Prime Minister and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Helen Clark today launched a search engine aimed at helping cultural groups match projects with potential funders.

The easy-to-use funding guide is hosted by NZLive.com, the new cultural portal which went live last September.

Helen Clark said the guide would be a valuable tool for helping cultural organisations and individuals search for potential sources of funding for their projects.

"This new search tool is tailored to the needs of the cultural sector, making it easy for cultural groups to find the best match between their projects and potential funders.’

“Artists and cultural organisations will be able to take full advantage of the opportunities that funders make available to support New Zealand’s vibrant cultural sector.

The guide had been jointly developed by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Creative New Zealand, Te Papa National Services Te Paerangi, and the Funding Information Service.

“Funders and cultural organisations were consulted during its development. These included art galleries, museums, heritage organisations, theatres, and other performing arts groups”.

Helen Clark said it made sense for the guide to be hosted by NZLive.com, a site set up to promote cultural organisations, their activities, services, and products.

“Launched only seven months ago, website traffic to NZLive.com is building strongly and reached 43,000 site visitors in March. The cultural events guide is becoming a regular part of leisure-time planning for many New Zealanders."

Helen Clark said that in February, contributing organisations were given direct, password-protected access to their own information on NZLive.com.

“This allows them to update their profile page and enter new event listings at no direct cost to them. Some of the most popular links on NZLive.com are to ticketing agencies, indicating that NZLive.com is encouraging people to participate in cultural activities.

“Organisations are also reporting that visitors at their events have heard about them on NZLive.com," Helen Clark said. “

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Helen Clark's launch speech is here