Community Development Scheme Te Tahua Whakapakari Hapori

Can my organisation apply for a grant from the Community Development Scheme?

Use this checklist to find out if your organisation can apply for a grant from the Community Development Scheme (CDS).

 

1. Are you seeking funding on behalf of an organisation?

Yes - go to question 2

No - The CDS does not give grants to individuals. However, there are other grant opportunities that may better suit your purpose.  Start by going to the checklist for individuals.

 

2. The purpose of the CDS is to support community, hapū, iwi, pacific and ethnic organisations to work together, and generate their own solutions to local issues, and work towards becoming more self-reliant and resilient. CDS supports communities to work together in new ways, to be innovative and to determine their own development priorities to achieve sustainable community outcomes.

Will your organisation’s project show that it meets the purpose of the CDS, and can it be shown as part of your organisation’s application?

Yes - go to question 3

No - It is unlikely that that your organisation’s project would be considered.  There are other grant opportunities that may suit your organisation’s purpose, or the Funding Information Service may be able to assist in finding a fund that is better suited to your organisation’s purpose.

 

3. Does your organisation have the following things?

• legal entity status
• appropriate systems for managing and monitoring finances, and registered for GST
• robust governance and management systems, including:
• clearly defined roles within the organisation (especially roles that manage and monitor finances)
• information about the people who hold senior positions within the organisation and the qualifications or experience they have that help them do their job
• have the capability to successfully achieve the project outcomes that are proposed in the application

Yes - go to question 4

No - Organisations that are seeking a grant from the CDS must have these things in place.  The Community Resource Kit provides a range of information, resources and links to assist organisations in meeting these requirements.  Go back to your organisation’s members and discuss this further.

 

4. The CDS provides grants for community projects that are an extra piece of work or planned activity over a specific period of time.  It is additional to the normal day to day work carried out by the organisation that is applying for the grant.

Does your organisation’s project fit this criteria?

Yes - go to question 5

No - The CDS does not provide grants to existing projects that are ongoing.  You may wish to look at other grant opportunities.  The Funding Information Service may also be able to assist in finding a source of funding that is better suited to your organisation’s purpose.

 

5. Can your organisation’s project show the following things?

• it is a community-driven project
• it has a defined project period
• it is based on employing community development workers
• it has long-term outcomes
• a plan for the initiatives and activities in the first year that will lead to achieving the outcomes which are planned for the whole project

Yes - go to question 6

No - It is unlikely that that your organisation’s project would be considered.  There are other grant opportunities that may suit your organisation’s purpose, or the Funding Information Service may be able to assist in finding a source of funding that is better suited to your organisation’s purpose.

 

6. Is your organisation’s project seeking a CDS grant for the following things?

• to cover the costs of employing and supporting a community development worker to carry out the project
• to contribute towards project costs and organisational overheads that relate to carrying out the project

Yes - go to question 7

No - It is unlikely that that your organisation’s project would be considered.  There are other grant opportunities that may suit your organisation’s purpose, or the Funding Information Service may be able to assist in finding a funding source that is better suited to your organisation’s purpose.

 

7. Does your organisation have all of the following information ready?

• evidence of legal entity status
• the organisation’s most recent audited accounts, and also the audited accounts for the previous year.  If the most recent audited accounts are more than 9 months old, a Treasurer’s or finance report, recording revenue and expenditure since the last audit, and a statement of current financial position
• a budget, exclusive of GST, for your project
• an organisational diagram demonstrating the relationship between the governance of your organisation, its management and operations
• a diagram representing the relationship between your organisation and the wider community targeted in the project
• conflict of interest policies and procedures for people at the governance, management and employee levels of the organisation
• the processes that the organisation proposes to use to recruit a community development worker (including advertisements, the advertising and recruitment processes, a copy of a project-based employment agreement, or a draft employment agreement for this project).

Yes - It is likely that your organisation meets the core requirements to apply for a grant from the CDS.  Go to the Community Development Scheme for more information.

No - It is unlikely that an application would be considered if the information above is not provided.  However, in many cases it is just a case of evaluating what the ‘purpose’ of your organisation’s project is, and providing information to support it.  Go back to your organisation’s members and discuss these issues.