the contributor has received, or has contracted to receive, payment are not eligible for the Programme. 

    Eligible actions will be recorded in a public record.  This record will make visible the scale and value of work and donations made towards Cyclone Gabrielle response and recovery efforts.  

    If you provide acceptable evidence of your action, you will can earn Action Points for the work or donations you contribute.  Contribution of services may be made in the capacity of a volunteer, ie with no expectation of reward or receipt of reward.


    East Coast Exchange gives no guarantee of payment in return for goods or services contributed to recipients via the Programme and makes no offer of employment to any Participant.

  • An Action Point represents public recognition of a Participant’s contribution to the Cyclone Gabrielle relief effort and regeneration efforts on the East Coast.

    An AP is not electronic money, an asset or a security.

  • Once you have completed your action, such as volunteering, or donating goods or services, you record your action, which East Coast Exchange publishes on the Public Record. Once the evidence you submit has been verified to match your action, East Coast Exchange will also publish on the Record a number of Action Points (APs) equal to the estimated New Zealand dollar value of your contribution.

  • Participants must provide their name, contact details and details of their action (including a realistic estimated value) in a form provided by East Coast Exchange - either in hard copy or on the Website.

  • They are the public record of your action taken as part of the Cyclone Gabrielle relief effort and mission to regenerate the East Coast. They exist to value and recognise your volunteer work, donations or services provided. When you register your action on the East Coast Exchange, you make the sheer volume of work being done visible.

  • East Coast Exchange is seeking funds from impact funders and donors in order to distribute those funds among Participants who hold APs.

    East Coast Exchange can only distribute funds that are received into the Programme, so cannot guarantee any compensation for actions.

    Participants acknowledge that they may receive no funds in return for their contribution of goods or services. A Participant who provides services as a volunteer is not eligible to receive Programme funds despite receiving APs.

  • You can donate any number of your APs to any other Participant by communicating details of their transfer request to East Coast Exchange.

  • If you hold APs, you may ‘lock’ any number of your APs, either temporarily (putting others ahead of you in the priority queue) or permanently (effectively gifting them to the Programme), by communicating details of their request to East Coast Exchange.

    APs will expire after one year unless otherwise communicated by East Coast Exchange.

  • In general, Allocations will be offered to Participants based on the date and time of the action for which they earned APs, on a ‘first come, first served’ basis - ie the earliest evidenced actions will have priority in the allocation of available Pool funds. Participants who have ‘locked’ APs will only receive offers once the specified locking period expires. Each Allocation offer of Pool funds is conditional on there being sufficient available Pool funds.

  • Should Programme funds be available for distribution, East Coast Exchange will reach out to the eligible Participant to make the offer payment in return for cancelling APs. East Coast Exchange:

    • will require additional Participant details, including proof of identity, New Zealand bank account number, IRD number and tax information; and

    • may make deductions from payments, including third party service fees and any deductions required by law (eg for Resident Withholding Tax).

    When Programme funds have been transferred to the Participant, East Coast Exchange will cancel the appropriate number of APs from the Record. This cancellation will be published on the Record.

  • APs will expire after one year unless otherwise communicated by East Coast Exchange.

  • Your money purchases Action Points from the people who have contributed to the relief and resilience building efforts in Gisborne, Wairoa and Hawkes Bay.

    If you have Tagged your funds for specific allocations:

    Your money goes to purchase specific Action Points held by Participants, as shown in the Record, or a class of action (eg new native planting) that you have chosen.

    If you have funded into the general pool:

    The funds will be held in a pool for distribution to Participants who hold APs. East Coast Exchange publicly displays balance of funds held in the Pool on the Dashboard.

  • Wherever possible in the process of distributing funds, East Coast Exchange will issue a buyer-created tax invoice (BCTI) showing the amount of a named Funder’s funds to be distributed to a named Participant, in the interest of transparency. The Funder will not issue any other invoice in relation to the transaction.

    East Coast Exchange is administered by Toha Foundry Limited, registered company number 7108533. Toha Foundry Limited is not a registered charity. The invoice cannot be used as a receipt toward a donation tax credit.

  • Whilst East Coast Exchange operates on trust principles, we take untrue or fraudulent claims seriously. East Coast Exchange may respond to allegations or evidence of breach of the Scheme Rules, misuse, or fraudulent activity in the Scheme via a range of actions at its sole discretion. Potential actions include suspension or cancellation of APs, banning a Participant or Funder from the Programme, and reporting to Police.

    A Participant may raise a concern regarding another Participant’s actions in the Scheme, or lodge a dispute, with the East Coast Exchange. East Coast Exchange will issue guidance on its dispute resolution process.

  • A Participant may withdraw from participation in the Scheme at any time by written notice to East Coast Exchange.

  • Upon receipt of written notice to withdraw from ECE, East Coast Exchange will retire the Participant’s APs (if any) and remove the participant’s information from the publicly available register.

  • Queries about the Scheme and these Scheme Rules should be directed to: eastcoastexchange@toha.nz.