Fundraising for one person’s trip

Individual's overseas trip or world champs campaign

A full plan for one athlete, performer or student going to a world champs or overseas event: personal donations and a Givealittle page, local sponsors, what their club can legally do, and what an individual is not allowed to run.

1. Budget the trip in full (flights, entry, accommodation, uniform, insurance) and set a target with a deadline matching the payment dates.
2. Write the story once: why this event, what it took to get selected, what you will bring back; use it in every letter and page.
3. Start with family and friends: personal letters or messages asking for a specific amount (see ‘Family and friends sponsorship’).
4. Set up a personal Givealittle page and share it with the story and progress updates; say clearly that donations are not tax-deductible.
5. Approach 10-20 local businesses with a short sponsorship offer (logo on training top, social posts, a talk to staff after the trip), priced and in writing.
6. Ask your club or school what it can do: a contribution from club funds, acting as umbrella for grant applications, or a club-run raffle or event for its rep travel fund (see ‘Applying through an umbrella organisation’, ‘Club contribution to an individual member's trip’).
7. Apply to funders that accept individuals or will pay via an umbrella body: service clubs, Masonic trusts, some community trusts and RST scholarships (see ‘Grants and scholarships open to individuals’); ask for part of the cost, not all.
8. Earn what you can: odd jobs, baking pre-orders, a part-time job; these are the individual's own income, not gambling.
9. Do not run your own raffle, 50/50 draw or 'win a prize' competition; if you want one, ask the club to run it for a club purpose.
10. Keep a simple ledger of every dollar and thank every donor and sponsor before and after the trip with photos and results.

Tips

• A smaller, specific ask works better with trusts: Scouts NZ suggests asking for around $5,000 and showing you are fundraising the rest (Scouts NZ WSJ).
• Funders may prefer to pay the national team or contingent, not the person; tell the team manager so the payment is credited to you (Scouts NZ WSJ).
• A part-time job is often the best return per hour; Scouts NZ notes 8 hours a week at a starting wage of $18.80 is about $528 a month (Scouts NZ WSJ).

Watch out for

• Running a personal raffle on Facebook: it breaches the Gambling Act and can get the page reported and the money questioned.
• Promising donors a tax receipt you cannot give.
• Leaving it too late: grant rounds close months before the trip and clubs decide at monthly meetings.

Rules and permissions

• No personal raffle: a class 2 lottery (prizes up to $5,000, turnover up to $25,000) 'must only be run by a society' with proceeds to authorised purposes. An individual may run only class 1 gambling (prizes and turnover $500 or less) and then 'all the profit... must be used for the prizes', so it cannot raise money (DIA Classes of Gambling).
• Authorised purposes must be charitable or non-commercial and of community benefit; DIA says grants to individuals 'should be avoided because they often constitute personal gain', though travel to 'a genuine amateur sporting tournament' with actual and reasonable costs can qualify (DIA). So a club can run a raffle for a club purpose such as its representative travel fund, decided and paid by the club, not a raffle 'for Sam'.
• Donations to an individual or a Givealittle page for an individual do not qualify for the donation tax credit (see ‘Givealittle page’).
• Income tax: gifts received by the individual are generally not taxable if 'the giver gets nothing in return' (IRD). Money paid for something in return, e.g. a business paying for its logo on kit or social posts, is sponsorship and may be taxable income; get advice if sponsorship is large (IRD; estimate on treatment).
• Selling goods (baking, merchandise) has no legal limit, but it is trading: food rules apply (Food Act fundraising exemption covers groups, not a private individual's ongoing business; check with MPI or council), and regular sales can be taxable income (estimate).
• Club money for one member: if the club is a registered charity it must avoid private pecuniary benefit, and grant money usually cannot be passed on to individuals (see ‘Club contribution to an individual member's trip’; Charities Act).

Sources: dia.govt.nz, dia.govt.nz, dia.govt.nz, ird.govt.nz, ird.govt.nz, wsj.scouts.nz

Club contribution to an individual member's trip

The club (or school) uses its own funds to support a member selected for rep or international events.

Eligibility: The club's rules must allow it. Incorporated societies cannot distribute money to members for their private benefit; a published, consistent athlete-support policy tied to the club's purposes is the safer route.

1. Check the club constitution and any existing athlete-support policy.
2. Write to the committee with the selection letter and a budget.
3. Offer something back (coaching juniors, a talk, club kit at the event).
4. Ask for a fixed contribution, paid to the supplier (flights, entry) where possible.
5. Report back to the club after the trip.

Tips

• Clubs often prefer to fund an entry fee or kit rather than give cash.

Watch out for

• Favouritism complaints if there's no consistent policy.

Rules and permissions

• Charities and societies must avoid private pecuniary benefit; get your rules checked if the club is a registered charity.
• Grant-funded money usually cannot be passed on to individuals.

Sources: charities.govt.nz

Applying through an umbrella organisation

An individual's trip is funded through a legal entity (club, school, national sports body) that can apply for grants or receive donations.

Eligibility: The umbrella body must be eligible itself and must be willing to apply. Funds must be spent on the approved purpose and usually paid directly to suppliers.

1. Ask your club or national body whether it applies for team travel grants.
2. Offer to do the paperwork (quotes, budget, resolution draft).
3. Frame the application as a team or development programme, not one person.
4. Let the body pay suppliers directly.
5. Provide receipts and photos for the accountability report.

Tips

• National sports organisations sometimes have travel assistance for selected athletes; ask.

Watch out for

• Asking a club to receive money on your behalf in a way that breaches funder or tax rules.

Rules and permissions

• The umbrella body is accountable to the funder. Most Class 4 trusts and the Lottery Fund will not fund benefit to a private individual; some will fund a team or squad trip for an incorporated body. AGT specifically excludes individuals and overseas travel.
• Donations routed through a donee body but earmarked for one named person are unlikely to qualify for a tax credit (see the donations and tax rules).

Sources: agt.nz, lionfoundation.nz, charities.govt.nz, ird.govt.nz

Family and friends sponsorship

The athlete or performer writes to relatives, family friends and local contacts asking them to sponsor the trip.

Eligibility: Anyone can ask. These are private gifts: no tax credit.

1. Write a one-page letter in the athlete's own words: who, what event, selection, total cost, what's already covered.
2. Include a clear budget and the gap.
3. List exactly how to give (bank account, Givealittle link).
4. Send personally (post, email, message), not a mass post.
5. Follow up once after a week.
6. Send postcards or updates from the event.
7. Send a thank-you with a photo afterwards.

Tips

• Two athletes travelling together can share one letter and page but should keep their budgets separate.

Watch out for

• Not saying what happens to any surplus (refund, donate to the club, or next trip).

Rules and permissions

• Donations to an individual do not qualify for the donation tax credit.
• If a business 'sponsors' an individual for advertising (logo on kit, social posts), that is sponsorship and may be deductible for the business (IS 26/10 covers sponsorship of 'an organisation, event, person or cause').

Sources: ird.govt.nz, givealittle.co.nz, taxtechnical.ird.govt.nz