communitymatters.govt.nz

Helping New Zealand build strong communities

Lottery Grants Ngā Takuhe Rota

Mission / Te Whakatakanga

To ensure empowered communities, community well-being and a sense of nationhood; and to ensure Treaty of Waitangi obligations are fulfilled.

Kaupapa

The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board recognises the aspirations and needs of Māori, and their protocols.

E whakatau ana Te Puna Tahua i ngā wawata me ngā hiahia o te iwi Māori, me ō rātou tikanga.

What we fund

All Lottery grants are expected to contribute to one or more of the following fund objectives:

  • supporting volunteers
  • enabling people to help themselves
  • promoting community wellbeing and addressing disadvantage
  • promoting community participation, inclusion and identity.

New initiatives

New initiatives are encouraged.  We suggest that new Lottery applicants or applicants seeking funding for new initiatives do not apply for salaries.  Salaries are more likely to be granted to ongoing projects that have proven benefit to the community.  Groups that have not received a Lottery grant before are unlikely to receive a large grant.

Ongoing and one-off projects

All projects are welcome whether they are one-off, short term or ongoing.  If a lottery committee supports a project in any particular year, this does not mean that funding will be provided in any subsequent year.

What we do not fund

Lottery grants are not provided for the following:

  • overseas aid and disaster relief
  • alcohol and drug treatment, education and support services
  • medical expenses, operations and treatment
  • the purchase of major items of health equipment
  • vehicles - except for Lottery Individuals with Disabilities
  • capital investment or trust funds
  • retrospective funding for projects or items completed or acquired before the application closing date
  • debt repayment, refinancing of existing loans, deposits, or underwriting projects
  • projects seeking to promote commercial, political or religious objectives, including political advocacy projects, employment and/or business initiatives, and commercial enterprises
  • fund-raisers and projects which seek to raise funds in or for a specific sector, or which provide training for fund-raisers
  • projects which seek to redistribute, at their own discretion, funds to recipients.

What we require

The Lottery Grants Board is responsible to Parliament, and therefore to every New Zealander, for where and how it distributes Lottery profits, so there are a number of requirements of Lottery grant recipients.

Using the grant

  • A grant may be used only for the purpose and amounts for which it was given, and the recipient must meet any conditions the committee may decide on.
  • A recipient must request prior written approval from the committee that made the grant to use a grant for a purpose different from that approved.
  • Funds left over from a grant must be returned to the Lottery Grants Board.
  • A recipient must repay any grant monies spent on anything other than the purposes approved by a committee.

Applicant and grant recipient responsibilities

Applicants must sign and return the Client or Grant Agreement Form. This agreement sets the terms and conditions of a grant. Most committees require a signed Client Agreement to be submitted with a grant application.

Signing a Client or Grant Agreement means a grant recipient agrees to:

  • tell the committee, by contacting the Department of Internal Affairs, if any problems arise which could place the project, activity or organisation at risk, such as a change in financial situation, change of CEO, or intention to wind up or cease operations
  • tell the committee of any changes to your organisation's details, including:
    • name of organisation
    • address (physical, postal and/or email)
    • telephone and fax numbers
    • name of main contact and/or authorised signatories (for example, if they leave the organisation)
  • inform the committee as soon as possible, and lay an immediate complaint with the Police, if you believe any grant money has been stolen or misappropriated
  • allow the Board to audit grant expenditure, and to co-operate with on-site audits and investigations by making available all records and accounts relating to the grant
  • report on how a grant was spent and the benefit to which the grant contributed
  • complete an Accountability Report. This is required in respect of any funds granted when the project is completed, the grant has been fully spent, or at the end of any specified grant expenditure period. Some committees require interim reports to be submitted to release grant progress payments

The Client or Grant Agreement and any accountability report must be signed by people 18 years of age or over, with authority to sign on behalf of a grant applicant and/or recipient.

  • A signatory cannot be an undischarged bankrupt or participating in the Ministry of Economic Development’s No Asset Procedure
  • A signatory may not have a conflict of interest such as be a recipient of a salary, or be party to a contract for services to be funded by the grant.

Promoting Lottery Grants Board support

Grant recipient organisations must acknowledge the Lottery Grants Board's support in publicity materials, such as event programmes, and in annual reports. Where a building project has been assisted, involving grant funding of more than $30,000, a plaque may be provided to be displayed prominently on the facility.

Information disclosure

Information about any grant may be utilised in publicity material by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board or the New Zealand Lotteries Commission (except for personal information supplied as part of an application to the Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Committee).

Other application information may be released, if required, under the Official Information Act. After 10 years, grant applications will be transferred to the National Archives, where they will be available to members of the public.

The names and grant details of all lottery grant recipients (except those receiving grants from the Lottery Individuals with Disabilities Committee) will appear online in the Record of Grants available at www.dia.govt.nz, or in a print version available from Lotto sales outlets.

In submitting a grant application an individual or an organisation (the applicant) acknowledge and agree that the Department may disclose to, or obtain from, any other government department or agency, private person or organisation, any information about the applicant for the purposes of gaining or providing information related to the funding of the applicant.

Grant applicants and recipients may access their information details and amend at any time. To view any personal information held by the Department of Internal Affairs, or raise a concern about personal information that it holds, please write to:

The Privacy Officer
Department of Internal Affairs
PO Box 805
Wellington 6140

 

Financial requirements

Some committees require specific financial information. The type of information required depends on how much money is being requested and how long your group has been in existence. The information required is also specified in grant application forms.

The Supporting Financial Documentation Information fully sets out the financial information required.

Financial management

Grant recipient organisations must have the following set of minimum financial controls in place:

  • two signatories to bank accounts
  • maintenance of a cashbook or equivalent
  • appointment of a treasurer as specified in the group's constitution or trust deed
  • tracking of different funding, e.g. through a spreadsheet or journal entry
  • regular financial reporting to every full meeting of the governing committee.

Grant audits

The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board seeks assurance that Lottery grants are benefiting New Zealand communities through a grant audit programme. Each year a certain number of grant recipients are selected for auditing. Audits are also carried out on grant recipients who do not submit required accountability reports or where other concerns have been raised about how the grant is being, or has been, spent.

Further help

If you need assistance or advice about our grants, or making an application, please read the information pages. 

If you cannot find the information you are looking for then contact us and an advisor will help you.

You can email your question to community.matters@dia.govt.nz or you can contact us on 0800 824 824 for assistance.