Fundholders and Fundraisers

Funding for non-legal entities

Lottery funding is eligible for not-for-profit organisations with legal entity status, including limited liability bodies registered with Charities Services. There is more information about who is eligible for funding on this page: Lottery Fund

If a group is not a legal entity, they may be able to apply through a fundholder arrangement, for up to a maximum grant of $10,000 (excluding any approved administration fee).

What is a fundholder?

A fundholder is an organisation with legal entity status that applies for and manages funding on behalf of a group without a legal entity status. A fundholder safeguards the money and is responsible for its stewardship.

Fundholder organisations can apply on behalf of multiple groups and for itself in the same funding round as long as the application is for a different purpose.

Fundholder administration fees

Fundholders can charge up to an 8% administration fee (in addition to the grant amount). Higher administration fees may be approved by the Department of Internal Affairs, if a fundholder is managing more than five active grants.

National organisations that have non-legal entities branches can apply nationally for all these branches.

Requirements of fundholders

Fundholders must:

• accept the grant terms and conditions
• receive and manage the grant funding
• make payments on behalf of the non-legal entity
• monitor how the funding is used
• complete required results reporting
• meet all legal entity, governance, and financial compliance requirements
• have a documented process (this may be a memorandum of understanding) on how they will make payments on behalf of the non-legal entity. This should be uploaded as a supporting document.
• have at least two years of good grant management history
• have authorisation from its governing body to act as a fundholder. This should be uploaded as a supporting document.

Fundraisers are not eligible to apply for lottery funding

Some activities are not eligible for lottery funding. The list of activities that are not funded are on this page: Lottery Grants Board does not fund

Fundraisers – or a person or organisation that raises money from donors or supporters for a third-party but, does not manage the funds long term – are not eligible to apply for lottery funding.

Organisations must apply for lottery funding on their own behalf. Organisations may engage an external fundraiser to assist them with an application. The application must show that:

• the fundraiser is paid on a fixed or hourly fee (not based on funding results) and
• the fundraiser’s payment agreement with the organisation.

Grant funding cannot be used to pay fundraiser commissions or success fees.