Social Investment Fund FAQs

• Questions about Pathway One New Investment NEW
• Questions about Pathway Two Contract Consolidation NEW
• About the Social Investment Fund
• The application process
• Questions about social investment
• Data and infrastructure UPDATED

Updated: 18 September 2025

What are the funding parameters for New Investment Round One, and how should initiatives think about budgets and scale?

Round One will fund around six initiatives, each receiving between $0.5 million and $2.0 million per year over a four-year contract period. Initiatives must plan to reach at least 250 participants over this time. Shorter service models are possible, but they need to show how they will deliver equivalent reach over four years.

We expect proposed budgets to clearly demonstrate:

• How funding will directly support priority cohorts (including through whānau and community partners)
• Alignment with a credible and well-developed theory of change
• Feasible scale and evaluability of the initiative
• Funding decisions will be made using SIA’s framework, external expert panels, and community feedback.

Is there a defined age range for children in relation to the Fund criteria?

Child is defined as any individual currently under the age of 18. This applies to all three cohorts, i.e.:

1. Children (under the age of 18) whose parent(s) are currently or have recently been in prison
2. Children (under the age of 18) who have experienced the care system
3. Children (under the age of 18) who were stood down from school or suspended when they were 12 or younger.

For the third cohort, this means that an individual in the priority cohort could be 13-17 and stood down in the previous 5 years (i.e. when they were 12 or younger).

Do you have to work directly with the priority cohorts?

The first round of funding under the New Investment pathway will consider applications from organisations that do not work directly with children in the priority cohorts we have identified (and instead work with their parents or whānau), provided that the organisation’s theory of change can clearly and logically show how the activity of the organisation contributes to outcomes for 250 individuals in those priority populations over four years.

Do I need a CRM to apply to the Fund?

Organisations applying to the fund need the mechanism to capture information required for monitoring and evaluation purposes.

The Social Investment Agency will work with organisations funded through the Social Investment Fund to support their technical evaluation needs, including evaluation design, statistical analysis, ongoing measurement, and interpretation of results.

For the initial funding rounds, organisations will need the capability to collect and share basic participant data (such as unique identifiers like NHI, IRD, or NSN numbers, or name, gender, and date of birth). This does not mean organisations must already have fully developed data systems, but they do need the ability to collect and share this information.

Can I apply if I am already receiving government funding?

If you are working with same individuals and same priority outcomes, but the initiative you are proposing is additional or different then we are encouraging organisations to apply.  All applications will be assessed on their merits, the theory of change will demonstrate how your initiative will be different to what you already deliver.

What are some examples of Theory of Change evidence?

• Academic research – published studies that show similar interventions have led to the intended outcomes
• Mātauranga Māori – indigenous knowledge and practices that provide a tested foundation for why an approach works in context
• Practice-based evidence – data and insights from your own delivery, monitoring, or evaluation that show positive results over time
• Independent reviews or external evaluations – independent reviews of your initiative or similar initiatives that validate your Theory of Change
• Administrative or IDI data – evidence that connects your activities to measurable outcomes for your target cohort

In short, “strong evidence” means the pathways in your theory of change are supported by research, evaluation, and/or practice-based knowledge – not just assumptions.

What will the future rounds of Social Investment Fund prioritise?

We are currently working on the priority cohorts for future rounds of the New Investment pathway. We will be engaging with our partner agencies and across the sector before these are finalised, and they will be announced in early 2026. However, we cannot give any further information on what these are likely to be at this time.

Updated: 3 October 2025

Do I have to consolidate all my contracts?

No. Organisations can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to consolidate a sub-set of existing contracts. The contracts which you apply to have consolidated should:

• Be for similar services
• Be delivered to a defined cohort or group of people
• Be held by Government agencies or crown entities.

Can organisations submit multiple applications?

Yes. You can submit multiple EOIs, however each EOI should include different contracts. For example, if you have 11 contracts you could submit one EOI to consolidate contracts 1-5, and a second EOI to consolidate contracts 6-11.

Which contracts are eligible for consolidation?

To be considered for consolidation, contracts must be held by a government agency or crown entity.

What about contracts where we have been given notice that funding will not continue beyond a set date?

Contracts which have been terminated, or where you have been given notice by the current contract holder that funding will not continue are not eligible for consolidation.

Can we include contracts which have a 30 June 2026 end date?

Yes, provided the contract has historically been extended or rolled forward, and you have not been told that the contract and service will end on 30 June 2026.

What will the impact be of losing funding for one contract which has been consolidated?

Successful applicants under the Contract Consolidation Pathway will have existing contracts merged into one outcomes-based agreement using current funding, managed by the Social Investment Fund.

Previously held contracts which have been consolidated will cease to exist.

Are we eligible to apply if the contracts we wish to consolidate are all held by a single government agency or crown entity?

Yes, however it is unlikely that we will progress consolidation of contracts held by a single government agency or crown entity in the first instance. You may choose to provide us with information on the contracts you would like to consolidate and we will include this information in our analysis to Ministers and to individuals agencies to provide them with visibility of the opportunities for single agency consolidation.

Does submitting an EOI commit an organisation to consolidating contracts?

No. You are not committed to consolidating contracts and may withdraw your EOI at any time.

Do the priority population groups apply to contract consolidation?

No. The three priority population groups for the New Investment pathway do not apply to contract consolidation.

We are however looking for you to outline which cohort(s) of people the contracts you are looking to consolidate support.

Do the priority outcomes apply to contract consolidation?                                                           

Yes. The priority outcomes identified by the Social Investment Fund Ministers (SIF Ministers) apply to the contract consolidation pathway. EOIs for this pathway should demonstrate how services contribute to one or more of the priority outcomes. This does not necessarily need to be by contributing to the priority measures for the New Investment pathway. We are interested in hearing from you about how the services you provide support these broad outcome areas.

We also recognise that you may have your own outcomes framework and ways of recognising success. The outcome-based agreements we enter into will allow for these to be recognised.

More information on how we use outcomes is available in the Outcomes Quick Guide [PDF, 323 KB] available on our website.

What is the process for transitioning multiple contracts to the Fund?

Organisations who are selected for contract consolidated will be asked to work closely with SIA and current contract holders on transition plans. This is expected to look different for different organisations depending on the nature of the services you provide.

What kind of organisation is eligible to apply for contract consolidation? 

Organisations are eligible to apply if they:

• Are registered as a legal entity in New Zealand
• Have, or are willing to work towards, at least one level of Te Kāhui Kāhu accreditation
• Hold two or more existing contracts with New Zealand government agencies or crown entities
• Are willing to work with the Social Investment Fund to enter into an outcomes-based agreement.

Will organisations applying for contract consolidation be required to enter data into the IDI? 

Yes. Measurement and evaluation are a critical part of social investment and so we will be asking all organisations we work with to develop a consolidated contract to enter information into the IDI. Further information on what this looks like, and the protections in place for entering data into the IDI can be found in the Quick Guide: Data, Learning and Impact for the Social Investment Fund [PDF, 555 KB] published on our website.

What is the Social Investment Fund? 

The Social Investment Fund(external link) aims to invest in early interventions and support services to enable children, young people, and families to achieve a range of outcomes. It is designed to be a catalyst for change - change in the way we support those who need it, change in the way government works with organisations who provide social services, and ultimately change the life trajectory for children with complex needs.  

The Social Investment Fund will: 

• focus on priority outcomes and cohorts agreed by Fund Ministers 
• invest early to help New Zealanders overcome a range of challenges to achieve their goals 
• enable SIA to test and scale the social investment approach 
• work in partnership with social sector organisations, iwi and other agencies. 

How long will the Fund be open for applications? 

Pathway One (New Investment) of the Social Investment Fund opened on 25 August 2025 and will be open for applications for four weeks (until 23 September 2025). There will be further rounds in 2026. 

I don’t meet the criteria for this fund, are there other opportunities for my organisation?  

The Social Investment Fund has been designed to deliver on four potential pathways. The first pathway (New Investment) is intentionally targeted and will not be suitable for all organisations. There may be further opportunities in other pathways. 

Can any organisation that provides social services get their contracts consolidated?

The Social Investment Agency will open expressions of interest for contract consolidation on 1 September 2025. Further information on this is available now on the SIA website.

Will the Fund address funding shortfalls across the social sector?  

The Fund is a small proportion (less than 1%) of government contract spending in the social sector. It is deliberately designed to be targeted to help make a difference for those children in the identified cohorts and help demonstrate how a social investment approach can work.  

What is the value of the Social Investment Fund? 

Budget 2025 allocated $190 million over four years for the Social Investment Fund. 

What are the demonstration projects?  

Three demonstration projects were identified at Budget 2025, to demonstrate social investment in practice.  

• Autism New Zealand’s early screening and intervention programme that provides services and support for family/whānau, caregivers and professionals. 
• Ka Puta Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa’s evidence-based approach to tackling youth offending and truancy that will help at least 80 families each year to address youth offending and truancy; and 
• The He Piringa Whare programme with Te Tihi o Ruahine (an alliance of nine hapū, iwi, Māori organisations) and Te Oranganui that will support 130 families at a time with a wraparound service that delivers stable housing, education, training and employment, and other services. 

Who are the Social Investment Fund Ministers? 

The Social Investment Fund Ministers are:

• Minister for Social Investment (chair)
• Minister of Finance
• Minister of Education
• Minister of Health
• Minister for Māori Development
• Chairs of the following social sector Ministerial groups:
  • Child and Youth Ministers
  • Family Violence Sexual Violence Ministers
  • Justice Ministers

How do organisations apply for funding with the Social Investment Fund?    

Fund applications are via an online application portal accessed from the SIA website. See the website for a step-by-step Application Guide to help you navigate the process, and other information about the assessment framework and selection criteria.

SIA is also hosting a series of webinars to walk people through the criteria, why it has chosen these cohorts and what kind of initiatives they expect will be successful in the first funding round.  

What are the priority population groups and how were they chosen? 

The priority population groups (cohorts) for round one of the new investment pathway are: 

1. children whose parent(s) are currently or have recently been in prison, 
2. children of parent(s) who experienced the care system, and 
3. children that were stood down or suspended from school when they were 12 or younger.  

The cohorts have been chosen by Social Investment Fund Ministers based on government priorities and the significant potential children in these cohorts (and their families) have to achieve improved outcomes later in life. SIA wants to work alongside organisations in the community to support these whānau and families to ensure the best outcomes for children.

The population groups only apply to Pathway One: New Investment.

Cohorts may change in future funding rounds. 

How many organisations will be successful in Round One? 

The exact number of organisations funded in this round will depend on the proposals received. The Fund will have at least 20 initiatives in place by June 2026. 

How many people will this round of the Fund help?  

In this round, SIA is looking to partner with organisations who each work with at least 250 children from the priority population groups over the course of the four-year agreement.  

What are the different pathways for funding? 

There are four pathways in the Fund:  

• Pathway One: New Investment (Round One) - new funding targeting priority populations groups. 
• Pathway Two: Contract Consolidation - consolidation of existing agreements held by social sector or community organisations with one or more government agencies into a single outcomes-based agreement, administered by the Social Investment Fund. Expressions of interest for this pathway opens on 1 September.  
• Pathway Three: Community Commissioning - involves the ‘pooling’ of social sector funding from multiple government Budgets into a single fund under local decision-making.   
• Pathway Four: Co-investment - is a mechanism to enable partnerships with philanthropic organisations or other funders to co-invest in initiatives that amplify collective impact and drive innovation.  

When will the different pathways open? 

The pathways will open at separate times and have a different focus. Organisations that provide social services may be suited to one or more of the pathways.  

The New Investment pathway is open for Round One from 25 August. 

The Contract Consolidation pathway will open for Round One on 1 September.  

Further information on the other two pathways will be provided in early 2026 

What is the evaluation approach?  

The Fund will have a focus on stronger partnerships, two-way sharing of data and insights, contractual arrangements that support learning and evolution of services and funding continuation (or expansion) in some cases.    

What does social investment mean in this context?  

Social investment is about better enabling people, whānau, families, and communities to achieve outcomes and thrive, by using data, evidence and different ways of working.  

Social investment:​​  

• takes a longer-term view across multiple areas of people’s lives ​​  
• supports investment in early intervention and prevention, rather than crisis response​​  
• targets investment which improves the lives of people who need it most​​  
• provides holistic support to people and their families and whānau.​  

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to social investment.  

Social investment approach is a way of allocating resources, a way of investing in services, and a way of delivering services.  

How will you know what you are doing will make a difference?  

SIA is changing the way government and the social sector work together. It is designing a completely new system and it will use data over time to measure results. It will be able to learn what works to improve lives across New Zealand.    

SIA is changing how government and the social sector collaborate by designing a comprehensive new system that uses longitudinal data to measure and evaluate results. This evidence-based approach will enable SIA to identify what works effectively to improve lives across New Zealand.

For outcomes-based contracts, SIA is partnering with Stats NZ to develop a streamlined process that enables contract data to be efficiently integrated into the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI). This integration will deliver value back to organisations that provide social services by creating detailed insights on client demographics, evidence-based assessments of service effectiveness, and data-driven feedback to support continuous improvement.  

Do you envisage that the social investment approach will be applied across other Government agencies? 

SIA is working with other agencies to ensure that across government there is a strong focus on understanding where money is being invested and what impact that investment is having. 

Will organisations need data systems in place to receive Social Investment Fund funding?

SIA is working on methods to ensure all community organisations delivering health and social services can adopt social investment approaches.

For the first round of the Social Investment Fund, organisations will need to have safe and secure systems to collect and share information about the individuals and whānau they serve.

SIA recognises many community organisations don't currently have these systems. As it learns from early investments, it will be committed to developing approaches that can work for organisations at different stages of data capability, ensuring the Fund can eventually support the full range of organisations delivering social services.

What support does SIA provide for data and evaluation capability?

For investments through the Fund, SIA ensures all evaluation support is available at no cost to organisations. This is part of our commitment to the social investment approach. SIA makes sure robust data and evaluation is in place for all investments - either providing this directly with its staff or working with other evaluation experts to deliver this support.

SIA also has a system role as a central agency, with work underway to support the system to implement social investment. This includes capability building and setting standards, making tools available, and working with others across the sector as we all learn together and contribute to improving the evidence base of what works to improve outcomes across New Zealand. SIA will share insights across the sector as it learns what methods and approaches work best in practice through the Fund.

How many investments will use this data and evaluation approach in the first year?

SIA is planning at least 20 investments in the first year as we demonstrate and refine the social investment approach. This deliberate targeting allows us to test its data and evaluation methods, learn what works, and develop standards based on experience rather than imposing them from the beginning. What is learnt will be shared progressively to help prepare the broader sector.

Data privacy and consent

How do whānau, families and individuals consent to data sharing?

Consent is managed through the existing relationships between organisations delivering social services and the people they support. Organisations obtain appropriate consent as part of their normal service delivery and privacy practices.

The data shared with Stats NZ contains only unique identifiers (or name, date of birth and gender if no unique identifier), and basic service information. The data analysed by SIA in the IDI is de-identified (individual-level data with no identifying information), and data shared from SIA to organisations is aggregated into groups where individuals cannot be identified.

Alternative approaches

Are alternatives to the IDI being explored?

Yes, SIA recognises the IDI won't suit every situation. In year one, SIA is using the IDI because it's available now and provides robust privacy protections while enabling sophisticated analysis. As it learns from these early implementations, it'll explore and test other approaches that could work for different types of organisations and services. Technology continues to advance rapidly, and SIA is committed to evaluating new methods as they emerge.

What if our organisation doesn't currently collect government identifiers?

SIA will work with organisations to agree what data needs to be shared – it is working hard to keep this at a minimum. There are two approaches:

• If you're already collecting and using a government unique identifier: SIA will work together to determine the minimum data needed, which typically includes the date service started, the date service ended, and the unique identifier.
• If you're not collecting a government unique identifier: SIA will work together to determine the minimum data needed, which typically includes the date service started, the date service ended, full name, date of birth, and gender.

Agreement terms and support

How long are Social Investment Fund agreements?

Initial agreements are for four years. This provides enough time for early indicators and sometimes outcomes to emerge and be measured, while giving organisations stability to plan and deliver services effectively. SIA understands many important outcomes, especially in prevention and early intervention, take years to fully materialise and SIA is committed to long-term learning with organisations across the social sector.

Who provides the evaluation expertise?

The Social Investment Agency provides all technical evaluation support for organisations invested in through the Fund. This includes evaluation design, statistical analysis, ongoing measurement, and interpretation of results. SIA is also engaging external evaluation experts to ensure it is using best practices. Organisations don't need to hire their own evaluators - this expertise is provided as part of the approach.

What are the terms and conditions of outcomes-based agreements?

The model outcomes-based agreement will be released publicly.

Can qualitative information be part of formal evaluation?

Yes, SIA values qualitative insights and stories alongside quantitative data. Regular conversations throughout agreements specifically combine data insights with the qualitative knowledge organisations gather through their direct work.

Evaluation methods

Will technical details about evaluation methods be shared?

Yes. The methods and results of our impact analysis, along with all supporting data, will be shared with organisations receiving investments. These details will also be made publicly available through technical reports, as part of our commitment to transparency and sharing insights throughout the process.