Single-year community grant fund | Hamilton City Council

Why do we have this grant?

We recognise the value of our diverse communities and that connecting all Hamiltonians through community activities, and art and cultural projects, helps to build an intercultural society and a deep understanding and respect for all.
This links in with He Pou Manawa Ora – Pillars of Wellbeing, which focuses on wellbeing for all Hamiltonians, and our Welcoming Plan to ensure all people coming to live or stay in Hamilton feel welcomed and engaged. That’s also why Council supports activating public spaces and places – to bring our communities together.

What does this grant look like?

Hamilton City Council's Single-Year Community Grant supports small not-for-profit community organisations within the city’s boundary that deliver services, programmes, activities or events benefitting the social, cultural, arts and environmental wellbeing of communities in Hamilton.
The Single-Year Grant is an annual contestable fund of more than $300,000, with each grant award being up to $10,000. The fund is for projects and activities taking place from May to January within the year applied for.

Application criteria

Who can apply?

Generally Council funds community organisations which meet the following criteria:

They are legally constituted as not-for-profit community organisations (charitable trusts or incorporated societies). 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.
They have the capacity to deliver the project as outlined in their application.
They have good record keeping and operating practices, e.g. annual accounts, minutes, two bank signatories.
They contribute to the social, arts, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing of Hamiltonians.
They agree to the terms and conditions of any potential grant as outlined in their grant agreement.
They agree to provide further information on request, and to provide accountability for any funds received.
They have accounted for any previous grants before any new grant application will be processed.

Priority is given to those that meet the criteria as outlined above and also to:

how many volunteer hours the group/organisation contributes
any ‘in kind’ donations that will be put toward the project
groups and organisations that have a total annual income of under $500,000.

What gets funded?

The Single-Year Community Grant provides funding to cover the following elements:

operating and administrative costs
programme development and implementation
community events and cultural festivals
equipment and resources that support the project or organisation.

Elements that are not covered by the grant include the following:

projects or operational costs already substantially funded by Hamilton City Council
retrospective funding, i.e. specific projects that have already started or have been completed
political organisations or social clubs
repayment of debts, loans, mortgage repayments or investments of any kind
project costs that will be directly paid back to Hamilton City Council.

For more information, please see Council’s Community Assistance Policy.

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.

You can also contact a funding administrator from our Community Development Team for more information. Either call our Customer Services Team on 07 838 6699 during office hours, email us at info@hcc.govt.nz.

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.

Please note: Any data submitted as part of a Hamilton City Council funding application is available to Hamilton City Council. It is a cloud based tool that meets all requirements for information security and privacy.

Apply for it