Frequently
asked questions

Organisations are eligible to receive a grant once every 12 months.

No, we will only consider one request for funding from an organisation at a time. If your organisation is successful in receiving funding then you are not eligible to receive a grant again for 12 months.

Application guides are available on our website to help applicants make a complete a funding request. The guide takes applicants through:

• Things to consider before you apply
• How we assess a funding request
• Questions our funding request forms ask and the type of answers we are looking for
• Documents to submit and the assessment process

There are no closing dates for Community Grants, so your request can be submitted at any time. We work around seven Board decision meetings a year and aim to give a response within five months of receiving a complete funding request. 

There are no closing dates for QRG so your request can be submitted at any time. We aim to give a response within two months of receiving a complete funding request. 

We ask for a ‘forward thinking’ budget to accompany your funding request so we can see what income your organisation is expecting to receive and what you’re budgeting to spend. How your funding request fits within the wider organisation’s spending is very helpful to know when determining things like community benefit, attendance and scale.

The budget must include the following:

• Your organisation’s name
• The months and year(s) the budget relates to, noting we do not fund retrospectively so ensure the dates are in the future
• All income sources, including the funding request to Foundation North
• If you’re applying for multi-year funding, a budget for each year is required

Not sure what a budget should look like? Check out the resources below:

• Budget Template
• Budget Guide
• Multi-year Budget Template
• Multi-year Budget Guide

You do not need to provide bank details at the time of submitting your request. If you are granted funding, we will ask that you provide digital confirmation of bank details at that time.

Foundation North does not require accounts to be audited, but we do require organisations to abide by their own constitution, rules, or trust deed. If your organisation’s governing document states that you must have compiled, reviewed or audited accounts, then you must provide them with your funding request.

One quote (your preferred quote) must be provided for each item/s you want to be funded. If your organisation is GST registered, any approved grant will exclude GST.

Yes – we will accept testimonials from community. However, we may still require a letter of support from another community group or organisation that you have worked alongside. A list of documents to submit for a Quick Response Grant (QRG) or Community Grant (CG) request is available on our website. Please note: a letter of support from Heritage New Zealand is required if your funding request is for a heritage project, including building restoration.

If you are a first-time applicant, or you haven't received a grant from Foundation North in the last five years, please provide us with a letter of support.

This must be on applicable letterhead, signed, dated and no more than six months old, from an organisation working with your community (either in the same location, or in the same sector) that has a good understanding of what you do and how you do it.

Please ask them to write about the reputation your organisation has, the quality of your service delivery, how you are benefiting your community, and how you work with other service providers. Please ask your letter-writer to include their name, job title and contact details.

This means that all questions in the Organisation Information and Profile sections (log-in to the Funding Hub and click on Organisations from menu on left side of screen) and the funding request are fully answered. Also, all required support documents meet our criteria and are uploaded to the request. A list of documents to submit for a Quick Response Grant (QRG) or Community Grant (CG) request is available below.

Once you have submitted your request, it will move from 'Your Drafts' to 'Submitted' in your Funding Hub. The primary contact will also receive an automated email confirmation that it has been submitted. You can also check the status bar at the top of the request.

In the Funding Hub, our terms and conditions are agreed to as part of completing a funding request before a grant is approved. You can find them under any request or grant, just below the ‘Documents to Submit’ section. 

A moderator is the key contact for an organisation and they have special access rights to create/change the key information about your organisation in the Hub ie: information in your organisation’s Contact Information and Address sections and ensure their organisation’s People list (located in the Organisation Profile section) is up to date. Please note: an organisation can select more than one moderator to ensure cover if someone is away.

The Primary Contact will receive notifications from Foundation North via email about where to find information in the Funding Hub. The information received might include:

• Requests for more information on an application
• Decisions made on applications
• Notification of any conditions relating to a decision
• How and when payments have been actioned
• Any reports that may be due relating to payments or Impact

Multi-year funding provides funded groups with staggered grant payments made in yearly installments for large-scale or long-term projects and initiatives to reduce the need to submit multiple funding requests.

For example, an organisation receiving a multi-year grant spread over two years may receive the first installment of their grant at the time of approval and receive a second installment 12-months later (at the beginning of the second year).

We cannot fund retrospectively, and are not able to process urgent requests. To ensure you have ample time to receive a funding decision and plan your event accordingly. We recommend that you submit your funding request at least six months before the event.

Yes, all funding requests must be submitted through the Funding Hub. For guidance on how to navigate the Hub, please view our Funding Hub guide.