Four Winds Foundation Grants NZ: 2026 Guide

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Four Winds Foundation at a Glance

Four Winds distributed $12.11 million in the year to March 31, 2026, down from $13.09 million the year before. The money comes from gaming machines in pubs and bars, so the grants budget moves with gaming income. Here are the key facts as the Foundation published them.

Source: Four Winds Foundation Annual Report 2025/26, statement of service performance and summary financial statements (Four Winds Foundation Limited, company number 2067678).

Two things follow from these numbers. First, the pot depends on what people put through the machines: gaming income fell 6.4% in a year and grants fell with it. Second, the grants line sits close to a legal floor. The Four Winds community gaming page says gaming societies must distribute 40% of revenue to not-for-profit groups, and regulation 10 of the Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Regulations 2004 (opens in a new tab) sets that minimum at 40% of GST-exclusive gross proceeds each financial year. Net grants paid were about 40.5% of gaming machine income in 2025/26. The two measures aren't defined identically, so don't read that as an exact compliance figure, but it shows the scale: roughly $4 in every $10 lost on Four Winds machines comes back as grants.

Where the money goes by sector. According to the Four Winds Foundation annual report, the 2025/26 split was $5.19 million to 478 sports clubs and associations, $2.41 million to 217 grassroots community groups, $2.2 million to 152 health and welfare initiatives, $1.58 million to 117 research and education organisations, $666,239 to 87 arts and culture groups, $41,000 to 6 environment and animal groups, and $21,200 to 3 rescue services. Sport took 43% of approved grants.

Where Four Winds Funds: Check the Venue List First

According to the Four Winds Find a Venue page, the Foundation funds only areas where it has venues, unless you operate as a national organisation, and it asks you to check the list before every application because venues change. This single rule decides more applications than any other.

On October 29, 2026 the venue page listed 33 venues:

The annual report listed 27 venues as at June 9, 2026, so the network has grown since: venues in Belmont, central Auckland, Matamata, Kawakawa, Darfield and Wellington Central appear on the live page but not in the report. That's exactly why the Foundation tells you to check each time.

Why location matters so much. Grantsights checked the declined lists and found 63 declines in 12 months carrying reason code 2, "Four Winds Foundation Ltd does not operate gaming machines in your region/TLA". They included groups in Porirua, Havelock North and Kaiapoi, none of which had a Four Winds venue in their district on the October 2026 list. If your district isn't on the list and you're not a national body, don't apply; send the time to a society that does have machines near you.

The local effect is real. Kawerau has one Four Winds venue, and organisations with Kawerau in their name received 7 grants worth $291,700 in the 12 months of lists, including $100,000 to The Kawerau South School Board, $90,000 to Kawerau District Council and $60,000 to Kawerau Bowling Club. Small towns with a venue can do far better than their size suggests.

This is the Foundation's policy rather than the law. According to the Department of Internal Affairs, a society may restrict grants to its local area, but no law or regulation requires grants to be made locally (see DIA's tips for making authorised purpose grants (opens in a new tab)). Four Winds' own authorised purpose statement says that, except for national societies or agencies, funds are mainly distributed in the community where they're raised.

What 2,248 Four Winds Decisions Show

Grantsights analysis of the Four Winds Foundation's published lists covers every application decided from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026: 2,248 applications, of which 1,589 received some funding and 659 were fully declined. Funded applications shared $13,225,120 before refunds, against $35.3 million requested across all applications. In plain terms, Four Winds says yes often but rarely says yes in full.

Data: Four Winds Foundation "Grants Approved" and "Grants Declined" lists for each quarter, downloaded October 29, 2026 from the Foundation's Grant Results page. Approved totals match the Foundation's own quarterly totals before refunds; after refunds, net distributions were $12,973,956.

Grant sizes. The median grant was $5,000 and the middle half ran from $2,900 to $10,000. Exactly $5,000 was by far the most common figure: 356 grants, or 22% of everything funded.

By sector. Health and welfare applications had the best odds; arts, education and environment the worst.

The size of the ask changes the cut, not the odds. The funded share stayed between 64% and 75% for every request size. What changed was how much of the request survived. Funded requests under $2,000 got a median of 95% of what they asked for; requests of $10,000 to $20,000 got about 52%, with a median grant of $9,000; requests of $20,000 to $50,000 got about 42%, with a median grant of $10,000; and requests over $50,000 got about 25%. Only 150 of 1,589 funded applications (9%) received their full request.

The biggest grants. The Middlemore Foundation received $340,000 against a $374,000 request in January to March 2026; the annual report's case study says Four Winds paid for 10 of the 40 infant warmers Middlemore Hospital needed. Roskill Schools Community Trust got $150,000 of $235,884, and The Pakuranga College Board of Trustees got $150,000. Hamilton Old Boys Rugby and Sports Club asked for $200,000 and received $100,000, while Spirit of Adventure Trust Board received its full $100,000.

Typical grants. For example, Kaibosh received $5,000 in April to June 2026 after asking for exactly that, while the Cancer Society's Wellington Division asked for $42,848 in the same quarter and received $5,000. The Maritime Museum Foundation received its full $20,000, and Surf Life Saving Northern Region was funded in all four quarters, $127,000 in total, which is the maximum four applications a year at work.

Limits of this data. The lists show each applicant's name, a category, the amount requested, approved and declined, and a reason code. They don't show region, so the regional picture above comes from the venue list and recipient names, not a field in the data. Categories are assigned by Four Winds and don't always match what you'd expect (some school applications are filed under Sport). Grants refunded later aren't marked against individual rows.

Who Can Apply and What Four Winds Funds

To be eligible, according to the Four Winds Who Can Apply page, your organisation must be a non-profit body registered as an incorporated society or affiliated to a body that is incorporated, and it's preferable that you're a registered charity. The Foundation describes 6 groups it expects to help: sporting clubs and teams, cultural groups, philanthropic organisations such as health services and foodbanks, educational groups, community-purpose groups such as scouts and senior citizens, and others that fit its criteria.

Incorporated societies: check your status. The Incorporated Societies Register says the transition period for re-registering under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 ran from October 5, 2023 to April 5, 2026 and has now ended. A society that didn't re-register and was removed from the Incorporated Societies Register (opens in a new tab) can apply to be restored. If your club's registration lapsed, fix that before applying to a funder that requires incorporation.

Sports rules are tighter. Sports grants need a non-profit incorporated society whose members play regularly, affiliated to a regional or national body and playing in recognised competitions. Training and after-match apparel, food and alcohol, supporters' trips and after-match functions aren't funded. Playing uniforms are the only clothing allowed, and socks, mouthguards and hats are listed as not funded.

Things Four Winds won't fund (from its non-authorised purposes list):

• alcohol, food, entertainment or refreshments, except in some cases for children or the elderly
• grants to non-affiliated social sports or clubs
• clubs that use a commercial gaming venue, such as a hotel, as their clubroom or sports venue
• cash prizes, large non-cash prizes, and professional sportspeople
• fuel or mileage, dress uniforms, medical costs including first aid kits and strapping tape
• retrospective purchases or events, fundraising events, and third-party donor organisations
• groups, events or trips that are mainly social, unless the people benefiting are, for example, underprivileged children or the elderly

The authorised purposes are broad: amateur sport, charitable, philanthropic and cultural purposes, relief of poverty through recognised welfare agencies, scholarships or equipment run by an educational organisation, and race meetings under the Racing Act 2003. That last one is why some gaming societies fund racing clubs.

Salaries. Wages can be funded, but you'll need a current signed contract with a job description, positions must already be filled, grants usually cover three months, and you can include up to five salary or contract requests per application.

How to Apply to Four Winds, Step by Step

A Four Winds application takes 6 pieces of paperwork and has to fit a monthly calendar. Here's the order the Foundation's pages describe.

1. Check the venue list. Confirm a Four Winds venue operates in your district on the Find a Venue page (opens in a new tab), unless you're a national organisation.
2. Pick the right month. Applications close on the 25th and are decided at the committee meeting the following month, usually in the last week. Grants cover costs in the three months after the meeting. The Apply Here page's schedule says apply by October 25 for funding needed December to February, by November 25 for January to March, by December 25 for February to April, by January 25 for March to May, and by February 25 for April to June. Apply too early and it may be held for a later meeting.
3. Get two quotes. For anything other than operating costs you need a preferred and a competitive quote, each under 3 months old, addressed to your organisation and showing the supplier's GST status. If only one New Zealand supplier exists, attach a letter explaining why. A long relationship with one supplier doesn't excuse the second quote.
4. Get the resolution signed. Your committee or board must pass a resolution to apply to Four Winds, stating the amount and purpose, signed and dated by a committee member and no older than 3 months. Four Winds publishes a template.
5. Gather the rest. A cover letter (what you do, what the money is for, who benefits and how many, and the dates), signed annual financial statements (signed by a committee or board member; an auditor's signature alone isn't accepted), an official bank document showing the account name and number, and a Declaration of Consent signed by two officers within the last three months.
6. Submit through the portal. Applications go through the Four Winds grants portal (opens in a new tab). If anything's missing, Four Winds asks through the portal and may reopen your application, so watch your inbox and junk folder.

After the meeting. Results come by email, never by phone. Approved grants are usually paid by direct credit by the end of the week after approval. You then have 90 days to send accountability documents: the bank statement showing the grant arriving, invoices matching your quote, and the bank statement showing you paid them. GST-registered groups are funded on the GST-exclusive amount only.

Apply directly. According to DIA guidance on funding for community groups (opens in a new tab), you must send your application to the society, not through a venue, and the society must deal with you directly. A bar manager can't promise you a grant.

What the Four Winds Foundation Doesn't Tell You

The Four Winds pages explain the rules well. The published lists say more about how decisions actually land, and Grantsights analysis of 2,248 decisions points to five things the pages don't spell out.

Most declines aren't about your application. Reason code 8, "Application received from your region this month exceeded the funds available for distribution", accounts for 555 of the 659 declines (84%). Only 24 declines said the committee didn't support the purpose, and 14 said the goods or services didn't meet criteria. If you're declined under code 8, that's a timing and demand problem, not a verdict on your project. Reapply in a later month, within your four-a-year limit.

Expect to be cut, and budget for it. Only 9% of funded applications got their full request, and requests over $10,000 typically came back at around half or less. If your project fails without the whole amount, line up co-funders from the start. Our guides to NZCT grants, Pub Charity grants and The Lion Foundation cover the other big gaming societies that run the same kind of process.

The four-a-year limit is a planning tool. Surf Life Saving Northern Region's four quarterly grants show how a regular applicant uses the allowance. A club asking once a year for $20,000 is likely to get far less than one asking four times for the pieces it needs that quarter.

Some Four Winds pages are out of date. On October 29, 2026, the Who Can Apply page still said applications must be posted or hand-delivered and close on the last working day of the month, and the home page FAQ still asked why applications can't be submitted online. The Apply Here and Grant Results pages, the portal and the funding schedule all say the 25th, online. Follow those. Likewise, Apply Here counts the four-application limit per financial year from April 1, while Who Can Apply says any 12-month period; plan as if both apply.

Decline lists are public. Four Winds publishes the names of declined applicants and the amount they asked for, next to the reason. That's unusually open, and useful for you: before applying, search the latest declined list for groups like yours and read the codes.

Common Mistakes That Sink Four Winds Applications

The Foundation's own decline codes and requirements point to six avoidable failures.

• Applying from outside its venue areas. Code 2 caught 63 applicants in a year. Check the venue list, every time.
• Paying before approval. Four Winds won't fund anything paid before the approval date, including deposits. Code 1 covers retrospective applications, and the accountability rules require a refund for any retrospective spending.
• Double-dipping. If another society funds the same item, Four Winds expects a refund. Code 4 covers funding already received from another source for the same purpose.
• Unfinished accountability. Code 5 covers groups that haven't sent receipts or refunds for an earlier grant. Missing paperwork can block future applications.
• A budget instead of a quote. The Foundation says budgets aren't acceptable cost evidence. Every cost line needs a quote.
• A fundraiser on commission. If you pay a grant writer, they must be paid a flat or hourly rate regardless of outcome, and no grant money can go on a success fee. Undisclosed arrangements are a red flag the Foundation asks you to declare.

Two less common codes are worth knowing. Code 11 says a group in its first year of operation isn't a Four Winds priority, and code 12 covers organisations Four Winds already supports in the areas where it operates.

When Four Winds Is the Wrong Fit

Four Winds suits incorporated groups near its venues needing a few thousand dollars for equipment, uniforms, events or short-term wages. Some groups should look elsewhere first:

• Groups outside Four Winds areas: the DIA keeps a list of gaming society websites (opens in a new tab); apply to the societies with venues near you. DIA's Granted.govt.nz (opens in a new tab) shows pokie grant distribution data down to a local level, including who received grants.
• Waikato groups needing larger sums: Trust Waikato is a community trust with its own investment fund and three rounds a year.
• Auckland and Northland groups: Foundation North is the region's community trust.
• Canterbury groups: see the Rātā Foundation guide.
• Projects gaming money can't fund: the Lottery Grants Board guide covers the government-run Lottery committees through Community Matters.
• Arts projects: see our Creative New Zealand funding guide.

If you're comparing systems across countries, NSW clubs fund communities through ClubGRANTS and Queensland gaming taxes pay for the Gambling Community Benefit Fund. Both work differently from New Zealand's society model.

A note on harm. Every dollar Four Winds grants comes from pokie losses. If you or someone you know is affected by gambling, the Four Winds website has a Where to Get Help page for problem gambling support.

Sources Checked

All pages were read and all files downloaded on October 29, 2026.

• Four Winds Foundation, Who Can Apply (opens in a new tab), Apply Here (opens in a new tab), Grant Results (opens in a new tab) and Accountability and Audit (opens in a new tab)
• Four Winds Foundation, quarterly "Grants Approved" and "Grants Declined" lists for July to September 2025, October to December 2025, January to March 2026 and April to June 2026, linked from the Grant Results page
• Four Winds Foundation, Find a Venue (opens in a new tab), Community Gaming (opens in a new tab) and Financial Reports (opens in a new tab), including the Annual Report 2025/26 and the 2025 summary financial statements
• Department of Internal Affairs, Funding for Community Groups (opens in a new tab), Tips for Making Authorised Purpose Grants (opens in a new tab) and List of Society Websites (opens in a new tab)
• Department of Internal Affairs, Granted.govt.nz (opens in a new tab)
• New Zealand Legislation, Gambling (Class 4 Net Proceeds) Regulations 2004, regulation 10 (opens in a new tab). The live site blocked automated reading, so Grantsights read the Internet Archive copy captured August 14, 2022 (version as at July 1, 2020); the Four Winds Community Gaming page states the same 40% figure.
• New Zealand Companies Office, Incorporated Societies Register (opens in a new tab), notice on the end of the re-registration period