What Funding and Support Does Creative New Zealand Offer?

Creative New Zealand (creativenz.govt.nz) is New Zealand's national arts development agency, and its site organises support into four broad areas: funding and support (opportunities, a funding calendar, and other funding sources), advice and support for applicants, investment programmes delivered through funding rounds, and awards, bursaries, fellowships, scholarships, and residencies. The right entry point depends on who you are — an early career artist, an established practitioner, or an arts organisation — and whether you are applying for project funding, a named award or residency, or simply looking for guidance before you apply.

Funding and support: start with your applicant type

The site separates its funding and support content by applicant type, which is the fastest way to find the opportunities that fit you:

• Early career artists
• Artists and practitioners
• Arts organisations and groups
• All opportunities — a combined view
• Funding calendar — timing for rounds and deadlines
• Other sources of funding and support — options beyond Creative New Zealand itself

If you are unsure where you fit, the "All opportunities" view plus the funding calendar gives you both the full list and the timing in one pass.

Advice and support before you apply

Creative New Zealand provides a structured pre-application pathway rather than leaving applicants to work it out alone. The site lists:

• Before you apply — preparation guidance
• Applicant types — which category applies to you
• Terms and Conditions of Funding — the rules that apply if you are funded
• Making an application — how the process works
• Use of Artificial Intelligence — guidance on AI in applications
• Speak with an adviser — direct access to advice
• Supported application service — help with the application itself
• CNZ portal help and Manage my CNZ account — technical support for the online portal

A practical sequence is: confirm your applicant type, read "Before you apply," check the Terms and Conditions, then contact an adviser or use the supported application service if anything is unclear. The portal help pages are there for account and submission problems rather than eligibility questions.

Investment programmes and funding rounds

Funding is delivered through investment programmes with published guidelines, assessed against stated assessment criteria, and run in funding rounds listed on the funding calendar. The site also publishes results and award winners, so you can see what has been funded previously — useful for judging the scale and type of work that gets supported.

Programme-level material includes programme and budget projections, 6-month reports, development goals, and financial year end reports, which reflects the reporting obligations that come with investment funding. If you receive funding, the site explains how to add an activity record to your report, including activity details and statistics and how to count activity statistics.

Bursaries, fellowships, scholarships, and residencies

This is the most extensive category on the site. Named opportunities listed include:

Each has its own purpose and eligibility, so treat the list as a map of what exists and then read the individual page for the one you are considering.

Awards recognising artists and practitioners

Creative New Zealand administers several award programmes:

• Arts Pasifika Awards
• Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement
• Te Waka Toi Awards

These recognise achievement rather than fund projects, and the site publishes award winners alongside results.

Organisational context worth knowing

The site's current focus is a 15-year strategy ("Tū Mai Rā: A Future Shaped Together") described in the page heading as a strategy "to strengthen the arts and ngā toi Māori," framed under "Looking ahead: Why we need to do things differently." For applicants, this signals that funding priorities are set within a long-term strategy — worth reading alongside the programme guidelines rather than instead of them.

There is also an advocacy section (Advocating for the arts) with tools and research, including Arts Funding 101, a fact finder for arts advocates, guidance on how to make a submission on local council plans, and Creative New Zealand's own submissions to councils. This is relevant if your goal is local or central government advocacy rather than an individual grant.

How to decide where to start

• You have a specific project idea → check the funding calendar and the investment programme guidelines, then the assessment criteria.
• You are early in your career → begin with the early career artists page and the "Before you apply" advice.
• You want time, space, or development rather than project money → look through the residencies, fellowships, and scholarships list.
• You need help with the application or portal → use the supported application service, speak with an adviser, or the CNZ portal help pages.
• You are advocating for arts funding locally → the advocacy tools and submission guidance are the relevant entry point.

One caution: the site does not publish prices or fees on the pages reviewed, and nothing there indicates that any opportunity is free or open without conditions. Eligibility, deadlines, and terms sit in each programme's own guidelines and the Terms and Conditions of Funding, so confirm those before committing time to an application.