Tauranga Western Bay Community Event Fund

The maximum grant is $50,000 +GST for events in Tauranga and $15,000 +GST for events in Western Bay of Plenty. The majority of grants issued are in the $10-$12,000 range.

$600k +GST for events in Tauranga and $100k +GST for events in Western Bay of Plenty occurring between 1 September 2022 and 30 June 2023. When the fund allocation is exhausted, we will update this webpage.

Yes. If you have an existing funding agreement with one of our funding partners, you can still apply, but that funder will be unable to contribute to the funding offered if successful.

The fund is open for applications from 1 July 2022 for events taking place from 1 September 2022 to 30 June 2023. We recommend applying at least four months prior to your event as the rounds will close when the funds are exhausted. Applications received will be considered on a bi-monthly basis (i.e. every two months). Please follow the funding round timeline below:

As this is a new fund, we are currently not considering multi-year funding applications.

Check out our values and priorities and also make sure that your event isn’t in the list of events we don’t fund.

No, unless you are declined prior to assessment due to being ineligible to apply to the fund.

No, you don’t need to provide quotes with your application; however, you will need to provide a detailed budget, which you’ll upload within your online application form. You can either use your existing budget or our event budget template.

Budget template to download (14kb xlsx)

Your application must also include a written endorsement in support of and outlining involvement in the event from the current chairperson or senior executive (i.e., chief executive officer, general manager) of the iwi, hapu or marae.

A decision-making panel of representatives from Acorn Foundation, Bay Trust, TECT Community Trust and whichever council has jurisdiction over the event location. (Tauranga City Council or Western Bay of Plenty District Council)

If your application is successful, we will contact you to confirm your grant. You will enter into a funding agreement with us to formalise our funding support and any event deliverables and benefits for the fund (e.g. credit the fund on promotional material).

If your event is held on public open space, you will also likely be required to work with the relevant council’s event facilitation team for event approval. Read our resources to assist you with running an event on public open spaces. 

If your application is unsuccessful, you will be advised of the outcome, along with reasoning why this decision was made.

50% of the funding granted will be released prior to the event and 50% after submitting a post-event evaluation report (to the satisfaction of TCC event development staff). The report will include attendance and audience demographics, audience feedback, key learnings, how the event delivered against the relevant values and priorities, benefits to Tauranga, media coverage and the final profit and loss summary.

If you have already received funding from us for an event, you must submit a post-event evaluation report before another application will be considered.

For applications in Tauranga:

Contact the Event Development team at eventfunding@tauranga.govt.nz or (07) 577 7000.

For applications in Western Bay of Plenty:

Contact the Events team at events@westernbay.govt.nz or (07) 571 8008.

Any offer of financial support through the Event Funding Framework is subject to your event being able to be delivered under the COVID-19 Protection Framework (CPF). If the event is unable to proceed for COVID-19 related reasons (whether they be voluntary or mandated), or if your event is materially altered to adapt to the applicable CPF Level(s), then you may have to return your grant.

In instances of COVID-19 related event cancellation, and when the financial position of your event has been negatively affected by the cancellation, you may submit a written request to us to retain all or part of your event grant. You will need to address the following areas in your request:

1. What the reason for the event cancellation was (particularly if a change in CPF Levels has not mandated the cancellation);
2. If you have investigated alternative ways in which the event could go ahead (e.g. postponement, operational changes, online format etc.);
3. How the event has been financially impacted by the cancellation. Please submit a profit and loss statement, including commentary around what steps have been taken to mitigate event costs;
4. What other funding partners and sponsors are doing to support the cancellation of your event (if applicable); and
5. If you are requesting to retain all or part of your event grant? (please include a figure here).  

Please note: Any event forecasting a breakeven position or profit without the grant will automatically be excluded from consideration and required to return any event grant issued to them (in part or full).

All requests to retain grants in part or full can be directed to eventfunding@tauranga.govt.nz for consideration. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and a ten-working day turn around for decisions will apply.

For more information, or if you have any queries, please contact the Event Development staff on eventfunding@tauranga.govt.nz.