Apply for Grants

The Trust has redesigned the application form and is available as a word document to help make it easier for you to complete.

Are you Eligible?

The Trust accepts applications from formally constituted groups serving one or more Bay of Plenty Communities, where the funds will be applied towards one of our strategic outcome areas.

Link to BayTrust’s 2011-2014 Strategic Plan

BayTrust does not fund individuals (other than through the Dillon Scholarship) or informal groups.

Link to the Dillon Scholarship

How does my Group apply?

• Download the application form from the website, print and complete the form and post it, along with all the required documentation, to the Trust office.
• Alternatively, you can complete the form in a word document. If you wish to do this you may save the word document and send it to info@baytrust.org.nz when complete. We will reply with instructions to forward the signed copy and required documentation to the office.

If you would like to discuss your application, need more information, or have any questions that are not answered by this site, please feel free to contact us by phone or email.

If you are considering applying for $20,000 or more you should consult our Community Development Advisor, Terri Eggleton, before submitting your application.

What Sorts of Things will the Trust Support?

The Trust’s mission is to “effectively build, strengthen and enhance present and future Bay of Plenty Communities”. It does this through making investments in Bay of Plenty communities to achieve the following strategic outcomes:

• Active communities;
• Healthy communities living in healthy environments;
• Educated communities;
• Culturally enriched communities;
• Communities developing their full potential

The Trust will accept applications for projects or operating expenses for groups that undertake activities directed towards achieving these outcomes. Please consult the Strategic Plan for more specific strategies (section 1.1 to 1.6) and the section below on Strategic Outcome Area Policies and Priorities.

Link to BayTrust’s 2011-2014 Strategic Plan

Operating cost grants – are available to support the operating and administration costs of generally health, social and community development organisations. This may include operating costs for programmes for these types of organisations, and can include salaries or a salary component, plus general overheads of rent, power, phone, administration costs etc.

Project cost grants – are available to assist with funding of one off community projects, assets or programmes, within the ability of our funds.

In both cases, the Trust will not usually support applications in excess of 50% of the total cost and you are encouraged to have the balance in hand or at least applications filed with other funders before applying.

When can my Groups Apply and when do we hear the results?

Grant applications can be filed at any time to be considered quarterly by Trustees.

There are no fixed cut-off dates. Allow time for the application to be processed, a report compiled, Trustees to consider the application, and then arrange payment (if successful). With four funding rounds in any year, it is wise to apply at least six months before you need the funds.

The Trust will allow one application per group per a 12 month period. If you have received funding within the past 12 months and want to know when you can reapply, you can either send your application in and we will advise you (on receipt) when you can expect a decision, or contact the office for information on your specific circumstances.

If you would like advice specific to the timing of your application and when a decision will be made, please feel free to contact us.

Decision Making Process

Trustees meet four times a year to consider applications, and all Trustees participate in the decision making on all applications. For each application, consideration is given to the “fit” with our strategic objectives and the constraints on our funds.  Applications are grouped in their strategic sector to enable trustees to consider ‘like’ applications and see the range of activities being undertaken by community groups within that sector.  There are no specific budgets for each sector.

In any given round, applications will normally total three to four times the amount of funds we have available to distribute. We cannot therefore grant to all those that apply.

Does Every Application Receive Funding?

In the 2011/2012 year, and possibly for the 2012/2013 year the Trust has a restricted budget for grants as it tries to restore its reserves.  These reserves were severely depleted during the global financial crisis, and are necessary to ensure the Trust can withstand any more significant downturns in its investment performance and continue to fund communities.

The grants budget for 2011/2012 is currently $2m, which is significantly less than the 2010/2011 spending of $2.84m.

The Trust receives many applications for every round and although the applications are equally considered, not all applicants receive grants.  Over the last few grant rounds, the Trust has been able to grant a total of $1,889,967 from applications totalling $5,536,275.

General Policy for Grants

The Trust will not accept:

• Applications from individuals or informal groups; or for political or ideological purposes;
• Applications for travel, accommodation or uniforms.
• Applications for the repayment of debt.
• Retrospective applications (i.e. lodged after the event or after costs have been committed).

The Trust will not usually consider:

• Applications where the funds will be passed on to another organisation or organisations.
• Projects where at least 50% of the costs are not in place or firmly committed.
• More than one application from any organisation within a 12 month period.
• Applications to build endowments (i.e. to build capital bases).
• Projects or activities outside of our BoP region.

Organisations intending to make applications for the categories immediately above are strongly advised to discuss their proposal with Trust Office staff first.

Strategic Outcome Area Policies and Priorities

Generally grant applications will need to demonstrate at least some of the following characteristics:

Active Communities – Encourage and support increased participation in sport and physical activities

• Priority will be given to applications that have potential benefit to other strategic outcome areas in addition to sport and recreation e.g. Healthy Communities; and applications from groups that address emergency, rescue or lifesaving needs in the community.
• Low priority will be given to applications from organisations that have low numbers of participants, or are costly to become involved with thereby prohibiting involvement of some within the community.
• Lower priority will be given to applications for capital assets for sports facilities generally, (unless in a deprived community where there is a lack of community facilities; the facility is available for wider community use; or has benefits to other strategic outcome areas e.g. health).

Healthy Communities – Create healthier communities to live in; improve access to services; meet a demonstrated need in this sector; improve social wellbeing; address the challenges of an ageing population; help to protect and enhance a healthy environment for all to live in; lead to environmental sustainability; assist in the welfare of animals within our community.

• Priority will be given to supporting operating costs for organisations that deal with health or social issues, particularly addressing the needs of the elderly, families, disabled and youth, particularly those organisations that are actively working alongside other agencies to deliver a comprehensive package of interventions.
• Priority will be given to applications that support, encourage or enable a  sustainable environment or sustainable environmental practices.
• Lower priority will be given to applications for capital expenditure except where there is a direct cost saving as a result of this investment.

Educated Communities - facilitate lifelong learning with a focus on innovative programmes.

• Priority will be given to applications for programmes that look to transform lives through education.
• Lower priority will be given to applications for capital assets for schools and pre school education centres unless there is an additional health or safety benefit.

Culturally Enriched Communities – foster wide-ranging engagement, experience and excellence in the arts and cultural opportunities.

• Priority will be given to funding Arts, Museum and Library facilities (within the Trusts ability) for wide community use; programmes or organisations that provide access to arts and culture activities, or create a sense of community pride and entity, especially where youth are involved.
• When considering funding of festivals, priority will be given to funding events that have elements of the following criteria:
  • a free to the public component
  • high community appeal
  • outreach to schools
  • youth involvement;
  • up to maximum of $10,000 (or $15,000 for a guarantee against loss).
• Low priority will be given to events that are firmly established and are near or have reached self sustainability.
• Low priority will be given to funding Church buildings or assets unless there is a wider community benefit, or the building is of local significance or historical importance.

Communities are Developing their Full Potential – community development and community economic development activities that create a social benefit in addition to an economic benefit

• Priority will be given to operating costs to support community agencies and groups working to promote community cohesion, encourage volunteerism, or improve the capacity and capability of people within communities; and supporting social enterprises to become self sustainable.

Getting Help

If you require assistance with the application process, deciding if you are eligible, wanting to know when to apply then help is available from our staff. Contact Terri Eggleton or Yvonne Baldock at the Trust office, or email terri@baytrust.org.nz or yvonne@baytrust.org.nz.

Where else might I get funding assistance from?

Our Links website page shows a range of other funders in the Bay of Plenty and nation-wide.

Another avenue to consider is the Funding Information Service website www.fis.org.nz.  This service is free to use at public libraries. Funding Information Service is a not-for-profit organisation collecting and distributing information about funding by way of three separate searchable computer databases, FundView, CorporateCitizens and BreakOut.

• FundView contains information about funding for community groups in New Zealand.
• BreakOut holds information about awards, scholarships and grants for individual development.
• CorporateCitizens holds details of New Zealand businesses that are committed to building relationships with community and voluntary organisations.

Other Community Trusts include Auckland, Canterbury, Eastern & Central, Mid & South Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Waikato and Wellington, Whanganui and West Coast.