About
Community Matters is a New Zealand Government initiative operated by the Department of Internal Affairs (Te Tari Taiwhenua). It serves as a central hub for community funding and development, administering various grant schemes including the Lottery Grants Board funds, Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS), and other Crown-funded programs. The platform supports community-led development by providing funding opportunities for organisations and individuals, helping build successful communities throughout New Zealand.
Funding Opportunities
Peace and Disarmament Education Trust
The Peace and Disarmament Education Trust was established on 3 May 1988, with money received from France in recognition of the events surrounding the sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland on 10 July 1985. The Trust promotes international peace, arms control and disarmament through education by providing post-graduate scholarships and grants for projects with charitable purposes. The Trust provides funding for projects and scholarships that advance its objective of promoting international peace, arms control and disarmament through education. Projects must be for charitable purposes and provide a public benefit. There is no limit to the amount an individual or organisation may request in support of a project, though the Trust may only be able to provide a contribution towards project costs depending on the number and quality of requests received. For scholarships, the Trust focuses on research and thesis writing relevant to disarmament and arms control objectives. Masters scholarships provide up to NZ$14,000 for a full year's work, while Doctoral scholarships provide up to NZ$21,000 plus NZ$5,000 in tuition fees per year for up to three years. Scholarships are only available for Masters or Doctoral research and thesis writing undertaken at a New Zealand tertiary institution, except when a specialist subject is not offered or available in New Zealand. Funded projects and scholarships are expected to contribute to greater public awareness and understanding of disarmament, arms control, peace and the resolution of international conflict. Grant decisions are based on the likelihood that a completed project, internship, pilot project or thesis will deliver the described benefits or outcomes.
Pacific Development and Conservation Trust
The Pacific Development and Conservation Trust makes grants to projects that promote sustainable development in the Pacific and New Zealand while conserving the natural environment and cultural heritage of its people. The Trust was established in 1989 with money from the French government in recognition of events surrounding the destruction of the Greenpeace vessel, Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985. Each year, the Trust gives its income as grants for charitable activities and projects that fit with at least one of the Trust's objectives for the Pacific. The Trust provides grants for a range of conservation, cultural heritage, development and goodwill projects and activities in the Pacific. It supports sustainable development where communities join in and work together with iwi (tribes), hapū (sub-tribe), aiga or whanau (family grouping). Decisions are based on whether a completed project will most likely deliver the benefits or outcomes described in the request, with consideration given to how well its objectives and funding priorities will be met, how much the community will be involved in the project, the range of benefits that the project will bring to the community, whether the projects outcomes will be environmentally and economically sustainable, and any risks to the lives, livelihood and environments of the people who live in the Pacific.
Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust
The Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust provides funding to help strengthen the unique identity of Chinese New Zealanders and their communities in New Zealand in recognition of the poll tax payers. The Trust aims to preserve Chinese New Zealand history and promote awareness of the contributions of early Chinese settlers while providing tangible support for Chinese New Zealand history, language and culture, particularly that of the early settler Chinese community. The Trust funds requests for proposals that support its aims and have support from the Chinese poll tax descendant community. The Trust provides funding to both individuals and not-for-profit organisations, including branches of not-for-profit organisations with a national body. Applicants are not required to be Chinese or descendants of early settlers, and the Trustees encourage both members of the Chinese poll tax descendant community and members of the wider community to seek funding for suitable projects. The Trust promotes funding for learning and use of the Cantonese language, awareness and understanding of the history of Chinese communities in New Zealand, recording and preserving of Chinese New Zealand history, greater public understanding of ethnic diversity with emphasis on Chinese New Zealanders' contributions, and Chinese arts and culture including Chinese New Zealand creative and cultural expression.
Winston Churchill Memorial Trust - Churchill Fellowships
Churchill Fellowships help people travel overseas to learn from others and study topics that will advance their occupation, trade, industry, profession or community and benefit New Zealand. The fellowships are for short-term travel outside New Zealand for investigation, experience and/or research that will help advance the applicant's field of interest on their return to New Zealand. Since the Trust was established in 1965, over 900 Winston Churchill Fellowships have provided travel opportunities overseas for ordinary people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds from throughout New Zealand. The Trust has limited income and aims to distribute this income as widely as possible each year for the greatest benefit to New Zealand. The Trust expects applicants to personally meet not less than 20 per cent of the total estimated costs of their proposed fellowship travel, and to contribute more if they are able. Fellowship recipients must submit a report on their project within six months of their return to New Zealand, which are reviewed by the Board and published online.
Viet Nam Veterans and their Families Trust Grants
The Viet Nam Veterans and their Families Trust provides grants to benefit New Zealand Viet Nam Veterans and their families, helping to make day-to-day life easier. The Trust supports those most in need within the Viet Nam Veterans' community by providing financial assistance for various expenses including house repairs, heating and insulation, practical household items, house alterations for medical reasons, debt from unexpected circumstances, orthodontic or optometrist costs, and travel expenses. The Trust prioritizes applications where there is immediate or obvious need and considers how grants will benefit the lives of veterans and their families. Grants are one-off payments in addition to other entitlements under the Veterans' Support Act 2014. The average grant amount is $4,393, though applicants can request any amount. Applications are accepted year-round and reviewed at quarterly Trust meetings.
Lottery Individuals with Disabilities
The Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Fund provides grants to people living with disabilities to help them have better access and be more connected to their communities. This fund supports individuals with long-term limiting conditions (six months or longer) that affect their ability to participate in the community. The fund provides equipment to support individuals to contribute, participate in and connect with their communities, including assistance dogs, communication equipment, vehicles, vehicle modifications, scooters and other mobility equipment. Applicants must demonstrate how their request will contribute to outcomes such as enabling people with disabilities to participate in their communities by increasing accessibility and mobility, supporting Pacific people with disabilities to participate socially and culturally, enabling people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate and participate, increasing accessibility and connections for rural people with disabilities, increasing Māori cultural connections for tangata whaikaha Māori and Tangata turi Māori, and increasing accessibility to support community participation by children and young people with disabilities and their families. The fund operates year-round with rolling applications, and the Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Committee meets six times a year to review requests. Funding requests for vehicles and vehicle modifications require a professional transport assessment by a registered occupational therapist confirming the disability-related need for the equipment. Grants are paid directly to equipment suppliers or assessors upon approval.
Safer Communities Fund
The Safer Communities Fund is a Crown fund that provides communities at risk from hate crimes and terrorism with funding to upgrade or implement security arrangements. The fund helps create safe and secure environments for communities to practise their faith, congregate, and maintain community networks. Projects must demonstrate how they will reduce the threat and impact of future hate crimes and terrorism against the community. Security upgrades must be suitable for the level of risk faced, appropriate in size and scale to meet community needs, and fit-for-purpose.
Racing Safety Development Fund
The Racing Safety Development Fund makes grants for projects that help improve the safety of riders, spectators, officials and others involved in racing at racecourses, and improve the health and safety of animals at racecourses. A fund of $1 million is available for grants each year, overseen by the Minister for Racing. Grants are made for projects that demonstrate clear safety benefits and contribute to improving the quality of facilities at racecourses. The Fund supports capital projects such as infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases, and facility upgrades that directly enhance safety outcomes. Eligible organizations must be registered racing clubs or their representative bodies, and must demonstrate proper governance structures and the ability to contribute at least 50% of project costs. Grant decisions are made by an industry working group consisting of an independent chairperson appointed by the Minister for Racing and representatives from each of the three New Zealand racing code bodies.
Oranga Marae
Oranga Marae is a funding program designed to support the cultural and physical vitality of marae as centres of Māori Identity and Mātauranga Māori. The program operates under the vision that when marae prosper, so do the people. The fund supports marae-based organizations to design and develop initiatives as defined by and for Māori, building capability, capacity and self-reliance, and strengthening intergenerational connections and learning. The program offers two main pathways: Te Ahi Kaa (which includes Te Paepae for creating marae plans and obtaining condition reports, Pakihi Marae for essential repairs, and Te Whare Marae for technical feasibility and building support) and Te Kete Mātauranga (for marae-based initiatives focused on intergenerational transmission of mātauranga Māori). Funding ranges from up to $75,000 for planning phases to up to $300,000 for essential repairs projects. Applicants must be traditional or urban marae on land set aside for marae purposes, and applications must be submitted by trustees of the Māori Reservation or another approved legal entity. The fund supports strengthening the capacity of Hapori Māori to be centres of community resilience, emergency response, and places for people to connect during times of crisis, while preparing for collective responses to natural disasters and emergencies. Oranga Marae aims to uplift Māori growth and aspirations, increase support for building projects encompassing both physical structures and traditional knowledge, and grow self-governance, self-determination, independence and control from Māori, for Māori. The program encourages sharing taonga tuku iho, kōrero tuku iho, mātauranga, knowledge, stories, skills, attitudes, and traditions between generations.
Lottery Outdoor Safety Fund
The Lottery Outdoor Safety Fund makes grants to not-for-profit organisations who have outdoor safety or water safety as their core business. Grants are one-off contributions for ongoing operational costs for existing or expanded services and activities, projects beyond an organisation's day-to-day operations, and minor capital works projects valued at $30,000 or less including buying equipment, assets or rescue craft. The fund prioritizes grant requests that increase collaboration in the water or outdoor safety sector, maintain effectiveness and volunteer capability in water or outdoor safety sector organisations, and increase water or outdoor safety knowledge and skills in communities, hapū or iwi. Grants are also available to air-based rescue service providers where search and rescue missions are significant to their operations, limited to projects that build their search and rescue capability. Organizations receiving grants must demonstrate how their projects will contribute to outcomes such as enabling communities to be self-reliant, enabling the voluntary sector to support increased capacity and capability, removing barriers to participation in sports, recognizing and resourcing volunteers, promoting equitable access to environments which improve health, safety and wellbeing, encouraging collaborative partnerships through cross-cultural understanding, and strengthening partnerships towards shared goals.
Lottery Minister's Discretionary Fund
The Lottery Minister's Discretionary Fund provides one-off grants to not-for-profit organisations for projects that fall outside the scope of other Lottery Grants Board distribution committees. The fund does not support business-as-usual activities. The Lottery Grants Board provides funding for natural disaster emergencies recovery through this fund. The fund has three priority areas: volunteer firefighting and emergency ambulance services projects, animal welfare projects, and learning and development projects (particularly financial planning and good governance training with an emphasis on children's organisations). These priority areas are not covered by other Lottery funds. Organisations must demonstrate how their grant will benefit the New Zealand community and achieve measurable outcomes. The fund may support costs for trainers, venue and equipment, catering, and event promotion for learning and development projects. For emergency services, organisations must provide evidence that funding is not available from Fire and Emergency New Zealand or existing government contracts. The fund does not support vehicles for emergency ambulance services, on-road vehicles for volunteer firefighting, permanent residential housing, gambling services, sporting projects, arts projects, debt repayment, political or commercial objectives, fundraisers, overseas aid, alcohol and drug treatment services, or retrospective funding. Overseas travel is unlikely to be funded.
Lottery Health Research Fund
The Lottery Health Research Fund provides grants to organisations for health research projects, scholarships, fellowships and research equipment that will help improve the health of New Zealanders. The fund supports translational research projects, shared research equipment, post-doctoral fellowships, and PhD scholarships. Organisations receiving grants are expected to demonstrate how their health research will contribute to better understanding of the causes, prevention and treatment of disorders affecting New Zealanders, new approaches in health and bio-medical science for the ultimate benefit of all New Zealanders, and developing and keeping a highly skilled workforce of health and bio-medical researchers in New Zealand. The fund prioritizes research that translates into better health outcomes for New Zealand populations, including Māori and Pasifika, and other minority groups, addresses unique gaps in health research knowledge in New Zealand, and demonstrates partnerships between researchers and community organisations.
Lottery Environment and Heritage
Lottery Environment and Heritage provides grants for plans, reports and one-off projects that will protect, conserve and promote New Zealand's natural, cultural and physical heritage. The fund supports projects that benefit the community, hapū and iwi through increasing access to New Zealand's cultural heritage, preserving and protecting the natural environment, and preserving New Zealand's history for future generations. This includes natural heritage projects that protect native plants and animal life including pest and predator control, physical heritage projects that restore and conserve historically important places and structures, and cultural heritage projects that protect and promote collections and stories important to cultural heritage and identity. The Committee makes grants for small projects under $250,000 (including feasibility studies and specialist reports) and large projects of $250,000 or more, with a preference for thorough planning and best practice standards. All projects must secure at least 1/3 of total costs as partnership funding prior to application, with some exceptions for natural heritage projects under $150,000 and planning studies. An additional $8 million has been allocated across 2024/27 for environmental wellbeing projects, particularly in natural heritage categories focusing on ecosystem preservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and Māori-led environmental protection initiatives.
Lottery Community Fund
The Lottery Community Fund provides grants to not-for-profit organisations that have a community or social service focus and help improve the quality of people's lives in communities, hapū and iwi across New Zealand. The fund is administered through one national committee and 11 regional committees, and prioritises projects or services with outcomes benefiting people within specific New Zealand geographic communities. Lottery Community grants may be one-off contributions or multi-year funding for up to 3 years, supporting ongoing operating costs for existing or expanded services and activities, projects beyond an organisation's day-to-day operations, and minor capital works projects where the total project cost is $50,000 or less. The fund particularly prioritises organisations that support Māori, Pacific people and other ethnic communities, older people, women, youth, people with disabilities, and people facing barriers to participation in society. Organizations must have legal entity status for grants over $10,000, though unregistered or informal groups may apply for grants under $10,000.
Disarmament Education UN Implementation Fund
The Disarmament Education UN Implementation Fund (DEUNIF) was established by the New Zealand government to support the work of non-government organisations in disarmament education. The fund supports activities that promote greater understanding of disarmament and arms control while contributing to advancing New Zealand's disarmament interests and profile in international disarmament issues. Priority is given to education activities that have a national and/or international focus and support activities highlighted in the 2002 United Nations Study on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education. As of Budget 2025, the fund received a reduced allocation of $100,000 (down from $200,000 annually), which has been fully exhausted and the fund is now disestablished. Grant decisions are based on the likelihood an organisation will deliver outcomes that contribute to greater public awareness of disarmament and arms control issues.
Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS)
The Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS) provides government-funded grants to support voluntary and not-for-profit organisations working in local communities and neighbourhoods across New Zealand. COGS provides grants to non-profit community groups and organisations delivering community-based social services, projects and events. Grants are one-off contributions for the running or operational costs of organisations that provide community-based social services, community development costs such as hui, training, planning, evaluation and facilitator fees, and community projects or event costs that encourage participation in communities, promote community leadership, and promote social, economic and cultural equity. The scheme operates through 37 Local Distribution Committees (LDCs) across New Zealand, each developing community outcomes based on discussions at annual public meetings where communities discuss what local benefits they want from COGS investment.
At a Glance
- Total Funding Opportunities
- 18
- Active Now
- 16
- Source Domain
- communitymatters.govt.nz
Catalog Data
This funder profile was automatically extracted from grant listings. Information may be incomplete.
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