Changes to the Peter Rule Fund in the 23/24 financial year

The Trustees of the Rule Foundation have made the decision to reduce the amount available for granting from the Peter Rule Fund (PRF) for the 23/24 financial year.

Total granting will be $30,000 for the year, with the maximum amount available for each application capped at $2,500. The amount of funding available via the Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund (RWLF) will not be affected by this decision. 

The Rule Foundation passed a significant milestone in the second half of 2022: the cumulative disbursement of $1 million in support of Rainbow communities in Aotearoa since the Foundation was launched in 2007.

Half of these disbursements have occurred in the last three years, evidencing the significant impact of the RWLF on the Foundation’s work. While we’re proud of the amount of resources we’ve been able to distribute to the rainbow community, we’re also aware of the strain that this growth has put on our internal capacity.  

For the 23/24 financial year, being 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, the Trustees have decided to reduce funding distributed via the PRF to $30,000 for the year - approximately half of what has been distributed in previous years.

The purpose of this is to enable us to invest in internal infrastructure to help the Foundation better meet the needs of our grantees and the communities they support in the long term.

This decision has come about as the result of an 18-month strategy review of the Foundation in which we identified our abilities to influence giving to rainbow kaupapa and communities in a variety of ways beyond direct giving.

We recognise the impact that this decision may have on applicants to the PRF. We have decided to ensure that smaller projects and events that rely on our funding to operate will still be able to seek our support during this time.

The Trustees look forward to the work ahead: equipping the Foundation with increased capacity to help grow our ability to support takatāpui and rainbow communities.

Key details:

• Total giving available from the Peter Rule Fund will be $30,000 for the 23/24 financial year.

• The maximum amount able to be requested per application during this time will be $2,500.

• Given the time needed to assess applications, applications will be restricted to $2,500 from the 1st March 2023 - one month in advance of the new financial year.

• The Rainbow Wellbeing Legacy Fund remains unchanged and details of the 2023 round will be announced in due course.