September update and have a great weekend!
Published on September 25, 2026 by Trish Given
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Kia ora koutou,
It’s pretty amazing to see all the great mahi happening across our Collectives lots of ideas, projects and people making a difference in communities across Aotearoa. Ka mau te wehi!
You can check out all our Collectives here, and we encourage you to have a look at what others are doing too. Keeping your own Collective page up to date and recent - it’s a great place to showcase your kaupapa and mahi.
We hope there’s plenty of harikoa (joy) in the mahi too. Alongside the funding applications, paperwork and occasional chaos, there should be fun, connection and pride in what you’re achieving.
As our Gift Collective whānau continues to grow, a little patience, manaakitanga and good communication goes a long way. We’re all working towards the same goal, supporting your mahi and helping things run smoothly.
Funding applications - please give us at least one week
We need all funding applications to review at least one week before the funder’s closing date.
This gives us time to review your application and budget, check fundholder eligibility, prepare supporting documents, get signatures or Board approvals where needed, and come back to you with any questions. Even straightforward applications can have unexpected requirements. Please do not submit funding applications without our prior knowledge.
Funders change their requirements
Funding criteria and processes change regularly and this is outside our control. Something a funder hasn’t required previously may suddenly be needed. Expect a little to’ing and fro’ing! If we ask for another document, quote, revised budget or more information, it’s because we’re working through the funder’s requirements with you.
Budgets, quotes and planning ahead
We strongly recommend watching our Budgeting Webinar and using our budget template if you need one. We’ve also put together a handy list of things you might include in a project budget - checklist here!
Having an annual budget is also really good practice, it helps you understand what your mahi costs and how much funding you need to find.
Duncan Matthews, who presented our webinar, runs Good Numbers (an app that helps and has some great webinars coming up about being a good treasurer. You can register to watch them here - You don’t need this service as part of Gift Collective, but it’s useful knowledge to have and worth sharing with others.
And remember to allow plenty of time for quotes and supporting documents, some funders require these for every item you’re asking them to fund.
Funding decisions take time
Some funding decisions take several months. (e.g. Lotteries round 1 - November decision/ Lotteries round 2 - December decision) Check the closing date, decision date and reporting dates.
Kia kōrero - talk to your funders
Get to know your funders! Their community funding, outreach and engagement people can be incredibly helpful.
A quick kōrero before applying can confirm whether your project fits, whether they accept Gift Collective as a fundholder and what they expect from your application. It can save a lot of time and energy.
Collective Kete - a kete of useful resources, links and opportunities.
Fundsorter AI Course - AI for Charities is a 6-week practical course designed specifically for people who work in the charity sector. Registration is free.
Community Think - great resource - informative bitesize episodes of personal development and support.
Community Comms Collective - They’re comms people volunteering their time to help community organisations communicate better.
A little about our team and Gift Collective
Gift Collective is a part-time team of 3 - Chloe, Trish and Katie, and our individual office hours are listed below.
In the past year we’ve grown from around 100 Collectives to almost 180 - and it’s only September! 💛🙌
Since Gift Collective started five years ago, we’ve received more than $8 million in donations and funding to distribute on behalf of our Collectives. That’s an incredible amount of tautoko for community-led mahi across Aotearoa and something we can all be really proud of. 🎉 🥳 🎊
With that growth comes many more pātai, applications, documents and requests each day. We’ll always do our best to help, but sometimes things will take a little time.
A little patience, plenty of notice and good communication makes a huge difference.
Finally, a little housekeeping…
- Expenses: Please submit and approve expenses by Tuesday so they can be processed on Wednesday and paid on Thursday.
- Funding applications: Keep a record of your upcoming funding dates and get applications to us at least one week before the closing date.
- And please keep your Collective page up to date - it helps funders, supporters and others see the wonderful mahi you’re doing.
🛶 He waka eke noa - we’re all in this together✨
Ngā mihi nui,
The Gift Collective team
Trish, Chloe and Katie
Trish, Chloe and Katie
- Chloe - Mon -Tues: 9am-2pm, Wed - Thurs: 8am -2pm
- Trish - Mon - Thurs: 8.30am - 3pm
- Katie - Tues - Fri: 9.30 - 4.30pm