Marae are the cultural and spiritual heart of Māori communities — gathering places for tangihanga, hui, celebrations, and community life. They are also working facilities that need maintenance, restoration, and development to serve their communities effectively. Many marae — particularly in rural areas and among smaller hapū — struggle to fund the capital works and operational costs that keeping a marae functional requires. Grants for marae support both physical facility development and the cultural and community programmes that make marae vital community institutions.
Marae are not simply buildings — they are the physical expression of the ancestral connections, spiritual life, and social relationships of hapū and iwi. The wharenui (meeting house), wharekai (dining hall), ablution blocks, and surrounding grounds form an integrated facility that supports the full range of community life.
Many wharenui are taonga in their own right — bearing the carvings, tukutuku panels, and kōwhaiwhai that embody the history and identity of the hapū. Maintaining and restoring these structures is both a cultural imperative and a heritage conservation challenge.
Marae also serve wider community purposes — as venues for community meetings, cultural events, school visits, and social gatherings. In many rural and provincial areas, the marae is the most significant community facility.
Te Arawhiti — Office for Māori Crown Relations
Te Arawhiti manages the Marae 300 programme — government funding for marae development and restoration. This programme provides grants for structural repairs, weatherproofing, accessibility improvements, and other building work. Applications are assessed against criteria including Heritage significance, community use, and organisational capacity.
Lottery Grants Board — Environment and Heritage
The Lottery Environment and Heritage committee funds heritage conservation projects, including wharenui with significant heritage value. For marae with significant carving, tukutuku, and other heritage features, heritage conservation grants may be available.
Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga
Heritage New Zealand funds conservation of heritage buildings and places, including marae on the New Zealand Heritage List. For listed marae, Heritage New Zealand grants support conservation planning, heritage documentation, and conservation works.
Community trusts
Community trusts — Foundation North, Community Trust South, Trust Waikato, and others — fund marae development projects in their regions. Marae facility development, accessibility improvements, and community programmes are all eligible. Community trusts are among the most accessible and flexible funders for marae.
Gaming trusts
Gaming trusts — Lion Foundation, Pub Charity, and others — fund marae projects, particularly equipment, events, and smaller facility improvements. Gaming trust applications are relatively straightforward and accessible for marae with incorporated society or charitable trust status.
Ministry for Primary Industries
For marae engaged in land and natural resource development, MPI has some funding for sustainable land management and environmental projects.
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu is a Māori-led philanthropic fund for the South Island — focused on whānau wellbeing, community development, and Māori aspirations. It funds marae and community organisations in the rohe.
Building and structural works
Structural repairs — roof replacement, foundations, weatherproofing, earthquake strengthening — are among the most common marae capital needs. These are expensive, often urgent, and typically beyond what marae can fund from whānau contributions alone.
Accessibility improvements
Making marae accessible for kaumātua and people with disability — ramps, accessible toilets, handrails, hearing loops — is both a practical necessity and a statement about who the marae welcomes.
Kitchen and ablutions upgrades
Kitchen and ablutions facilities need to meet current health and building standards. Upgrades to these facilities — commercial kitchen equipment, improved ablution blocks — improve the marae's capacity to host tangihanga and large hui.
Conservation and heritage works
Conservation of carvings, tukutuku, kōwhaiwhai, and structural elements of heritage significance requires specialist expertise and can be expensive. Heritage grants support the professional conservation that maintains these taonga.
Energy efficiency
Insulation, double glazing, and energy-efficient heating reduce ongoing operating costs and improve comfort for marae occupants and visitors. Energy grants may be available through EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) alongside philanthropic funding.
Community programmes
Grants for cultural programmes, community events, education activities, and whānau development initiatives hosted at marae fund the living use of the facility — not just the building itself.
Establish governance structure
Most funders require applicants to have a formal governance structure — an incorporated society or charitable trust. Establishing appropriate governance (if not already in place) is a prerequisite for accessing most grants. Consultation with your iwi and hapū about appropriate governance structures is advisable.
Develop a maintenance and development plan
A documented marae development plan — identifying priority works, estimated costs, and a multi-year development pathway — helps when applying for multiple grants over time and demonstrates strategic thinking to funders.
Engage professional help for large projects
Large capital projects — significant structural works, major conservation projects — benefit from professional project management support. Architects, quantity surveyors, and project managers experienced with marae projects add value and help applications for funding succeed.
Build relationships with funders
Programme officers at community trusts and other funders welcome pre-application conversations with marae trustees. Understanding funder priorities and demonstrating the marae's community significance before applying improves application quality.
Tahua's grants management platform supports marae trustees and hapū organisations managing grant applications, tracking project progress, and reporting to funders — simplifying the administrative burden of accessing the funding that keeps marae at the heart of Māori community life.