Support for Volunteering Fund
- Purpose/Kaupapa
- What we fund
- Who can apply
- Funding priorities
- Māori, Pacific and ethnic groups
- Making an application
- When to apply
- Decision making
- Links to related websites and documents
- Accountability requirements
Note: Applications for the 2012 funding round have closed.
Purpose/Kaupapa
The Support for Volunteering Fund (SVF) was established in 2001 to promote and support volunteering in New Zealand.
What we fund
Funding of $402,000 is available for the 2012 funding round, and allocated to the following areas:
- Volunteering New Zealand (VNZ) - In 2001, the SVF supported the establishment of Volunteering New Zealand, a national association of autonomous and independently organised volunteer centres and organisations committed to volunteering. Up to $80,000 is available for VNZ. For more information you can visit http://www.volunteeringnz.org.nz..
- Regional Volunteer Centres - regional volunteer centres recruit and train volunteers, promote good practice and aim to build capacity in the community and voluntary sector. Up to $242,000 is available for regional volunteer centres.
- Volunteering projects - SVF grants support capacity and capability-building projects in communities to promote and support volunteering. In 2012, up to $80,000 is available to support Māori, Pacific or Ethnic communities with projects that promote and support volunteering.
Who can apply
There are two types of criteria:
- criteria for the applicant organisation, and
- criteria for the project.
Applicant organisation criteria
The applicant organisation must:
- have legal entity status
- have appropriate governance and management structures and processes in place, and
- have the capability to successfully achieve the project outcomes proposed.
Project criteria
Projects must:
- promote and support volunteering within the community
- build volunteering capacity and capabilities within the community, and
- contribute to strengthening volunteering within the community.
Funding priorities
The funding priorities change from year to year. For the 2012 funding round, the funding priorities are mahi aroha or volunteering projects from Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities.
Māori, pacific and ethnic groups
We recognise that for māori, pacific and ethnic communities the concept of volunteering is different from the New Zealand mainstream idea of volunteering.
For māori, ‘mahi aroha’ is the term that most closely translates to the concept of voluntary work. Mahi aroha is the unpaid activity performed out of ‘duty’ and caring for others in accordance with the principles of tikanga to maintain mana and rangatiratanga, rather than for financial or personal reward.
Pacific people define volunteering as ‘serving one another’. A definition for volunteering for pacific people needs to take into account spirituality, cultural responsibility and obligation as well as the protocol and value bases of each pacific organisation.
Ethnic people think of volunteering as the fulfilment of family and social obligations and responsibilities. These activities revolve around helping, sharing and giving, first to their own family, closely followed by their extended families, then to their own ethnic communities and finally to the wider community.
With this understanding in mind, the SVF will support projects that:
- promote information sharing, networking and development of resources that support māori, pacific and ethnic volunteering (e.g. organise workshops for volunteer leaders to share their knowledge and ideas, or develop resource materials for volunteers)
- respond to specific cultural values and needs (e.g. training for roles on marae such as kaikaranga and upskilling existing volunteers); or
- encourage, recognise and promote volunteers as community leaders (e.g. encourage youth volunteers to be future community leaders, organise volunteer recognition awards).
Applicants are encouraged to create their own project ideas. Project costs are not restricted to specific items.
