Money for the boring stuff that keeps communities running.
The Boring Fund Aotearoa is a community led grant fund started by three people who have spent years in the not-for-profit sector. It is collectively funded by everyday people. $500 grants for small non-profits. Only for the boring stuff. A random draw. No reporting.
Adapted with aroha from The Boring Fund, created in the UK by Christina Poulton.
Nobody funds the boring bits. We do.
Essential, unglamorous, and the hardest thing to get funded.
The boring bits are things like: Web hosting · Accountancy · Admin time · And other boring operational costs
$500. No strings. No reporting. No catch.
Help us fund 30 boring things
Our goal is to raise $15,000 to fund 30 microgrants of $500 each. Every $500 raised means one more community organisation gets help with the boring stuff that keeps their mahi going.
A kōrero about funding
It’s partly a funding experiment, partly making a point about the state of the funding system.
The everyday costs of running an organisation are the hardest to get funded.
Grant application and reporting processes take up precious time.
Community organisations know their mahi best and need boring funding to just get on with it.
We promise no long forms, no reporting. And we'll share anonymised insights on the need that comes our way after the round.
How it works
Five minutes, from your phone.
Koha (people chip in): Supporters give koha into the fund.
Apply (you apply): A short form. Tell us the boring thing you need pūtea for.
Picked (names drawn): Eligible applications go into a random draw.
Paid (money out): Grant paid. No reports. Done.
Who can apply
We're open across the motu to community-led mahi, grounded in te Tiriti. You need to be onboard with our values and you need to be attached to a registered charity in some way.
You can apply if you are
A registered charity or have your funds held with a registered charity (you need a number that starts with CC)
You need to be based and working in Aotearoa
You need to have annual operating payments of less than $140,000
This is not the fund for
Individuals or sole traders
For-profit businesses paying out profits
Schools or PTAs
Large, well-resourced organisations
Anyone with confirmed multi-year core funding
Our values
Manaaki first. Trust by default.
We recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi as foundational to Aotearoa and commit to working in ways that uphold mana, relationships, fairness and community self-determination.
We stand with takatāpui and rainbow communities, tangata whaikaha and disabled people, tangata whenua, migrant and former refugee communities, and everyone the system was not built for.
We believe funding should be simple, respectful and accessible — especially for the people and communities who are too often asked to prove, explain or justify their worth.
Boring is beautiful.
The timeline
1 July 2026 we are open for donations. Our goal is to raise $15,000 so we can give 30 microgrants. The more raised the more we can give.
1 September 2026 we'll open for applications.
30 September 2026 applications close.
Early October we'll draw the recipients, let them know and pay the money. We'll also release some insights about the need in our communities we identify from this.
The Boring People
The people behind this fund are:
Rochelle Stewart-Allen, The NGO Coach
Helen Anderson, General Manager of Volunteer Wellington, ex-Philanthropy Nerd and Dabbler
Jackson Lacy, Co-Chair of Youth in Philanthropy and Gift Trust Ops Specialist
Huge thanks to our comms champions Hilary Cook for website copy and Lou O'Reilly for PR support.
Email us at hello@boringfund.nz