Frequently Asked Questions

Organisations are able to receive a grant once in a 12-month period.

CLT is not able to support certain activities, including:

· Individuals, except by way of the annual Central Lakes Trust Tertiary scholarship programme

· Projects or services that do not meet charitable criteria

· Seeding investments for businesses

· Political organisations or lobby groups

· Advocacy

· Funding of business case or feasibility studies for any projects

· Individual project feasibility studies and pre-project professional workshops

· Community consultation forums e.g. planning workshops

· Equipment and IT infrastructure where there is no community benefit

· Maintenance of facilities and equipment

· Seismic strengthening of council-owned buildings

· Seismic strengthening of churches that have not demonstrated wide community use and access, and/or heritage buildings other than those with a category one or two rating

· Any repair cost considered to be deferred maintenance or that should otherwise be included in a maintenance plan

· Facilities for delivery of core education and health services that CLT deems should be covered by government funding allocation

· Projects where local or central government would be the natural source of funding

· Commercial organisations or commercial events

· Repayment of debt

· Retrospective projects i.e. completed projects or projects that have already commenced

· Operational costs of Territorial Authorities and Central Government

· Endowments

· Elite sports or activities

· The GST component of costs for GST-registered organisations

· Fundraising events

· An organisation's project that generates funds which are distributed to a third party

· Direct fundraising costs, e.g. purchase of materials or items for resale.

· Sponsorships.

If you are uncertain about whether your project will be eligible or not, please give our grants team a call:

0800 00 11 37

Grants are assessed approximately every six weeks by the Trustees. It is advisable to allow two months from the full application being submitted to receive a response. (Please note over the Christmas holiday period, the office closes, which may extend the length of time to process applications.) If you have any queries relating to timeframes, please contact us on 0800 00 11 37.

No, your project or activity needs to begin after a decision has been made by Central Lakes Trust as we don't fund retrospectively. Complete applications take approximately two months to process from the full application being submitted, so if you are concerned about when you might receive your grant (if successful) please contact our grants team on 0800 00 11 37

We can only fund projects and services that are directly delivered or directly impact residents of the Central Lakes region, which includes parts of Southern Lakes and Central Otago.

Organisations can apply if they are one of the following:

• Regional Council/ Territorial Local Authority

• Registered Public/ State Learning Provider

• Registered with Charities Services

If you are not a council or registered learning provider, your organisation must be registered with Charities Services to be eligible to apply for a grant with Central Lakes Trust. Charities Services is a part of the Department of Internal Affairs and administers the Charities Act 2005.

Its role is to encourage the effective use of charitable resources by registering and monitoring charities. Charities Services provides; support, advice, and materials for good governance and management practices.

You can learn more here and check to see if your organisation is registered.

Being registered with Charities Services and being incorporated as a charitable trust or an incorporated society are different things. Being incorporated requires the establishment of a trust board, or a society, or company, as a separate legal status. An organisation can incorporate under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957, the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 or the Companies Act 1993. This process is done through the Companies Office.

The organisation can then choose to apply to become a registered charity. A registered charity is an organisation that has charitable purposes and is registered under the Charities Act 2005. Charities Services also registers other types of organisations, including unincorporated trusts and groups, and charitable companies.

Registering as a charity means you may get access to certain tax and reputational benefits. All registered charities must file annual returns that are publicly listed on the Charities Register.

If you are not a regional council, or registered public/state learning provider, you do have to register with Charities Services to be eligible to apply to Central Lakes Trust.

No. You need to be one of the following:

• Regional or Territorial Local Authority

• Registered Public or State Learning provider

• Registered Charitable Trust