Te Tahua Whakatinana Papakāinga | Lottery Community | Grants that help improve the quality of people’s lives in their communities
Posted: Monday Dec 02, 2019
Lottery Community grants are available for not-for-profit organisations with a community or social service focus for ongoing operating costs or projects which help improve the quality of people’s lives in their communities.
Ngā Hua / Outcomes
A Lottery Community committee looks at the outcomes of your project or services and how they will benefit your community and help:
- support volunteers
- help people to help themselves
- promote community wellbeing
- promote community or cultural identity
- support vulnerable people
- help people feel that they belong and can take part in their community.
Each Lottery Community committee determines the outcomes and priorities it wants to achieve from the investment of the grant money available in its area.
Ngā kaupapa matua / Priorities
Lottery Community funds organisations that support the needs of:
- Māori, whānau, hapū and iwi
- Pacific people and other ethnic communities
- older people, women, youth and people with disabilities.
The priorities for Lottery Community are projects, activities, resources or services that focus on:
- parents/families/whānau
- children and youth development
- enhancing the quality of life of older people in the community
- preventing violence
- new migrants/refugees
- people with a long-term/significant disability or illness
- people who are considered to be at risk or disadvantaged
- improving people’s knowledge and use of digital technology.
Individual Lottery Community Committees have their own Committee priorities. These can be found at the link below:
Important dates for Lottery Community
The next opening and closing dates for Lottery Community requests and the Committee decision meeting date are listed at the link below:
Ngā kaupapa ka tautokona ā-pūtea / What we fund
Lottery Community grants may be one-off contributions or multi-year grant investments for up to three years, for:
- ongoing operating costs for existing or expanded services and activities
- projects beyond an organisation’s day-to-day operations
- helping to top-up an organisation’s existing funding
- minor capital works projects valued at $30,000 or less.
Multi-year grants
Organisations are able to apply for grants for one up to a maximum of three years. Multi-year requests can be made for either:
- ongoing operational costs, which may cover the delivery of existing or expanded services and activities already delivered by the organisation
- a one-off project, which may cover an initiative that has a definite start and end date and is additional to the normal day-to-day activities carried out by the organisation.
To be eligible to apply for a multi-year grant an organisation must:
- be a legal entity
- have been established for at least two years
- demonstrate a good grant management history
- have evidence of good governance and management systems
- have experience in running a similar service, activity or project for which funding is requested.
Ngā kaupapa kāore e tautokona ā-pūtea / What we don't fund
In addition to what the Lottery Grants Board does not fund, Lottery Community does not fund:
- individuals
- research, including: large scale research plans, feasibility studies for capital projects and health research
- major capital works over $30,000, including project management fees
- food for food banks
- alcohol and similar substances, for example kava
- requests that fit the priorities for the Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund, which include:
- volunteer fire-fighting services,
- overseas travel,
- animal welfare
- financial and governance training.
What supporting documents you will need
The only supporting document required for a Lottery Community grant request is a budget, and that your organisation meets financial reporting requirements. Information about these can be found here. Your grant request will be considered incomplete if you don’t provide this information by the closing date for the funding round, and will not be considered for funding.
If your request is for minor capital works, you will also need two quotes for building or renovation costs.
If your request is approved, you may use the grant for any costs in your budget, except for:
- any item that is not eligible
- any cost that is excluded when the grant is approved.
There is more detailed information about budgets here.
Organisations also need to check that the information on your community organisation profile is up-to-date at the time you submit your grant request.