Applying for a grant

You apply from a grant's Landing Page, or from the Grants section of your Dashboard. Your registration needs to be approved first; see Registering.

Labels that name Grant, Application and Eligibility use your organisation's own term if you've renamed it.

Find the grant

On your Dashboard, under Grants, select View Grant to read a grant's Landing Page, or Apply for this Grant to start straight away.
A Landing Page link the organisation shared opens the same page. If you aren't signed in, Apply takes you to sign in first.

The Landing Page shows when the grant closes (Closes and the date, or Always open). A grant you can't apply to says This round is closed or This round is not available to your account. If the grant isn't open to your type of applicant, it says so: the grant is not open to your applicant type.

Preview the form before you start

Many grants let you read the whole application form before you apply. Under the Landing Page, select Preview the form to see every page, section and question, with:

* on each required question, and its limits, such as Up to 250 words;
Asked only if "<question>" is "<answer>" on a question that depends on an earlier answer;
You can add up to <n> on a section you can repeat.

The preview is blank and read-only: nothing you do there starts an application. Select Download blank form (PDF) to save the same form as a PDF. If it says Preparing your PDF…, wait a moment; if it is still preparing after a minute, select Try again. You don't need to be signed in to preview a public grant's form.

Ask about this round

Some grants let you ask questions about the round. This appears only when the organisation has turned it on for the round. Look for Ask about this round under the Landing Page, and beside the application form while you fill it in. If you aren't signed in, select Sign in to ask first.

Type your question under Your question and select Ask.
The answer comes from the round's published Landing Page and guideline documents only. Under Sources it lists each document and section it came from, with the passage, so you can check the answer yourself.
If the documents don't answer it, the panel says so and shows the funder's email address, or asks you to contact the funder through the Landing Page.

Beside the application form you can also select Check my answers against the guidelines. You get hints, each marked Hint — not a decision, that point to a published criterion. Your answers are sent with the check only if you tick Include my current answers.

Every answer and hint says AI-generated from the published guidelines; it is not a decision. Only the organisation decides your application. You can ask up to 30 questions a round each day, and the panel shows how many you have left. If the panel says Help is unavailable until tomorrow., try again the next day.

Answer the eligibility questions

Some grants ask eligibility questions before you can start an application. Selecting Apply opens Eligibility questions. Your answers save as you go. When you submit them, you see one of:

You are eligible — select Start Application.
You are not eligible — your answers don't meet the grant's rules. Answer again lets you change them where the grant allows it.
Your answers are being reviewed — the organisation checks them and emails you. If it finds you eligible, the email's link starts your application.

Start from a previous application

If the grant allows it and your organisation has applied before, Apply for this Grant first asks how you want to start:

Start a new Application opens a blank form.
Start from a previous Application lists your earlier applications with their title, grant and status (and number, if your funder shows numbers). Choose one and select Start.

The new application opens with a banner such as Copied 12 answers from Creek planting 2025. Each copied answer is marked Copied until you change it. Some fields are never copied: fields the funder marked not to copy, file uploads unless the grant copies files, and referee requests. Check every copied answer before you submit.

Fill in the form

Apply for this Grant starts your application and opens its form. If you act for more than one organisation, the application is for the one named in Applying on behalf of: switch first if you need to.

Answers the funder links to your registration are filled in for you and marked From your profile. You can change them; the mark goes once you do.
While the application is a draft, Refresh from profile fills those answers again from your current registration, for example after you've updated your details. It never replaces an answer you've changed, and says how many answers it refreshed.
While a grant with a closing date is open, the top of the form shows how long is left, such as Closes in 3 days 4 hours, or Closes in 42 minutes in the last hour. If the organisation gave you late access, it counts down to your own deadline instead.
The form may have several pages. Move between them with the page controls.
Your answers save automatically. You can leave and come back: find the application under Applications and select Edit Application.
Fields marked * are required.
We check some answers as you leave the field, such as an email address. If one isn't valid, a message such as Enter a valid email address shows beside it, and goes as soon as you correct it. Your answer still saves, so you can fix it later, but you can't submit until it's valid.
Where the organisation has turned the business registers on, a field for your ABN, NZBN or New Zealand charity number looks the number up when you leave it, and answers linked to the register fill in for you. Registering explains the card it shows.

Ask for help

If the organisation uses conversations, each page of the form has Ask for help under it. Select it to open your application's Conversation with your message already started, such as About page 2 — Budget:. Finish your question and select Send. The organisation sees which page you asked about and replies in the same conversation, which we tell you about.

You can ask while your application is still a draft. Once you've sent a message, View Conversation on your application opens the conversation too.

Placing an address on the map

Some address questions show Place on the map under them. Enter the address first; until you do, it says Enter the address before you place a pin on the map. Once the address is saved, the line under it says where the address was found, and:

Select Drop a pin, or Move pin if the address already has a point.
Drag the pin to the right place and let go. It saves straight away and says Pin saved.
Or type the Latitude and Longitude and select Save pin. This also works with a keyboard, and in a browser that can't show the map.

Your pin is used instead of the point found from the address. Select Close map when you're done. You can't move the pin once the form is locked or submitted.

Saving your work

Your answers save a moment after you stop typing, and the bottom of the form says All changes saved once they have.

If your internet connection drops, it says Offline — your changes will save when you reconnect. Keep going: nothing you've typed is lost, and your answers save themselves as soon as the connection is back. Leave the page open until it says All changes saved again, because answers waiting to save are held on this page, not on your device. You can't submit until they've saved.

If your draft will be withdrawn

Some organisations withdraw a draft nobody has edited for a while. If yours will be, you're sent Your application will be withdrawn seven days before, and the application and its form show a message such as This application will be withdrawn on 15 March 2027 because it has not been edited. Save a change to keep it. The date is in the organisation's time zone. Saving any change keeps the application, and the message goes as soon as the change is saved. If the message is about an information request, respond to the request instead.

Files you upload

A file you upload shows its name, which downloads it, and under it:

View opens the file full screen without downloading it. A PDF or an image (PNG, JPEG, GIF or WebP) shows in the viewer, with Zoom in, Zoom out and Fit to screen for an image. Other files, such as Word or Excel documents, say Preview not available: select Download instead. Very large files (over 8 MB) don't offer View; download them.
Version 2 of 2, for example, once you've replaced a file. Select History to see each version, who uploaded it and when, with Download for each.
While the application is a draft, Restore this version on an earlier version makes a copy of it the current file. The earlier version itself doesn't change. If the file changed since you opened the page, you're asked to reload.

Submit

Select Submit at the foot of the form. Until everything required is answered, Submit is unavailable and the form says Complete every field marked * before submitting., with Still to complete: and a link to each page.
Select Double-check my Application to read your whole application as it will be submitted, or Back to Application form to change something.
Select Submit, then Submit Application to confirm.

If the first page asks an eligibility question, a No can hide the remaining pages and Submit, and the form shows a message about why you can't apply. Change the answer to Yes to see the rest of the form and Submit again. Anything you already typed on those pages is kept.

You see Your Application has been submitted with your Application Number, unless your funder doesn't show application numbers, and we email you a confirmation. Select View Application to see it.

If the form asks for referees

Some forms ask you to name referees, or an organisation that agrees to auspice your application. See References, for applicants and referees.

If Submit is unavailable

This Grant is closed. — the grant's closing date has passed.
Confirm your email address to submit — enter the code from the confirmation email we sent you in Verification code and select Confirm my email address. No email? Select Resend confirmation instructions for a new code. You stay on the page, so select Submit again once it's confirmed. Signing in with a link we email you confirms it too. If you joined with your mobile number, your account has no email address yet: select Add your email address, add it under Email and password in your account, confirm it with the code we email you, then come back and select Submit.
Your late submission window has closed. — the organisation gave you late access after the grant closed, and the date it set has passed.
No Submit at all, and only the first page — your answer to the eligibility question on the first page means you aren't eligible, and the form shows the funder's message. Answering Yes brings the other pages and Submit back.