Community Engagement Fund

Funding amounts

Community boards and funding panels receive a set amount of funding to allocate each financial year. Each board and panel receives 40 cents per resident within their boundaries. 

Applicants must be based in Hutt City, support the Local Community Plan (if there is one), and also core Council business identified in our Long Term Plan. 

Community Engagement Fund Information Sheet (PDF 231.4 KB).

Apply for the Community Engagement Fund

Apply online

Community boards

Community funding panels

Funding dates

For funding dates please see the Funding Calendar. Applications are not accepted until the fund opens.

What we fund

• purchase of office equipment
• food and catering costs
• community festivals
• youth group events and projects run by the elderly or citizens associations
• art projects that are not part of the core curriculum
• advertising, promotion costs

What we don't fund

Activities that:

• promote an organisation’s religious, ethical, commercial or political views
• involve buying land or buildings or carrying out maintenance on buildings 
• duplicate services that are already covered by Council or by government agencies eg, health or education providers
• have already begun or have already finished
• involve the redistribution of funds to others at the applicant’s discretion
• involve fundraising or legal costs
• involve capital investments or trust funds
• go towards prize money
• are operational costs eg, salaries, wages, rent, power

What happens once I've applied? 

Once we've received your application form and quote, our Funding Advisor will let you know we've received it. They may also contact you for any additional information or clarification.

Each community board or funding panel decides who will get funding in its area, based on how well the project/event meets the fund's purpose. They can distribute funding in a single large allocation or spread it over a number of smaller ones. 

We'll let your organisation know advised once the decisions have been made.

If your application is successful

If your application is successful, you'll need to send us an invoice for the approved amount in order to receive funding. Have a look at a sample invoice (PDF 35 kb).

Once your project/event is complete you'll also need to:

• Complete a funding accountability report to detail how your organisation and community benefited from the funding
  • Submit your funding accountability report online
• Present back to the funding group about how the project/event benefited your organisation and community.

Funding rules

Successful applicants must:

• use funds only for the approved purpose and in line with any terms and conditions we've set
• use funds by June 30 of the following year
• let Council’s funding officer know immediately if any difficulty or potential difficulty arises that may compromise the service or project
• lay a complaint with Police if any funds are stolen or misappropriated, and then notify us
• allow us to audit the use of the funds if we decide to
• recognise our support in all publicity material, annual reports and similar publications
• complete an Accountability Report no later than six weeks after completing the project. This should outline how the funds were used and how the community benefited
• present back to the Community Board/Funding Panel to show how the project/event met its objectives.

Successful applicants 

• 2019-20 (PDF 108 KB)
• 2018-19 (PDF 115.4 KB)