Major Grants

Non-profit organisations that are a legal entity and operating in our area - Southland, Queenstown, Glenorchy, Arrowtown, Tapanui and Heriot areas can apply including;

• an incorporated society or an incorporated charitable trust (check your registration at incorporated at Societies & Trusts) 
• a company with charitable purposes that is registered with Charities Services
• non profit organisations established under the Local Government Act 2002, Maori Trust Boards Act 1955 or Education Act 1989

(Registration with Charities Services does not mean your organisation is a legal entity)

Major grants support significant community projects that strongly align with at least one or more of our funding priorities, that are about the people, communities and activities we want our funding to support. Your application will be stronger if you can meet some of these.

Health, Wellbeing & Active Lifestyles

Working with communities to ensure people participate, are supported, empowered and cared for.

Art, Heritage & Culture

Working with communities to ensure people participate, celebrate, and preserve our arts, heritage and culture.

Education

Working with communities to ensure every person has the opportunity to achieve their potential.

Community Development & Economic Development

Working with communities to ensure they are connected, successful, resilient and dynamic. 

• Projects/activities outside our area unless there is a clear benefit to our community
• Repeat requests for the same project i.e. increases in project costs or funding shortfalls
• Projects that have already commenced or has been completed
• Events or activities that are primarily being held to fundraise
• Projects that are primarily for private/personal financial benefit
• Religious instruction, lobbying or education
• Travel, accommodation and uniforms for sports teams
• Mowers and other items of capital maintenance equipment for golf and bowling clubs

Expression of Interest - Now Open

Applications are made online and if you haven’t applied before you need to register by providing your name, organisation and email address as well as creating a password – it  only takes a moment.

Once registered you can log in anytime to start an application or to access your application again later so you can work on it over time.  To help you prepare you can also download the application form so you can see the questions we ask.

Full Application

Major Grants is a two stage process, after submitting your Expression of Interest you will need to be invited to complete the full application. 

Expressions of Interest (EOI)

We carry out an initial review of your EOI to make sure you can apply. After considering all EOIs, decisions are made by trustees on which organisations and projects will be invited to submit a full application.

Full Applications

Our staff review your application to help trustees to make an informed decision. We’ll contact you to ask further questions about your project and also:

• meet with your organisation and, if applicable, trustees and staff may visit your project site
• talk with other relevant organisations such as  other funders, councils, Government departments/agencies, peak bodies
• give you the opportunity to make a presentation to trustees in support of your application

What we look for 

• Strength of project alignment with our strategic plan
• A clear understanding of the identified need, gap or opportunity supported by evidence
• Awareness of current and future trends in the field the application relates to, or community demographics
• Degree that  the project complements other existing initiatives such as  local or regional
• Level of community benefit - projects for the exclusive benefit of a limited number of people will be a lower priority
  Applicant commitment to the project
• Credibility and capability of the organisation and ability to deliver
• Strength of community support