Te Puna Tahua, Lottery Grants Board has recently undertaken an exciting piece of work to evolve the lottery grants and advisory support system to make it easier and fairer for communities, hapū and iwi to access funding.
In late 2021, the Board tasked Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs with this programme of work, known as Kia Tipu, He Tipua – Evolving the lottery grants system.
The lottery grants system was reviewed, with the aim of evolving it into a system that is more responsive, flexible, inclusive, strategic and recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This was the first end-to-end review since Lotto and the NZ Lottery Grants Board were established in 1987.
Programme overview
Kia Tipu, He Tipua, Evolving the Lottery Grants Board (PDF 267KB)
The lottery grants system has changed very little in over 35 years, although we know communities and their needs changed significantly during this time. This has resulted in barriers for communities, hapū and iwi, inefficiencies in the system and inequitable funding outcomes.
COVID-19 also highlighted the need for communities, hapū and iwi to access more flexible and responsive funds to achieve their aspirations.
With Kia Tipu, He Tipua we want to unlock the potential of the lottery grants system and engage more consciously in what it is that the lottery grants system is becoming – a system that:
- strategy-led and learns
- high trust and leverages relationships
- devolved decision making and flexible funding
- funding for equity
- collaborative to achieve the greatest impact.
It has been crucial to engage widely with communities, hapū, iwi, funders and other organisations, in order to design an improved future system with people and communities at its heart.
Between February and June 2022, the Department targeted work to understand barriers and areas of opportunity for unlocking the potential of the lottery grants system. Our learnings can be found here.
Te Korekoreka is a process for creating solutions, which has been gifted by Tokona te Raki the Māori Futures Collective. It combines conceptual wisdom and practical knowledge to support system change within a te ao Māori paradigm.
By moving through the four realms of Te Korekoreka, the lottery grants system has been explored through a new frame of reference grounded in te ao Māori.
From these insights, recommendations were made to the Lottery Grants Board for an improved future model. Through this work, the Board approved the evolution of the system to one that learns, and is more strategic and data driven. Ultimately, this system aims to maximise benefits for New Zealand communities, hāpu and iwi.
Some changes to the lottery grants system were phased in from 2023, but more significant change will be implemented over the four-year period of the Board’s Statement of Intent 2025 - 2029.
Key objectives of Kia Tipu, He Tipua
- Ensure the funding is accessible and responsive to communities’ needs and priorities.
- Support the aspirations of Māori and uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
- Ensure funding is distributed more equitably.
- Make the funding system more coherent and focused.
- Develop a funding system that allows for innovation and collaboration.
- Maximise community benefit through the distribution of lottery funding.
Guiding innovation
The evolution of the lottery grants system is guided by the following community funding best practice principles:
- High trust: Communities are trusted to drive outcomes through building strong relationships.
- Community centred: Community aspirations are supported through flexible funding approaches.
- Equitable outcomes: Funding is purposeful and prioritised to help achieve the greatest impact.
- Future focused: Adaptive approaches that work to support intergenerational change for communities.
Timeline of the programme
2020: Opportunity to evolve the system was identified.
2021: Lottery Grants Board tasks Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs with this programme of work.
2022: Working with communities hapū, iwi, funders, statutory bodies and other organisations to design the future state.
2023: Focus on the evolved lottery grants system's strategic design and some operational change starts to be phased in.
2024: The Board engages with stakeholders on its draft Statement of Intent 2025-2029. To view this, visit Te Puna Tahua Lottery Grants Board | Statement of Intent. More steps are taken to evolve the lottery grants system with some changes in Te Tahua Whakatinana Papakāinga Lottery Community Fund.
2025 onwards: More significant change will be implemented over the 4-year period of the Board’s Statement of Intent 2025-2029
More information
For more information about the evolving lottery grants system, follow the links below:
Philanthropy News Issue #87 November 2022: Easier and fairer access to lottery funding
If you have any questions or comments about this programme of work, please email community.matters@dia.govt.nz.