COVID-19 – Our Update #2: $2M COVID-19 Response Fund Earmarked

Announcements

Kia ora tatou,

Just like you, the Otago Community Trust team are now in COVID-19 (Coronavirus) lockdown. 

We appreciate how challenging and difficult this moment in our history is and we share the concern you all may be experiencing with how this will impact our communities.

Otago Community Trust is not deemed to be an essential service, whilst our office is closed our staff are working remotely. We wish to reassure our grantees and partners that we are committed to business as usual, providing appropriate support throughout this period of uncertainty.

At this point in time we wish to update and let you know the following information:

Grant Applications

• We are committed to business as usual, providing appropriate support throughout this period of heightened risk and uncertainty.
• Our grants portal remains open for grant applications and we are committed to being flexible with our granting process over the coming months.

• If you have an application already into us you should expect to receive a decision from us within the normal 6 to 8 week turnaround time. Our March meeting was postponed to the 30th March.
• If you no longer wish to proceed with your application or wish to delay to sometime in the future please let us know.
• Some Grantees have indicated to us that they may wish to defer their project. If you have not yet picked up your grant from us then we will be contacting you over the coming weeks to discuss your project timing.
• We will continue to honour all of our multi-year funding obligations.

Grants Already Approved

• We recognise some projects, events, activities and festivals which we have already approved funding towards have been cancelled, while others are postponed or delayed.
• Wherever possible our grant should be used for the purpose for which it was granted. If that is not possible, you are free to use grant funds on a pro rata basis (against your original budget) to cover (a) costs already incurred and (b) additional amounts incurred in winding up the festival or event. If you expect to need to use more of our funds in connection with a cancelled event you can contact us to discuss.
• After a festival or event is unwound or a decision not to proceed has been made, we will seek a brief report explaining the use of our funds. Where some or all of our grant funding remains you can continue to hold that pending further discussion with us.
• We will consider approving on a case by case basis current applications for cancelled festivals and events to recognise that costs may already have been incurred.
• Please feel free to make contact with the Trust to discuss your particular circumstances. The best person to contact for all Grant related queries is our Grants Manager, Sue Stewart.

Accountability and Milestone Reporting

• We appreciate it may be difficult to provide your accountability and milestone reports to us within agreed timeframes, rest assured we understand your position and will not penalise you if these are late arriving.

Connecting With Us

• The most reliable way to contact us right now is via email: info@oct.org.nz
• Our 0800 10 12 40 number is available Monday through to Friday.
• Alternatively you can contact either: 

* Barbara Bridger, Chief Executive – barbara@oct.org.nz 
* Sue Stewart, Grants Manager – sue@oct.org.nz

Our Investments and Grants Budget

Our investment portfolio is robust, it is designed to navigate good and bad years and the current challenging financial downturn. 

We have a good level of accumulated-income reserves in place to support Otago at this time. We will be setting our Grants budget soon for the coming year and maintain our commitment to supporting our local communities.

Keep Up to Date

• We will continue to communicate with you regularly. Our updates will be sent directly to you or can be accessed on our website – www.oct.org.nz
• You can continue to check on funding progress through our portal – www.oct.fluxx.io

COVID-19 Response Fund

We anticipate that a number of organisations may be facing increased costs or responding to greater need as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown. 

In relation to this, we are working hard on developing a COVID-19 Response Fund. Through this fund we hope to be able to support our communities through these unprecedented times. At this point in time the Trust has earmarked a separate $2 million dollar response fund outside of our regular granting budget.

The Trust is still developing the COVID-19 Response Fund, and how we can deliver it within current constraints and the rapidly changing environment. We will provide more information on the criteria and application process in the near future.

 

Thank you for all that you do. 

We will get through this together.

 

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

Be strong, be brave, be steadfast

Otago Community Trust