Westpac Foundation Community Grants

Congratulations to the 100 amazing community organisations selected to receive a Westpac Foundation Community Grant in 2016.

 

 

Applications for our 2017 Community Grants program are expected to open in May 2017.

About Community Grants

We're passionate about backing the local groups who are helping transform the lives of fellow Australians experiencing disadvantage.

Westpac Foundation's Community Grants are up to $10,000 each and are awarded to local, grassroots not-for-profit organisations with big (or small) ideas in providing either educational opportunities, employment pathways or improving the quality of life of disadvantaged Australians in our local communities.

Westpac Foundation Community Grants are partly funded through the fundraising efforts of Westpac employees and their customers. In addition to the financial support the grant provides, we're also committed in providing a range of non-financial support services to help maximise the impact and sustainability of our grant recipients.

Based on the needs of individual grant recipients, we will seek to make connections between the organisations and local Westpac Ambassadors who will help open doors to a range of skilled volunteering, mentoring and networking opportunities across the Westpac Group.

Eligibility criteria

Applications for our annual Westpac Foundation Community Grants are now closed for 2016. Recipients of this grant will be announced in May 2016. Applications for the next round will open again in February 2017.

 

In the meantime, for your reference our criteria for applications to be considered for funding are below. Please note that your application to be considered for funding your organisation must meet ALL of the eligibility criteria noted in sections 1 - 3 below:

 

1. Your organisation must be endorsed as, or auspiced by, a Deductible Gift Recipient (but not another ancillary fund) listed with the Australian Taxation Office under Item 1 of the Table in Section 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1936; AN
2. Your organisation and its' parent company (if applicable) must both have an annual gross revenue of less than $4 million in the 2014/2015 financial year; AND
3. Make sure your organisation's principle objective is focused on addressing social disadvantage in Australia in the following target groups: Indigenous Australians, refugees, women at risk, youth at risk*, people living with disability or homeless populations. Your organisation should be providing:

• educational opportunities, or
• employment pathways, or
• improving the quality of life for people in need;

*Youth at risk refers to children/teenagers over 12 years old. If your target group is children 0-12 years, please refer to the St.George Foundation

What we DO fund

• Projects that will make a demonstrable positive impact for local communities in our target groups (namely Indigenous Australians, refugees, youth at risk, women at risk, people living with a disability or homeless populations) by providing educational opportunities, employment pathways or improving the quality of life for people in need.
• Costs to run such projects including operating expenses and salaries (but not capital costs).

What we don't fund

Please note that we will NOT consider applications or provide funding to organisations that:

• Do not have a Deductible Gift Recipient Item 1 status with the ATO, or are not auspiced
• Charities that work overseas
• Hospitals, hospices or medical centres
• Medical research, funding for medical equipment or medical treatments
• Rescue services
• Schools, colleges and universities
• Sponsorship or funding towards a marketing appeal/event or fundraising activities
• Capital projects, major equipment, appeals and refurbishments
• Projects that support animals or to promote animal welfare
• Programs promoting religion
• Sporting equipment and clubs that do not focus on our target groups

 

If you are not eligible, consider these alternative sources of funding:

• Other grant providers; Philanthropy Australia and Our Community are useful resources. Use them to identify potential grant providers.
• Borrowing
• Crowdfunding
• Venture philanthropy
• Attracting Investment

 

You may also want to look at: St.George Foundation, Bank of Melbourne Neighborhood Fund or BankSA Foundation. 

FAQs and selection scorecard

You may also want to read our FAQs as well as the selection scorecard (PDF 55KB) we use to choose our successful applicants.

You can also watch  this 5-minute video on hints and tips for a great application hosted by our CEO, Sinclair Taylor.