What are our Community Grants and Funding?
Council
provides funding for agencies and community groups for projects and activities
in the community that
help support our long term goals for the district. These
can be one-off events or ongoing projects that help
make Ashburton District a
better place to live, work and play. Anybody can apply for a grant as
long as they meet
our criteria.
What is the process for our
Community Grants
and Funding?
Applications
are open around January to March to apply for funding for the following
financial year, which runs from
1 July to 30 June. Some grants have a second round in August. There are different
categories of grants any community group or organisation can apply for (listed
below). All applications received are acknowledged, and then presented to the
Community Grants and Funding Subcommittee for assessment against Council’s
criteria and priority areas for the district. The Subcommittee then makes a
recommendation to Council as part of the Annual Plan on how much funding should
be allocated to the grants for the year. When Council adopts the Annual Plan at
the end of June, it also approves the Subcommittee’s recommendations for
funding applications. All applicants are informed of the outcome of their
funding application in early July. The recipients of the second round of funding will be notified at the end of September.
All successful applicants are required to report back to Council on how the grant money was spent and whether the project/event was successful. Reporting forms need to be completed by 31 July, or before applying for further funding, whichever is the earlier. If the funds have not been spent when the next funding round occurs and you would like to make another application, please complete the reporting form as much as possible, and let us know how and when you intend to spend the rest of the grant funds.
Reporting forms
Biodiversity Grant reporting form
Community Library Grant reporting form
Community Project Grant reporting form
Community Events Grant reporting form
Heritage Grant reporting form
Infrastructure Grant reporting form
School Holiday Programme reporting form
For agency reporting forms, please get in touch with the Council directly.
Contact Council by email or phone (03) 307 7700.
When do community grants open?
The first round of Creative Communities and Sport NZ Rural Travel Fund Grants closed on Sunday 31 March, 2019. The second round of the Creative Communities Scheme grant is now open, closing Sunday 1 September 2019
Council's Community Grants and Funding 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. The second round of the Biodiversity and Heritage Grants are now open, closing Sunday 1 September 2019. You can find the categories and application forms below:
Categories and application forms
There are now five funding categories for all community grants:
Arts & culture
Creative Communities Scheme Funding Grant 2019-20 is now open, closing on 1 September 2019. The Second Round of this grant will open in March 2020.
Creative Communities Scheme Application Guide
Creative Communities Scheme Application form
Creative Communities Scheme Application form
Community Library Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
Community development
Community Projects Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
Economic development & events
Community Events Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
Natural & built environment
Community Infrastructure Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
Biodiversity Grant 2019-20 (second round) is now open, closing on 1 September 2019.
Biodiversity Grant Application 2019-20
Heritage Grant 2019-20 (second round) is now open, closing on 1 September 2019.
Heritage Grant Application 2019-20
Sport & recreation
Sport New Zealand Rural Travel Fund 2019-20 closed on Sunday 31 March, 2019. This grant will reopen in March 2020.
School Holiday Programme Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
Sport Development Grant 2019-20 closed on 28 February 2019. This grant will reopen in February 2020.
My project doesn't fit Council's community grants
If your project does not fit our categories or criteria for community grant funding, givUS provides access to more than 1200 different grants for community organisations covering a wide range of project types from over 700 different funders across New Zealand.
Council provides free access to Generosity New Zealand's givUs database, a computer database of information about funding sources for community groups in New Zealand. You can access it at home through the library page of our website (requires membership login) or at the following locations:
- Ashburton Public Library
- Community House Mid Canterbury
- Methven i-SITE
Other financial assistance
Extraordinary grant funding
Council may consider providing grant funding outside the schemes detailed above to assist with community
projects considered to be of significant value to the Ashburton District community. These are dealt with on a
case by case basis.
Loans and guarantees
Council may consider requests for bridging finance or the guaranteeing of loans from community organisations undertaking projects of significant community benefit.
When applying you will need to include:
- The project's contribution to the achievement of Council's community outcomes
- The project's cost effectiveness
- The reasons why other sources of funding are unavailable
- Prudent fiscal history of the person or organisation making the application
- The ability of the person / organisation applying to repay the loan(s)
Any applications will be analysed by a Council senior financial advisor and / or suitable advisor. The analysis may include the following:
- The financial viability of the project
- The financial position of the person / organisation making the application
- Risks to Council in supporting the project and how these could be managed
- Recommended compulsory conditions
Any bridging finance will be charged interest and any loans or guarantees Council provides may require a personal guarantee.
For further information on Council grants and funding, contact Council by email or phone (03) 307 7700.
Community Grants and Funding 2019/20
More than 50 community groups and organisations around the district have benefited from $1.1 million of funding from Council's annual Community Grants and Funding. View the recipients here
Sport New Zealand and Creative New Zealand grants
View the recipients of Sport New Zealand 2018/19 Rural Travel Fund
View the recipients of Creative New Zealand 2018/19 Creative Communities Scheme grant