Community partnership agreements | Hamilton City Council

Fund snapshot

Community Partnership Agreements (previously known as multi-year grants) target not for profit community organisations who provide key services and spaces that support the achievement of Council’s strategic outcomes and improve community connectivity in Hamilton.

Successful applicants are expected to deliver outcomes that align to Council's Community and Social Development Strategy.

Expressions of interest for organisations wanting to apply for a Community Partnership Agreement are now open until 31 January 2024.

Application criteria

Who can apply

Applications are open to all community groups that provide a welcoming gathering space for local communities.

To be eligible to apply, your group has to meet minimum criteria below:

Are legally constituted not-for-profit community organisations (charitable trust or incorporated society). The applicant organisation must have a Trust Deed or Constitution with a minimum of three board or committee members. The applicant organisation must have been operating for a minimum of 12 months.
Provide services, programmes, activities or events that benefit Hamiltonians.
Have the capacity to deliver the project as outlined in their application.
Have good record keeping and operating practices i.e. annual accounts, minutes, two bank signatories.
Have accounted for any previous grants before any new grant application will be processed.

What gets funded?

Community Partnership Agreements will support:

operating costs of key community spaces and facilities
operating costs of key community services or programmes
established significant community events that have an arts or cultural focus.

If successful, this funding will be paid each year for three years and covers the period from July 2024 - June 2027.

The following activities or requests will not be approved under Community Grants Policy:

operational costs already substantially funded by Hamilton City Council
retrospective funding i.e. specific projects that have already started or have been completed
Religious Ministry regarding the teaching or preaching of their faith
activities considered core Government responsibility e.g. teaching of the school curriculum
political organisations or social clubs
repayment of debt, loans (or loan guarantees), rates remittance, community leases or rentals, mortgage repayments or investments of any kind
any projects or activities that would generally be considered illegal or are contrary to Councils aims and objective
travel and accommodation
prizes, cost of goods to be raffled or any costs associated with fundraising

For more information, please see Council's Community Grants Policy or contact Senior Community Advisor, Sandra Larsen.

The application

1. Application processes, guidelines and help

You’ll need to register on Smartygrants first, then follow the guidelines to complete your application. This will set out what you need to get together before you apply.

There are many help options available through online guides and video tutorials when you are logged into the Smartygrants platform.

Also, here’s how we can help you with the online application process:

You can ask for assistance from one of our funding administrators, if you need it.
You can attend an information session (held in February each year).
You can attend one of our regular funding workshops held throughout the year.

2. When and how you can expect to hear back from us

Once we’ve received your application via the Smartygrants platform, our staff will take it through the application process and assess it against the grant’s criteria and guidelines.

You’ll be notified of the decision within 8 - 12 weeks after the Smartygrants online system has closed applications.

Successful applicants are required to use the Hamilton City Council logo on promotional material.

Find our logos here.