The Integrity institute aims to carry out research and inform the public about how businesses, farmers and wealthy people use their money and influence to get the Government decisions they want.  These vested interests do this without any regard for the negative impacts on the community, the environment and the average person. 

The website was established by Grant Nelson who has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in economics and accounting and has been a public servant and has owned a large business. In 1995 he decided to sell the business and put the proceeds into a charitable trust. Since then he and his wife have been working full-time in the charitable sector.

The Nelsons have observed that over the past 40 years in New Zealand inequality, child poverty, unaffordable housing and the environment have been getting steadily worse. At the same time businesses, farmers, and other vested interests, who were already well off, have greatly increased their wealth. They have been given huge amounts of taxpayer money and assistance because they use lobbying, political party donations and other means to get the decisions they want from public servants and from political parties. These activities end up costing you and every other citizen thousands of dollars each year due to higher taxes, reduced public services, lower incomes, and inflated prices.

In 2012 the Nelsons established the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University of Wellington to carry out research on lobbying and political party donations. A total of $10 million was provided after verbal and written assurances were given and a Charter signed. In 2021 the Nelsons decided to transfer funding to a grants based system to ensure that the important work on lobbying and political party donations was done. They have also sponsored research at other universities on a range of social and environmental issues and have funded many other charitable projects.