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Lottery Community Sector Research Te Tahua Rangahau mo ngā Hapori

Purpose / Kaupapa

Lottery Community Sector Research funds the undertaking and use of research and evaluation by and for community organisations.

Mission / Whakatakanga

The Lottery Community Sector Research Committee’s mission is to provide funding for community organisations, enabling them to

  • undertake research for the communities they serve
  • grow and improve the community knowledge base
  • apply new knowledge to their operations
  • strengthen the practice of Māori-centred and kaupapa Māori research.

Relationship with Māori

Lottery Community Sector Research recognises the aspirations and needs of Māori, and their protocols.

E whakatau ana te Tahua Rangahau mo ngā Hapori i ngā hiahia me ngā tūmanako o te Māori me o rātou kawa.

What we fund

Lottery Community Sector Research funds the undertaking and use of research and evaluation by and for community organisations. 

Research is the use of a systematic process to provide the answers to questions you might have in your community. 

Evaluation looks at the quality or value of something such as a project or service to your community.

Projects may include both research and evaluation, or focus on one or the other. Examples include:

  • needs analysis, e.g. finding out what information services elderly residents in your local area need
  • evaluative activity, e.g. looking at how you could improve the services you provide to a group of residents
  • research using a particular theoretical base, e.g. kaupapa Māori research
  • developing best-practice and lessons learnt resources, e.g. guidelines for community organisations to use in their work with refugees and migrants
  • collaborative research between community organisations and researchers, e.g. working with youth groups in your region to research the provision of a new service for young people.

Lottery Community Sector Research grants

  • must provide a benefit to a community within New Zealand
  • must contribute directly to the provision of a community benefit of a public nature
  • should enable a community benefit that would otherwise not be able to be provided.

What we do not fund

In addition to those items, services and projects not funded by any Lottery committee, funding is not available for research or evaluation projects that

  • do not show a benefit to New Zealand communities
  • will not make their findings publicly available (unless there are exceptional circumstances)
  • the committee considers to be the responsibility of central or local government or other public entities
  • seek to promote commercial, political, or religious objectives, including political advocacy projects, employment and/or business initiatives, or commercial enterprises
  • are the responsibility of another Lottery fund
  • are retrospective and have been undertaken or completed before the Committee’s application closing date
  • pay fees for private courses of study
  • include project costs which are for debt repayments or debt servicing.

Funding priorities

Funding decisions will be made on the basis of the relative merits of each application in a funding round.  Applications will be assessed to determine if they

  • identify and address a clear community need for research or evaluation
  • enhance community sector research or evaluation capabilities
  • provide useful research or evaluation outputs to the community
  • have regard to the needs and aspirations of Māori
  • have regard to the needs of older people, Pacific people or other ethnic communities, women, youth, or people with disabilities
  • demonstrate that the applicant is capable of successfully completing the research or evaluation
  • should be funded by other sources
  • provide value for the level of investment.

Applications for more than $50,000 will also be considered against

  • the value to the community
  • the impact on the applicant and relevant community if funding is not provided
  • the benefit realised by similar projects in the past
  • the impact on the Committee’s budget or implications for future funding rounds.

Higher priority will be given to

  • applications that identify community needs as well as building community research and evaluation capabilities and where community capabilities may be increased through participatory research or other similar methods
  • applications that might affect more than one community organisation, geographic community or community of interest
  • communities that are in a position of disadvantage or are a minority in their area

Funding for outcomes

The Lottery Grants Board aims to maximise the community benefits of Lottery grants by focusing grant decision making on outcomes.

How much to apply for

There is no limit to the amount that your organisation can apply for.  However, because of pressure on funds, Lottery Community Sector Research is rarely able to provide funding to the level requested and is more likely to consider only a contribution towards the project.

Regardless of the amount applied for, grants over $10,000 can only be made to groups that have legal status.

Grants to groups without legal status are limited to a total from all Lottery Grants Board distribution committees of no more than $10,000 to any group in any financial year.

The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board financial year is 1 July – 30 June.

Applicants are encouraged to seek help from other funding bodies that may be able to assist.

Making an application