Trust chairman Eric Shelton said while the trust had recorded a deficit of more than $56,000 for the 2014-15 financial year, he and the trust's treasurer were both comfortable with the expenditure.
Trust general manager Sue Murray said it was not a problem if it meant more could be done on the ground to help penguins.
‘‘That's what it's all about.''
While the trust was ‘‘asset-rich'' in terms of property and did have cash reserves, it cost an average of $450,000 a year to keep the trust going, relying heavily on corporate sponsorship and donations.
Donations and changes to funding practices would be the focus of the upcoming Conservation Inc 2 conference, being hosted by the trust in May, she said.
It would follow up on the trust's 2013 conference, which had looked at what the Department of Conservation restructure at the time would mean to community conservation organisations, Ms Murray said.
This conference would allow groups to ‘‘take stock'' of how things had gone since that change, while also exploring ways to fund themselves.
Mr Shelton said the trust differed from many other conservation organisations in that it preferred to focus on saving individual animals.
‘‘The numbers are now critical.''
Ms Murray said because of this need, the trust supported wildlife vet Lisa Argilla's dream of setting up a wildlife hospital in Dunedin.
Dr Argilla was contracted by the trust for six weeks earlier this year to operate on seriously injured penguins, something Ms Murray described as ‘‘extremely helpful''.
She also said the appointment to the trust of
Trudi Webster as science conservation adviser in February had been a ‘‘strategic move'' the trust had been working towards for several years.
Dr Webster's job involves helping organise and assist with research programmes to better understand the marine environments of the penguins and how those environments affect the life of the birds.
