Who can apply

Established New Zealand-based organisations that have an arts focus. This includes:

• schools and kura kaupapa Māori
• marae
• youth development organisations
• churches
• other similar types of organisations.

Eligibility for Toi Rangatahi Engagement Fund

The project must:

• be by, with and/or for young people 15 - 25 years of age. The project may also include participants just outside of this age range. Refer to our definition under See What's Funded below.
• go beyond the scope of business as usual for the arts organisations or the providers. It must extend an existing project or be a new project.
• show how the proposed project or programme will be developed in partnership between the arts organisation and young people between 15-25 years.
• include a statement detailing how you will ensure your project adheres to best practice standards for working with young people. Refer to the following:
  • Our Funding guidelines - Young New Zealanders
  • Our Community Arts Toolkit tip sheet to keep your project and people safe (pdf 103KB)
  • Ministry of Youth Development best practice standards for working with young people

Also:

• If you are applying from a public museum or art gallery read our guidelines on what is eligible: Funding guidelines - Public museums and galleries
• Projects in or with schools must not duplicate Ministry of Education funding or activity delivered by teachers (including itinerant staff) as defined in a school’s annual curriculum and teaching programme. Applications must include:
  • A letter of support from the school that confirms the activities go beyond or extend existing programmes, and confirmation of the partnership with artists/arts organisations, where relevant.

Project timing

Your project, or the stage of it for which you are seeking funding, must:

• start after 3 April 2020
• be completed by 3 April 2021.

Benefits and track record

To be eligible for Creative New Zealand funding:

• Your project or activities must directly benefit New Zealand arts, artists or practitioners.
• You must have a track record of experience and success — this means you must have: 
  • recognition from peers or experts
  • achieved a degree of critical or sales success
  • specialised training or practical experience.

For more information about track record requirements for your artform see our Funding guidelines - the artforms we support

If you don't have the track record we're looking for, you may be able to get funding through the Creative Communities Scheme

How often you can apply

You can make one Toi Rangatahi Engagement Fund application in a funding round. You can apply for the other two Toi Rangatahi funds for another project if you meet the criteria of each fund, however each application must be for a different project.

Re-applying for the same project

Email Funding Services to check whether you are eligible to resubmit a previously declined application. For more detail visit our Funding guidelines - reapplying for the same project

Other Creative New Zealand funding

• Your project, or project phase, must not have received funding from any of our funding programmes or initiatives, including the Creative Communities Scheme.  
• Organisations in the Toi Tōtara Haemata and Toi Uru Kahikatea investment programmes are eligible to apply. But they must show how the activity:
  • will extend beyond what Creative New Zealand currently funds the organisation to deliver
  • offers additional delivery to our Investment Strategy Te Ara Whakamua 2018-2023
• Does your project involve organisations in our Toi Uru Kahikatea or Toi Tōtara Haemata investment programmes? Do you intend to partner with, or present at one of these organisations? If so, you must supply a letter from them that outlines their contribution to the project.

Breaches of agreements

We cannot consider an application if you, your organisation, or key members of your project team are in breach of the conditions of a current funding agreement, which includes missing the deadline for reporting on a previous grant.

For more information see our Funding guidelines – breaches of agreement

Purpose

Toi (arts) Rangatahi (youth, younger generation) is part of a five-year initiative, Young New Zealanders in the Arts established in 2018/19. In 2019/20 $750,000 is available across three funds:

Toi Rangatahi Engagement Fund (this fund)

Toi Rangatahi Participation Fund

Toi Rangatahi Leadership Fund

The Toi Rangatahi Engagement fund will increase opportunities for young New Zealanders (aged 15-25 years) to engage in high-quality arts experiences, with a focus on under-represented communities.

This Fund encourages arts organisations to increase engagement (participation and attendance) for young people. It will encourage positive attitudes towards New Zealand arts including traditional and contemporary ngā toi Māori and Pacific arts. It encourages companies and presenters to use best practice to work with young people to increase the relevance of their programmes through co-design and participation.

What we fund

Projects must be by, with and/or for young people 15-25 years of age. Activities could include workshops/wananga, the creation of new work, performances or exhibitions.

What are arts activities BY, WITH and/or FOR?

Arts activities by young people are arts experiences that are participatory, driven, owned, created, programmed, presented and/or delivered by young people. The young people may be mentored or taught by experienced artists. If there is a presentation outcome this is specifically aimed at young audiences, their whānau and communities.

Arts activities with young people refer to participatory arts learning experiences. These could be workshops or work involving experienced artists/artist mentors working alongside young people. The activities are often part of programmes to open and explore access to art forms or genres. They may provide access to an arts organisation.

Arts activities for young people refer to arts experiences programmed especially for young people. These are often open to whānau and communities, and led or delivered by experienced artists and practitioners who are usually adults. The key outcome is usually a presentation that is targeted for young people (audience engagement) rather than active participation.

Young New Zealanders we want to reach 

We have used results from our recent research to identify the young New Zealanders we want to reach most through this fund. These people are outlined below.

People aged 15-25 years who are:

• less positive and more neutral towards the arts than all New Zealanders
• less enthusiastic as to the quality of the arts in New Zealand, and less likely to feel proud of international success stories.

People aged 15-25 who would get more involved if:

• there were more arts events that appealed to them
• they could go with someone/had someone to go with
• they believed arts events were of a high quality
• they knew there would be more people like them going
• they felt welcome.

For the purposes of this fund, these people are seen as under-represented when it comes to engaging with the arts. We have defined under-represented as those needing barriers to be removed in order to increase engagement.

Applications can focus on other under-represented communities.

You can find our research at New Zealanders and the Arts 2017 and Audience Atlas New Zealand 2017

What we don’t fund

• Activities that another Creative New Zealand funding programme or initiative is designed to support.
• Activities funded by other government agencies.
• Education resources and activities that are part of a course of study in New Zealand including early learning, school or further education.
• Game design, fashion design and commercial design.
• Purchase of capital items, renovating or buying buildings, or restoring marae.
• Activities that are part of the core business of a Tertiary Education Organisation (TEO).
• Activities that are part of the core business of a territorial local authority or Council Controlled Organisation.

For more information see our Funding guidelines – what we don’t fund

Additional activity guidelines and advice

Specific requirements and guidelines apply to some activities so you must check if any are relevant to your application. For more information see our Funding guidelines - activity guidelines and advice

Contact funding services if you have questions.

What we assess your application on

Idea

Is it a strong idea? We look for the following indicators:

• The idea is well developed.
• The delivery to the identified under-represented community or communities is appropriate for the artistic project.
• Best practice guidelines for working and partnering with young people have been carefully applied to this project.

Viability

Can it be achieved? We look for the following indicators:

• The process to achieve the idea is realistic and well planned.
• Costs and revenue are realistic.
• The budget is thorough with appropriate levels of confirmed contributions from applicants and/or other partners.
• The people involved have sufficient expertise to deliver this project.

Strategic fit

Does it deliver to Creative New Zealand outcomes? We look for the following indicators:

• The project delivers to the selected strategic outcome.
• The artistic outcome and/or participant experience is likely to be of high quality.
• The project will increase opportunities for young New Zealanders (aged 15-25 years) to engage in high-quality arts experiences

Creative New Zealand strategic outcomes

In your application you must choose one of these Creative New Zealand strategic outcomes to be assessed on:

• New Zealanders participate in the arts
• High-quality New Zealand art is developed
• New Zealanders experience high-quality arts
• New Zealand arts gain international success
• New Zealand’s arts sector is resilient.

See Purpose under See what's funded to guide you.

Scoring your application

Our assessors use the following assessment scale to score Idea, Viability and Strategic Fit:

7 – Excellent – Exceeds all indicators
6 – Very Good – Satisfies all indicators and exceeds in two
5 – Good – Satisfies all indicators and exceeds in one
4 – Acceptable – Satisfies all indicators
3 – Minor reservations – Satisfies two indicators only
2 – Major reservations – Satisfies one indicator only
1 – Unacceptable – Does not meet the indicators

Who assesses your application

External peer assessors will assess your application. External peer assessors are selected based on their experience in an artform and represent the diversity within our applicants. In accordance with our legislation, Māori and Pasifika assessors will be used to assess applications to our Māori and Pacific funds or artforms. Recommendations are made to Creative New Zealand’s Senior Manager for Arts Development Services for a decision.

Nominate peer assessors for our funding programmes

External peer assessors are asked to evaluate a range of applications made to Creative New Zealand’s funding programmes and initiatives against specific criteria.

Peer Assessor nomination form (doc 167KB)

Peer Assessor terms and conditions (pdf 259KB)

We will email all applicants their result seven weeks after the application closing date. We will notify applicants on Friday 3 April 2020.

We also list successful applicants on Who got funded

If you are successful we will email you about:

• your funding agreement
• payment schedule
• reporting requirements.

A project completion report is required within 12 weeks of the project end date. To be considered for further funding, your report needs to be submitted on time.

Login to report online

For more information or advice:

• phone 0800 273 284
• email funding@creativenz.govt.nz​