Grants and Funding Sources for School Camps in New Zealand

Our Budgeting and Funding Your School Camp guide covers how to plan your costs and mentions that grants exist. This guide goes further, naming the specific funders New Zealand schools actually use, what they typically cover, and how to apply, so that fundraising and family payments aren’t the only levers you have.

Funding criteria, amounts and application rounds change regularly, so treat the figures below as a starting point rather than a guarantee, and confirm current details directly with each funder before you apply.

What You Can (and Can’t) Ask Families to Pay

Before chasing external funding, it’s worth being clear on the legal position, because it shapes how you frame every grant application.

In practice this means every dollar you raise through grants and fundraising directly reduces the amount you’re relying on voluntary family contributions to cover, and it’s what lets you guarantee that a student’s ability to pay never determines whether they go. Community Law’s plain-English summary and the Ministry of Education’s fees, charges and donations guidance are the two references worth bookmarking; check with your board or a Community Law Centre if a specific situation isn’t clear-cut.

Gaming Trusts: The Funding Source Most Schools Under-Use

Gaming trusts distribute profits from gaming machines in pubs and clubs back into their local communities, regulated by the Department of Internal Affairs under the Gambling Act 2003. They’re one of the largest and most accessible sources of grant funding for schools, but a lot of camp budgets never go near them.

Most gaming trusts fund sports equipment, community facilities, transport for activities and (very relevant here) camp subsidies and scholarships for individual students. Grants for community-facing organisations commonly range from a few thousand dollars up to $50,000 for larger projects, though most school-camp-sized requests sit well under that. Processing typically takes four to eight weeks, and you’ll need to complete an acquittal afterwards showing the money was spent as described: do this promptly, since trusts share applicant histories and a clean track record makes future applications easier.

Apply through your school’s Board of Trustees (the legal entity most trusts expect) rather than as an individual. It’s worth applying to more than one trust for the same shortfall, since not every application succeeds, and be specific about what the money will cover (for example, “subsidising camp fees for 12 students who would otherwise not attend” rather than a general request).

Regional Community Trusts and Foundations

Alongside the gaming trusts, most regions have a community trust or foundation (many originally set up from the sale of regional energy assets) that gives out grants to local schools and community groups. These are worth checking regardless of gaming trust applications, since the eligibility criteria and priorities differ.

Search each trust’s own website for current guidelines rather than relying on general listings: priorities (equity, Māori and Pacific student outcomes, rural access) and grant rounds vary and are updated more often than any directory can keep up with.

Central Government and National Funds

• Lottery Grants Board: distributes Lotto proceeds through several committees, including a Community committee most schools would apply to. Administered through Community Matters, part of the Department of Internal Affairs.
• Sport NZ / regional sports trusts: if your camp has a strong physical activity or sport component, your regional sports trust may have Kiwisport or similar funding streams. Worth a call to check current criteria, as these are usually aimed at ongoing programmes rather than one-off trips.
• Creative New Zealand: occasionally relevant where a camp has a significant arts or cultural strand, though this isn’t its typical use case.
• DOC and regional council environmental education funds: some regional councils run small, local funds for transport or activities linked to conservation or environmental education sites. Horizons Regional Council’s Environmental Education Transport Fund (up to $500 per year toward bus or van costs for trips to approved conservation sites) is a good example of the kind of small, region-specific fund worth checking for in your own area.
• COGS (Community Organisation Grants Scheme): worth knowing about, but it generally excludes schools directly, since it’s aimed at non-profit community organisations rather than educational institutions. It may be relevant if your camp is being run through a separate incorporated parent or community group rather than the school itself.

Local Trusts, Service Clubs and Sponsorship

Alongside the larger trusts, don’t overlook lower-key local options: they’re often faster to secure and easier to build an ongoing relationship with:

• Lions, Rotary and other local service clubs, who frequently support youth development activities including camp costs for specific students
• Local business sponsorship: a hardware store covering gear hire, a supermarket contributing food, a local bus company offering a discounted rate in exchange for a mention in the school newsletter
• Marae, iwi or hapū-affiliated trusts, where relevant to your community and the nature of the camp
• Parents and Friends associations or PTAs with their own discretionary funds

A short, specific ask works best: one page outlining the camp, the number of students involved, exactly what the funding or in-kind support would cover, and how the business or club will be acknowledged.

How to Apply: A Practical Process

1. Know your shortfall first. Use your camp budget to work out exactly what family payments and any planned fundraising won’t cover: funders respond better to a specific, justified figure than a vague request for “support.”
2. Confirm your applying entity. Most trusts expect an application from the school’s Board of Trustees or an incorporated society (such as a PTA), not an individual teacher.
3. Apply to more than one funder for the same shortfall. Not every application succeeds, and most schools that fund camps this way are drawing on two or three sources rather than one.
4. Frame it around access, not just cost. Applications that explain how funding lets specific students attend who otherwise couldn’t tend to land better than requests to subsidise the camp generally.
5. Keep your paperwork. Retain invoices and attendance records for the specific costs the grant covered: you’ll need them for the acquittal, and a clean acquittal history makes your next application easier.
6. Say thank you. A short note or photo (with appropriate permissions) back to the funder after the camp costs little and matters more than it seems: many trusts fund repeat applicants from schools that report back well.

Bringing It Together

Once you’ve got a shortfall figure and know which of the above you’re pursuing, fold the numbers back into your camp budget so the final cost to families reflects what grants and fundraising have actually covered: see Budgeting and Funding Your School Camp for how to build and communicate that budget, and Planning a School Camp: Where to Start if you’re setting up the camp from scratch.

For a spreadsheet that turns this into a working budget with a built-in grants tracker, see our free Camp Budget & Costing template.