Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund

Overseas travel (including attending international, web-based events and conferences remotely)

Overseas travel

The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund may fund overseas travel. If a representative wishes to attend an event or conference it may fund:

• airfares
• accommodation
• travel costs

Individuals or organizations who wish to apply for travel costs need to show:

• how they will share the information gained from their attendance, and
• how attending the conference will benefit the New Zealand community or a significant sector of the New Zealand community.

Web-based events and attending remotely

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the way international events and conferences are delivered, we will accept requests for costs associated with attending international, web-based events and attending conferences remotely.

Volunteer firefighting and emergency ambulances services projects

• The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund may fund one-off volunteer firefighting services and emergency ambulance services projects.
• Organizations need to demonstrate how the grant will benefit the community and provide evidence that funding is not available from Fire and Emergency New Zealand or through existing government contracts.
• Requests from emergency ambulance services must be for providing emergency services.
• The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund does not fund vehicles for emergency ambulance services.

Animal welfare projects

• The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund may fund animal welfare projects.
• Organizations need to show how the community will benefit from their animal welfare project.

Learning and development projects

The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund may fund one-off learning and development projects in:

• financial planning and/or good governance (with an emphasis on support for children’s organizations)
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te ao Māori training
• one-off learning and development projects where two or more community organizations benefit.

Financial planning and/or good governance training

Funding for financial planning and/or good governance training and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te ao Māori training may go towards representatives from community groups to attend a training course, or it may go towards community groups hosting in-house training using an external training provider.

Financial planning and/or good governance training and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te ao Māori training must be provided by:

• a recognized professional training establishment, or
• an individual with suitable qualifications and experience, and
• a trainer that is independent of your organization and the people receiving the training.

Trainer fees and assistance towards reasonable related venue costs, travel, and accommodation will be considered.

One-off learning and development projects where two or more community organizations benefit

The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund may provide funding to support larger-scale, one-off learning and development projects where two or more community organizations will benefit from the training.

Examples of costs that organizations may seek funding for include:

• costs associated with guest speakers (including domestic and inward international travel)
• reasonable related venue and equipment costs
• catering and event promotion

All learning and development project requests must demonstrate how the training proposed will achieve wider community benefit.

Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund does not fund requests for business-as-usual activities.

Outcomes

• Grants are made to organizations and individuals whose requests show how they will achieve and measure the outcomes and benefits for New Zealand communities of their projects or overseas travel.

What is not funded

The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund does not fund:

• registration or training that maintains an individual’s registration with a professional organization
• requests for business-as-usual activities
• vehicles for emergency ambulance services
• permanent residential housing services or community housing
• gambling education, prevention, or treatment services
• a second request for the same project or location of benefit in the same funding year (1 July to 30 June)

The Lottery Minister’s Discretionary Fund is unlikely to fund:

• overseas training courses, learning and development projects, or cultural exchanges, where there is a limited benefit for the New Zealand community or a significant sector of the community
• overseas travel for the same person or organization in consecutive years (e.g if you were funded in 2021 it is unlikely you will be funded in 2022)
• sporting projects
• arts projects

Lottery grants may not be used for any of the following:

• repaying or servicing debt
• refinancing loans, deposits, or underwriting projects
• commercial, political, and/or religious objectives, including employment and/or business initiatives, commercial enterprises, political advocacy, or projects which seek to change legislation
• fundraisers and projects which seek to raise funds in or for a specific sector, or are involved with the training or employment of fundraisers
• projects which seek to redistribute funding to others
• overseas aid or disaster relief
• alcohol and drug treatment, education, and support services
• medical expenses, operations, treatments, or the purchase of major items of health equipment
• capital investment or trust funds
• projects or activities completed (retrospective funding) or items bought before the request.

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