What is Boost Ōtautahi?

Boost Ōtautahi… What's it all about?

Boost Ōtautahi is a campaign where 14 diverse arts organisations and individual arts projects will launch in unison, crowdfunding for a month on Boosted to get the funding to complete a creative project. We want the Ōtautahi arts community to thrive with an abundance of support and celebration, and for the broader community to be involved in this experience.

The Boosted team are with you for the journey, helping you grow your crowd and your capability through crowdfunding, empowering you with skills you'll find useful towards making art for years to come. Along with our crowdfunding mentorship, we'll be running a workshop with all the artists/arts organisations involved in Boost Ōtautahi, organising a launch event to be held at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora, and building energy and hype around Boost Ōtautahi through marketing channels.

This year, each of the 14 organisations and artists will be backed with a Boost Ōtautahi match fund that is unlocked dollar for dollar as they reach out to their crowd with their ask.
If you're a creative in Christchurch, with an arts project that needs a boost to get off the ground, then you are eligible to apply.

Here's what you could be in for, and what's up for grabs:

• 9 x $5,000 match funds — For arts organisations that can meet Rātā Foundation or CNZ guidelines
• 5 x $3,000 match funds — For individual artists or arts projects
• Marketing, community building and fundraising skills from Boosted
• Each project will be given a platform to publicly promote their project at the Boost community event

• A way to connect with and expand your giving community this September

   

The expression of interest is an easy process. Just touch base with us. Send us a quick email at kiaora@boosted.org.nz to express your interest in Boost Ōtautahi to arrange for a phone chat with one of our team about your project.

Funds will be allocated by 11 August 2025 and project owners will be asked to attend a workshop on 19 August 2025, to ensure readiness to launch a Boosted campaign on 1 September 2025.

How does the match funding work?

The match funds from Boost Ōtautahi will be loaded into each Boosted campaign as a match donor in advance of the project going live. When the project is live on Boosted, the match fund will match donations from the crowd dollar-for-dollar, up until the match fund has been used up.

It’s all-or-nothing. Projects must reach their target to get their funds on Boosted. With a match donor, Boosted has a 95% success rate, so we back all the projects to get funded.

Each project is supported with Boosted mentorship, and will participate in the Boost Ōtautahi community event on Wednesday 17 September.

A little more about Boosted

Boosted is Aotearoa New Zealand’s only crowdfunding platform dedicated to the arts and creativity. We give creatives the platform, tools, and mentoring to confidently connect with and grow a giving community — and we give everyday people a chance to be inspired by and support creatives and their mahi.

A trusted platform, with over 130,000 donations made since 2013 to fund over 2,000 projects, Boosted has raised over $15 million for NZ artists and creatives.
Boosted is backed by the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi, a collective of artists, donors, and New Zealanders who believe creativity matters and are dedicated to celebrating creativity and advocating for a thriving arts future in Aotearoa.

The Campaign Timeline

• 21 Jul: Expressions of interest open
• 5 Aug: Expressions of interest close
• 11 Aug: All funds allocated and project owners notified
• 19 Aug: Crowdfunding Workshop | Boosted mentorship for all Boost Ōtautahi crowdfunding campaigns
• 1 Sept – 31 Sept: Boost Ōtautahi campaign goes live with all crowdfunding projects open for donations

• 17 Sept: The big Boost Ōtautahi community event at The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora

   

Expressions of Interest Now Closed

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in Boost Ōtautahi 2025!

This year’s opportunity for match funding has now officially closed.

We’re excited to work alongside the selected artists and organisations as they prepare to launch their campaigns this September.

If you missed out this round, keep an eye on boosted.org.nz and our social media channels for future funding opportunities and upcoming regional initiatives.