Grant Policy

BLUESKY COMMUNITY TRUST’S GRANTS POLICY

 
BlueSky Community Trust Limited has conducted an annual review of its criteria, methods, systems, and policies it uses for considering grants, no change was made.
Date of review: 17/11/2022.
 
Policy
 
Decision by Net Proceeds Committee

1. All final funding decisions are made by BlueSky Community Trust’s net proceeds committee (the “Committee”).

2. Grant applications found to be non-compliant will not be approved. In this context, “non-compliant” means grant applications that do not contain all the relevant information, are retrospective, where previous audit information has not been received, where a refund has not been returned, where there is a conflict of interest, where it does not comply with the authorised purpose of the BlueSky Community Trust, or where there is information that the applicant has received funding from other source(s) for the full amount needed for the purpose applied for here.
 
Authorised Purpose
 
3. Grants will only be made in accordance with BlueSky Community Trust’s Authorised Purpose.
 
Audit Requirement
 
4. Recipients of grant funding must return paid evidence and bank statements to BlueSky Community Trust immediately after the funds have been spent to complete the audit requirement. If these funds were not spent for the appropriate purpose, BlueSky Community Trust will request a refund of the full amount of the grant. If a funding surplus exists, the surplus must be returned to BlueSky Community Trust by bank transaction.

5. Where information is obtained by the Committee indicating that a grant recipient has received funding from other source(s) for the full amount needed for the purpose applied for here, the Committee will take reasonable steps to obtain a return of the money from the grant recipient.
 
Grant Application
 
6. Grants will not be approved unless the application is submitted to BlueSky Community Trust’s online system and includes:

(a) the applicant's name and contact details;
(b) the purpose of the applicant and the name and contact details (including a street address) of contact person;
(c) specific reasons for the grant application;
(d) the total amount of money sought;
(e) evidence supporting the total amount sought (for example, competitive quotes for goods or services to be paid for by the grant);
(f) whether the applicant has applied for funds for the same specific purpose from another source;
(g) whether the applicant is registered for GST and, if so, its GST number;
(h) the applicant's bank account details;
(i) a declaration by 2 representatives of the applicant confirming that -
(i) the information provided in the application form is true and correct to the best of their knowledge; and
(ii) they have the authority to make the application on behalf of the applicant.
 
Reasons
 
7. Grant applicants will be provided with reasons for BlueSky Community Trust’s decision if BlueSky Community Trust decides to decline a grant application.
 
Complaints
 
8. Complaints can be made to BlueSky Community Trust’s Managing Director by writing to the Trust.

9. Complaints about the conduct of BlueSky Community Trust may also be made to the Secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs at: PO Box 10-095, Wellington.
 
Grant Commitments – Multi-Year Grants
 
10. Grants shall only be made from available net proceeds. However, grants may be made by instalments in one or more years, if the following conditions are met:

● the grant commitment must not exceed 4 years; and
● the grant applicant must be made aware, on or before the time that the first instalment of the grant is paid, that payment of any future instalments of the grant is conditional on –
o BlueSky Community Trust continuing to hold a licence; and
o BlueSky Community Trust continuing to have available net proceeds; and
o the specific authorised purpose for which the grant was made continuing to be lawful; and
●each instalment of the grant must be re-confirmed by the net proceeds committee before payment; and
● the grant applicant must provide the net proceeds committee with documentary evidence that previous instalments of the grant have been spent for their intended purpose; and
● BlueSky Community Trust must disclose the existence of multi-year grants it has entered into in its financial accounts and publish the details of its multi-year grants with its other grant information in a newspaper and on its website.
 
Distribution Timing
 
11. A substantial portion of the net proceeds received during a financial year will be distributed to the community for Authorised Purposes on, at least, a quarterly basis.
 
12. All net proceeds received during a financial year will be distributed to the community for Authorised Purposes within three months following the end of that financial year.
 
Record Keeping
 
13. The following records shall be kept in a database format:
        (a) The date the grant application was received;
        (b) The date of the meeting/decision;
        (c) The name and contact details of the grant applicant;
        (d) The name and contact details of the person completing the grant application;
        (e) The purpose of the grant;
        (f) The amount of the grant;
        (g) The cheque number or direct bank payment transaction details;
        (h) Grant Request ID number.

14. The grant application and all supporting information will be retained by BlueSky Community Trust if the application is successful. Where the application is declined, the application and all supporting information will be returned to the applicant group.
 
Recognised Appeal Funds

15. Recognised appeal funds such as the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund, The Red Cross – 2011 Earthquake Appeal and The Christchurch Earthquake Appeal (NZ Government) are exempt from some of the requirements of this policy.