Community Grants

Before you apply

Plan around the decision timeline, because it is long and it steps. Up to $199,999 takes three to four months. $200,000 and over goes to the Board of Trustees, which meets four times a year — for the mid-October 2026 meeting you submit by mid-July, for late November by late August, for mid-February 2027 by early November, for late March 2027 by early December. Work back from when you need the pūtea.

Multi-year grants are available here and not through Quick Response, which matters if you are funding a role rather than a project. Ring them first if it is a capital building project over $100,000.

Tangata whenua are named first among their priority communities, alongside Pacific peoples, Northland and South Auckland, and children and young people. They also prioritise activity that increases understanding of and gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. A kaupapa that is clearly for, by and with tangata whenua is squarely what this funder is asking for.

One grant per organisation every 12 months, and applications should not be submitted less than 10 months from your last approval date — so the clock starts at approval, not at the end of the project. An impact report is due within 12 months.

Not funded: individuals, private or for-profit benefit, retrospective costs, projects outside Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Tokerau, political or religious objectives, debt repayment and fundraising. Events need at least six months lead time. Budgets exclude GST. Ring an Advisor before you write — 09 360 0291 or 0800 272 878.

An unregistered group can apply under the umbrella of a registered charitable organisation, and doing so does not use up that organisation’s own eligibility. That second half matters: a marae or trust can auspice a rōpū without losing its own grant for the year. Very few funders say so.

Eligible applicants are registered organisations that can demonstrate charitable purpose — charitable trusts, incorporated societies, marae, statutory bodies, branches of organisations registered under an Act of Parliament, or companies with charitable status. Marae are named explicitly and are among the largest recipients.