Exclusions and limitations

We aim to be a broad community funder, however, we recognise that we can’t fund everything. Here’s a list of items we generally will not fund, to help you quickly identify whether your project or kaupapa is likely to be eligible or not.

The following education-related initiatives:

• Schools including school facilities, school resources, school equipment, school classrooms, school uniforms, IT suites in schools and administration blocks, school halls, school gymnasiums, school swimming pools, school gardens, core education provision (core curriculum delivery).
• New early childhood education centres.
• Tertiary education institutions and related clubs (including teaching and buildings). We may occasionally fund projects where there is a direct benefit to community. This is limited to one application per year via the University’s Foundation.
• Marae linked to educational institutions.
• Academic research.

Groups delivering programmes and activities to schools: To ensure our funding goes where it is really needed, we will only consider supporting in-school delivery by exception. Should you apply for funding, you’ll need to provide strong evidence demonstrating the need for the initiative in the community. This must include letters of support from the schools mentioned in the funding request.

Additionally, the initiative must clearly align with and benefit priority communities, not just children and young people. It should also be shown that government funding is insufficient or unavailable for the initiative. These criteria will be considered even if we have funded the initiative in the past.

Before starting a funding request, please call our office to ensure that it aligns with our funding focus areas and clearly demonstrates a targeted approach to the communities we prioritise.

The following infrastructure or building-related initiatives:

• Council-maintained sports fields.
• Leaky building repairs as defined in the Weather Tight Home Resolution Services Act.
• Roads and street lighting.
• Facilities owned by government or Council-controlled Organisations (CCOs).
• Building projects:
  - Feasibility studies, needs analysis, project plan development, building consents, resource consents.
  - Quantity Surveyor or architectural drawings.
  - Purchase of buildings.
• Aged care facilities and services (Note: in some cases, we may consider initiatives that are owned and proposed by community, where there is no intention to sell to private owners).

The following health-related initiatives:

• Core health and social services (including salaries of health professionals, Primary Health Organisations, hospitals, clinics, core primary healthcare, medical equipment (hospital and dental)).
• Hospice facilities and services.
• Rescue helicopters, fire and ambulance services.

The following financial-related initiatives:

• Retrospective funding.
• Debt repayment.
• Refinancing of existing loans.
• Endowments.

Other:

• Individuals.
• International costs including overseas aid or travel incurred overseas.
• Projects seeking to promote religious or political objectives.
• Projects that create benefit, especially financially, for private owners (except for Nga Whenua Rahui legal agreements or land under QE II Covenant).
• Fundraising activities and organisations.
• Funding to run conferences.

Items we have limitations on:

• Operating costs – we will not fund operating costs at more than 30% of organisation’s total expenditure (based on the previous year’s financial statements).
• Foodbanks – we will consider applications from foodbanks, up to a maximum of $50,000.
• Organisations that focus on a single health issue – we will consider funding up to $25,000 under Quick Response Grants pathway.
• Sports uniforms and equipment – we will consider funding for sports uniforms and equipment for children and young people aged 5-18 years, up to a maximum of $10,000.
• Early childhood education centres – we will consider applications up to $10,000 for play equipment and/or outdoor upgrades, including shade sails.
• Care packages – we will consider requests up to $10,000 for care package provision such as meal delivery, baby essentials, hygiene packs, etc.
• Community festivals & events – there are limits on how much can be requested depending on the scale of the event. Please contact our team before submitting a request for a festival or event.

• Marae operating costs – marae can request up to $25,000 for operating costs like insurance and utilities. (We welcome larger requests from marae for facility development costs – we recommend you speak with an Engagement Advisor in your rohe before starting a request for facility development).