The District Promotion fund is for the purpose of ‘event sponsorship’. It is not a grant. Waipa District Council is keen to assist with the promotion of events that contribute towards the increased well-being of its ratepayers and residents. ‘Increased well-being’ can be in the form of (but is not limited to) social, economic and cultural benefits. Read the press release.
The District Promotion Fund is a finite resource that needs to be spent wisely. It is also ‘public money’ which demands a high degree of accountability. For this reason, ‘eligibility criteria’ have been developed to assist Council in identifying appropriate events.
Eligibility
Eligibility criteria are necessary for a number of reasons. Firstly, it provides transparency and accountability to Council (and in turn, to ratepayers). Secondly, it enables applicants to better understand the outcomes being sought by Council policies. And thirdly, the eligibility criteria also provides a framework to ensure consistency in the processing of applications.
The principal component of the eligibility criteria is a ‘Justification and Sustainability Report’ (JSR). This enables applications to get ‘a foot in the door’, in order that the merits of the event can be gauged against specific assessment criteria.
The JSR is required to demonstrate the following:
- That the event has the potential to increase the well-being of Waipa residents by promoting the district as an attractive place to live, work or invest in or visit. The increased well-being for residents and ratepayers is the rationale for the Promotion Fund. Whilst it is acknowledged that ‘increased well-being’ can take the form of many guises, it is essential that all applications can relate their proposal to this primary objective. If the proposed event does not relate to ‘increased well-being’, then the Promotion Fund is not the appropriate source of sponsorship.
- The extent to which measurable outcomes (including economic indicators) will be used for post event records. It is not enough to assume that your event will ‘increase well-being’. Thought should be given as to how this might be demonstrated. The rationale for quantifiable outcomes is to enable an objective assessment of whether objectives are being achieved.
In addition to providing a degree of accountability, it enables Council to determine whether its investment is providing adequate returns. Examples of measurable outcomes might include ‘sales/takings’, ‘attendance figures’, ‘overnight-stays and ‘average spend per person’. All successful applicants will be required to distribute and collect attendee questionnaires, which will be supplied by Council. Event organisers should budget for this requirement.
- The means by which Council will get the appropriate sponsor recognition. As with any other commercial sponsor, Council expects appropriate recognition for the investment it has made. This might be in the form of signage located at the event itself. It might be in the form of recognition through event advertising.
In addition to the above the JSR must also confirm:
- That the proposed event is to be located (and funding spent within) Waipa District. The purpose of the fund is, first and foremost, to benefit Waipa’s ratepayers and residents.
- That a minimum 60% cash from other sources has been confirmed prior to Council releasing sponsorship monies. ‘District development’ and ‘community well-being’ is the responsibility of a number of agencies, not only Council. Council advocates a partnership approach to achieving these ends, and for this reason echoes that approach in its apportionment of funding. Successful applicants are likely to be those that can demonstrate sponsorship from a variety of sources.
- That Council will be supplied with post-event data (including final event budget, accounts, outcomes achieved etc) within 3 months of the event completion. While the quality and nature of ‘post-event data’ will inevitably vary, depending upon the scale of the event proposed, all events should have quantifiable outcomes, and access to feedback from the participants and/or public. If applicants are unable to specify data prior to any event, and/or are unwilling to source the information subsequent to that event, then they should not source funding form Council. The attendee questionnaires will form part of the post-event data.
- The extent of support (financial or otherwise) from other stakeholders. It is not proposed that Council sponsor events in their entirety. Council’s contribution is intended as ‘a leg up’ and a means of assisting sponsor momentum. In order to prioritise sponsorship objectively, it is critical that applicants disclose contributions from other stakeholders. The intent of the Promotion Fund is to provide opportunity for a wide spectrum of events. It is not intended that the funds be monopolised by long-established events which have little difficulty accessing funds from other sources.
Assessment Criteria
Applications satisfying ‘eligibility criteria’ (above) are further considered relative to ‘assessment criteria’. This includes, but is not restricted to:
- Consistency with Council policies
- Compatibility with Council’s infrastructure
- Compatibility with existing branding
- The level of sponsorship sought
- The duration of funding sought
- The extent to which outcomes can be measured
- The extent to which the event is based upon, or promotes existing district or community strengths
- The extent to which the event has broad community appeal
- The extent to which the event might benefit from Council sponsorship ‘in kind’
- The extent to which sponsorship is for ‘seeding purposes’
- The applicant’s ability to source other funding
- Scheduling compatibility with other community events
- The ‘track-record’ of previously sponsored events
Although successful applications are expected to have underlying characteristics in common (e.g. ‘increasing the well-being of residents and ratepayers’), they will also vary in nature and scale. For this reason, it is considered appropriate to categorise events into one of two ‘levels’. The ‘category level’ gives an indication of the event’s status within the District, and also the level of sponsorship available. If successful, your application will be classified according to the following:
Level 1: Large scale public events with genuine potential for growth. These are likely to be potential world-class events seeking national or international markets.
Level 2: Medium sized public events with the potential for growth and the ability to generate economic benefit. These are likely to have a strong regional or community focus. They typically attract a maximum contribution level of $5000 or 40% of the event cost, whichever is the smaller.
The more detailed, focussed and complete the JRS, the greater the likelihood of success. Incomplete applications are unlikely to be progressed further.
Council’s decision is final and, subsequent to issuing of decision (one way or another), no further correspondence will be entered into. Decisions on all funding rounds are reported to full Council. The officer’s report is a public document.
Click here to download a copy of the Eligability and Assessment criteria (PDF 43KB).
Forms
Application Form 2007 (PDF 62KB)
Accountability Report 2007 (PDF 51KB)
If you have further queries please contact:
Phyllis Huitema
Economic Development Manager
Waipa District Council
Private Bag 2402
TE AWAMUTU 3840