Frequently asked questions

General questions about the fund

What is the Community Response Fund?

The Community Response Fund (CRF) is a short-term fund established to address immediate cost and demand pressures the economic downturn is placing on community-based critical social services. The CRF was initially open for two years and has now been extended for a further year as community organisations are still feeling the impact of the economic recession.

The CRF has two key components:

Financial Crisis Funding – for providers of critical social services who are experiencing severe financial difficulty and are unable to maintain the level of their services as a direct result of the impact of the economic downturn on their funding.

Demand Funding – for providers of critical social services who are experiencing significant increased demand for their services from families, children, young people and older people as a direct result of the economic downturn.

The demand funding category has previously included a separate category called “innovative response to meeting service demand. This is no longer available for CRF rounds 7, 8 and 9.

When Government considered extending the CRF for 2011/2012, it was decided to modify the criteria to exclude innovation as a separate category. It is expected all community organisations receiving Government funding will operate a continuous improvement programme – where they look for innovative, efficient and joined up ways to improve service delivery.

Since the original criteria were agreed in 2009, the Community Response Model (CRM) has been introduced. The CRM also includes a focus on encouraging innovation in service delivery. The innovation that was supported under the CRF in 2009-11 was limited to innovative responses to service pressures associated with the impact of the economic downturn. It was considered that innovation was better facilitated and funded through the CRM as it has a broader and longer-term focus on incentivising and encouraging innovation and improvements in family services.

How are critical social services defined?

"Critical" community-based social services for families, children, young people and older people are those that Government wants to see provided in communities to address:

• child abuse and neglect (eg services providing supervised access, community-based assessments, respite care and community-based intensive social support)
• family violence (eg crisis response and support services, treatment programmes, and services for child witnesses and victims)
• budget and financial advice
• sexual violence (eg crisis support and long-term recovery and support services)
• early intervention for vulnerable and at-risk children and families (eg targeted parenting programmes, intensive support for these children and families)
• families under stress (eg community-based family and social work support, refugee and migrant support services, social support for families in emergency housing)
• vulnerable and at-risk young people (eg mentoring services and services to stop youth from joining gangs)
• vulnerable and at-risk older people (eg elder abuse and neglect, social services to support the most vulnerable older people).

A critical social service is one that:

• Is focused on supporting, and emphasising the role of, families during times of difficulty e.g. family violence, child abuse and neglect, or financial stress
• Has a track record in social service delivery
• Contributes directly to the provision of social support and does not duplicate existing social services (unless there is a good reason for both to exist)
• The core business of the organisation is social service delivery, and it is generally funded as such.

What is the maximum amount available under the Fund?

The maximum amount of funding that will be awarded at any one time is $50,000, excluding GST, although there is facility for more to be granted in exceptional circumstances.

How many rounds are available for this year?

There will be three rounds available in the 2011/2012 year. The timetable for these rounds will be made available on the Community Response Fund section of the FACS website.

How much funding is available each round?

There is $25 million available for the 2011/2012 year - and it is anticipated that there will be approximately $8 million available for each round.

Why was the Fund extended for one more year? 

The Community Response Fund was extended for one year because the social services sector continued to be impacted by the effects of the 2008/2009 recession.

If a community organisation has already received a grant under the Community Response Fund can they apply again for funding?

Providers of critical services who have already received a grant from the fund can apply for assistance once their current grant has expired. Alternatively, providers can apply if they are experiencing additional demand that is not currently being met through their existing grant. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are experiencing increased demand for their services and/or financial pressures as a result of the economic downturn.

Will the Fund be available next financial year?

The extension of the Community Response Fund is only for one year up to 30 June 2012. It is not expected to be extended beyond this time.

Will income received from fundraising be considered as a way to address the funding pressures?

The Community Response Fund expects that all forms of income an organisation receives are able to go towards supporting service delivery.

If we are applying under the financial crisis category, could the fund contribute toward debt servicing? For instance, if an organisation is in dire straits and had to go to a bank to get a loan to pay salaries.

Funding from the Community Response Fund can be applied to debt servicing.

What are the very exceptional circumstances that an organisation might get a grant for $100,000 from the Community Response Fund?

Exceptional circumstances are likely to vary between applicants and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In determining whether exceptional circumstances exist, Regional Panels or the National Panel will consider factors such as the extent to which the circumstances presented by the applicant differ significantly from those of other applicants and whether the impact of the recession is disproportionate compared with other providers or communities.

Please define "significant" in terms of the fund.

The application criteria for “significantly increased demand” is set out in the information made available to applicants. There are specific criteria that need to be addressed depending on the type of funding sought as well as general criteria that all applicants need to address. Please see the Fund criteria and the Information for Applicants document for more information.

For financial crisis funding, applicants need to demonstrate how the additional funding will assist providers to remain viable and continue to deliver critical social services. Applicants must also show that they are experiencing severe financial difficulties as a direct result of the impact of the economic downturn on their funding (eg philanthropic contributions and/or profits from investments have reduced significantly due to the economic downturn).

For demand funding, applicants need to demonstrate in their proposal how the additional funding will assist providers to manage significant increases in demand for services not already covered by existing grants or contracts (eg increased waiting lists, increased referrals).

About the application process

Can you apply for funding under the Community Response Fund while you are waiting to hear about the outcome of a funding application from a community trust.

Yes – you can apply for the Community Response Fund as long as you meet the criteria.

How can an organisation be financially viable and suffering severe financial difficulty at the same time?

A viable organisation has strong governance and management systems, is financially sound and, in normal circumstances, has no trouble operating.

We would expect an organisation that is financially viable to have planned for unexpected events by having at least three months of operating reserves available.

Why does the Community Response Fund application requires so much information for a small amount of funding?

We have endeavoured to make the application form as manageable as possible but the information we seek is necessary to enable us to assess the application against the criteria.

As $50,000 is a considerable amount of money, we need to make sure proposals fit with the intent of the Fund and that we have enough information to satisfy the Public Finance Act.

We are always interested in feedback from providers about the application process and will take this into account to ensure the application process is as manageable as possible in future funding rounds. Providers can send their feedback to us by email (crfapplications@msd.govt.nz) or phone (0800 777 100).

Does a provider have to hold Child, Youth and Family approval for their service in order to get funding under the Community Response Fund?

In general, the delivery of services to children and young people are covered under the Children, Young People and Their Families Act which requires providers to hold CYF approval. 

If you have another standard of approval – ie Ministry of Justice – you need to advise us of this.  In the case of providers who do not hold these approvals, this will be decided on a case-by-case basis.  

Will the Community Response Fund cover operational costs, and can you define what these include?

The Community Response Fund covers the costs associated with delivering a critical service. These are the operational costs that are directly affected by the economic downturn and that are covered by the term of the grant. It will not cover ongoing operational costs past the duration of the fund.

Operational costs are the normal costs that an organisation meets day to day to keep running such as rent, salaries, utilities, stationery, and marketing.

The funding cannot be used by organisations to support their public advocacy role, for providing general information and advice (eg educational and publicity material, and events), or to support umbrella organisations.

The application form states that you require two years of annual audited accounts. However, many small community organisations do not get their accounts audited because of the cost but get them reviewed by a chartered accountant. Would it be OK to send these instead?

The Community Response Fund Regional Panels will accept the following forms of financial statements:

• Audited accounts
• Accounts reviewed by a Chartered Accountant if the organisations constitution allows this.

Can organisations apply to cover the costs of volunteers?

Costs relating to the management and administration of volunteers are accepted under the fund.

About who is eligible

Are national organisations that deliver critical social services throughout New Zealand eligible to apply for the Community Response Fund?

The fund is designed to address local needs through local service delivery and applications will require evidence of local support.

National organisations which contract and deliver their services locally and meet the criteria are being encouraged to support their regions to apply. Each regional application will be eligible for up to $50,000.

However, organisations with no local service delivery contract will be able to make a consolidated application if they operate within a single national contract and if their finances are managed nationally.  In these circumstances we would not expect the $50,000 limit to apply to the grant as a whole.

To avoid duplication, nationally contracted organisations can apply either regionally or nationally but they cannot submit applications for both processes.

Are umbrella groups covered by the Community Response Fund, if not, why not?

The Community Response Fund is designed to directly support the delivery of services to families, children, young people, and older people. Umbrella groups providing services directly to families can apply. The fund is not available for support services provided by umbrella groups to their affiliated members.

Organisations that are members of umbrella groups are able to apply directly to the fund.

Are disability services eligible for Community Response Fund funding?

Disability services that are focused on one or more of the critical service areas eligible for funding and that meet the fund criteria can apply. For example, disability services that provide family support to prevent family breakdown due to difficulty linked to the economic downturn  and which are facing significant demand or severe financial pressures due to the recession could apply for funding.

Please note that, as primary, secondary, and tertiary health and education services, and early childhood education, are specifically excluded from the fund, as it is not intended to supplement funding from these sectors.

Will the Community Response Fund cover any health services at all?

The fund does not cover primary, secondary, or tertiary health services. It is specifically for providers who deliver critical social services. Please see the Fund criteria and the Information for Applicants document for more information on critical social services.

Will the Community Response Fund cover any education services such as parenting education?

The Community Response Fund is specifically for community-based providers who deliver critical social services. It does not cover general advice and information including educational material.  

About the assessment process

How are the Community Response Fund community representatives chosen?

Regional panels to consider applications for funding from the Community Response Fund will consist of representatives of government funding agencies and from community agencies already operating across the critical social support services sector.

We have used local networks from within government and across the NGO and philanthropic sectors to identify people with the community knowledge needed.

Community representatives will have a good knowledge of the social support sector but will need to be seen to have no vested interest in the organisations making applications.

Can I apply for costs I have already incurred because of increased demand for our service?

No. The fund is only for significant recent increases in demand or severe financial pressures that result from the recession. It is not designed to cover pre-existing or longstanding shortfalls in funding.

Any grant received through the fund must either be to: 

• replace funding lost as a result of the recession which is necessary to ensure the viability of your organisation; and/or
• address significant pressures for additional services that are a result of the recession.

Who assesses my application and how will I know it is a fair process?

Applications will be assessed by Regional Panels. Funding is limited and not all applications will be successful. There will be a process to: 

• identify applications that best meet Government's social service priorities
• ensure equity in the decisions that are made
• ensure that there is no current capacity in the community to meet these needs.

To assist their decision-making, MSD will provide the Panels with information on:

• applicants' current funding (known to MSD)
• known service pressures and existing capacity to meet these pressures
• applicants' past performance
• the extent to which the applicant is demonstrating effective links to other community services
• the extent to which the applicant meets Government's priorities for critical social services.

Where MSD does not hold this information, it may approach other funders for this information.

Will I have to report under the Community Response Fund?

Yes. Reporting requirements will be simple and reflect the amount of funding provided.

Do I have to return unspent money?

Yes.

How will I know that I have been successful in my application?

All applicants will be advised by letter about whether or not they have been successful.

Where do I go if I need to find out more about the Community Response Fund?

For further information please contact the CYF/FACS Regional Funding Advisor in your area. You can also contact 0800 777 100 or look at the Family and Community Services website.