Funding Opportunities for Community Groups

Free GEM Local Subscription and Monthly Grants Calendar

Whangarei District Council has partnered with Strategic Grants to provide community groups with free access to GEM Local. GEM Local (Grants Expertise Management System) is a grants database designed to help Whangarei based community groups find the right grants for them. This helps you with relevant grant opportunities, grant preparation tools and training. The aim is to build your capability and increase your access to funding.

Who is eligible?

Any community group interested in accessing GEM Local or the monthly grants calendar can register their interest.

To access the scheme, community groups must meet ALL the following eligibility criteria:

• Must be non-profit
• Must have annual revenue under $1.5M
• Must deliver projects that benefit the community of Whangarei and be located within the Whangarei District Council area
• Not be a local branch of a national organisation operating under a head office centralised grants strategy
• Must complete a short participation survey annually
• There is a limited number of places available and Whangarei District Council may need to prioritise access for community groups for this year
  

Free access is provided for 12 months, and renewal is dependent on Council's continued support for the scheme and your ongoing use of it.

What if you are NOT a legal entity?

Being a legal entity (e.g. a Charitable Trust or an Incorporated Society) and a registered charity is NOT a requirement to access the scheme. However, please be aware that some funders will require this status, before you can make a funding application to them.

What are the benefits of GEM Local?

GEM Local is a grants database designed specifically to help New Zealand community organisations and small non-profits find the right grants for them.

This easy-to-use tool provides:

An always current customised grants calendar finding JUST the grants relevant to your organisation, according to what you do, where you do it and your legal status Full access to all Aotearoa New Zealand grant and funder records in your personalised Grants Calendar, including trusts and foundations, corporate and community foundations, local council, government grants, gaming trusts and lottery grants Ability to track progress of your applications including when funder reports are due Additional email alerts on deadlines Cloud-based software accessible from anywhere Practical tip sheets, training videos and writing samples

Free webinar

In addition to your GEM Local subscription (register below), Strategic Grants is offering a free webinar from our training library. Email us at Strategic Grants for a coupon code to access one free webinar resource from the Strategic Grants Training Library. Add the webinar to your shopping cart, proceed to checkout and add the supplied Coupon Code for free access: 

If you take the option to subscribe to GEM Local you will discover that GEM Local is full of resources and has How To Guides, templates and help videos throughout the software to help you learn how to use it.

If you subscribe for the Excel grants calendar you will be added to the mailing list and will receive an email from the next mail out.

Coupon Code for free access

If you meet the eligibility criteria stated above, contact the Whangarei District Council Community Development Team to receive a code to access GEM Local for free. Please provide your organisation’s details.

 Email: [email protected] 

 Phone: 09 945 4422

Receiving your grants calendar

** We recommend that you subscribe using a desktop computer, preferably running Google Chrome or Firefox. We have had reports of some users experiencing issues when subscribing through a tablet or phone.

There are two ways you can receive grant opportunities. Please choose one of the following options to continue: