The Manaaki Fund

Manaaki Fund Round 8

Funds New Zealand NGOs delivering development projects for remote communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Manaaki Fund is an annual contestable Official Development Assistance (ODA) grant programme administered by New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to co-invest with registered New Zealand NGOs in smaller-scale, targeted development activities in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Round 8 opened 28 January 2026 and closed 28 April 2026. Grants range from NZD $100,000 to NZD $1.25 million per approved activity, and all activities must be delivered in partnership with a local in-country partner whose country is designated a NZ International Development Cooperation (IDC) priority. Activities must align with both partner-country development priorities and New Zealand's IDC Programme priorities, with a central focus on reaching vulnerable, marginalised, and hard-to-reach communities.

Only registered NZ legal entities operating as NGOs may apply; overseas NGOs, for-profit entities, universities, and individuals are ineligible. A matched-funding declaration is required, though no minimum co-investment percentage is stated in publicly available materials. Across its first seven rounds and one climate-specific round, the fund has committed NZD $36.7 million across 45 activities. Historical acceptance rates have been high — Rounds 5 and 3 saw every eligible application recommended — and the typical pattern is four to eight applications per round with the majority approved. MERL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning) reporting is required post-award.

Applications follow a two-stage process: applicants first submit a Concept Note, and shortlisted organisations are then invited to submit a detailed proposal. The annual cadence runs on a January/February open, April/May close schedule. Organisations most likely to succeed are established NZ NGOs with demonstrated community relationships and active local partnerships in the Pacific or Southeast Asia, a track record of comparable project delivery, and clear alignment with partner-country government priorities in areas such as economic resilience, WASH, health, disability inclusion, or climate adaptation.