About this grant opportunity
Whilst the Bennelong Foundation has a number of areas of interest, generally, it strives to support causes, organisations, and projects that possess certain principles and/or criteria. Grant Seekers, before you start, we recommend conducting a self-check by carefully considering if your project aligns with our primary focus areas and meets our funding criteria. Organisations interested in applying for a grant can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) by completing the online form via the link below.
Program funding areas:
1. Education Training and Employment
Programs providing access, equity and inclusion opportunities to Education and Training or that support and build Pathways to meaningful Employment
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Build numeracy and literacy skills for pre-school, primary school and secondary school students
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Build numeracy and literacy skills for adolescents and adults
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Building STEM capabilities for pre-school, primary school and secondary school students
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Supporting student wellbeing and fostering school engagement
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Scholarship, Internship or Bursary Program
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Building interpersonal, employability and life skills for adolescents and adults (personal grooming, interview skills, and other workplace skills)
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Mentoring and Coaching
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Access to vocational training opportunities for adolescents and adults
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Building learning skills through art or music programs
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Programs providing access to entrepreneurial and business foundations
2. Community Health
To assist organisations that conduct programs with the express purpose of improving the physical health and nutrition of the Australian community.
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Programs promoting participation in physical activity and sport
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Programs promoting improved nutritional intake
3. Cultural Inclusion
Programs providing and creating opportunities that foster greater cultural cohesion and inclusion, celebrate cultural diversity and that strengthen community identity.
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Programs promoting cultural inclusion and cohesion
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Settlement and transition support for new Australians
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Programs promoting cultural identity
Exclusions: programs with the main focus on disability, mental health, and healthcare (i.e. programs directly addressing illness and disease) are not current priority areas for the Bennelong Foundation.
Target Communities:
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
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People with a refugee background, newly arrived migrants and culturally and linguistically diverse communities
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Communities/groups experiencing socio-economic disadvantage
Types of Grants
In keeping with the Bennelong Foundation's community & grass roots funding approach, we are seeking grants of up to $30,000 for maintain and grow grants.
1. Maintain grant
Supporting established and high impact programs continue to deliver.
2. Grow grant
Supporting the growth or sustainability of an organisation, program or project. This may include requests to expand current programs, initiate new programs or programs that assist with growing need for the services your organisation provides.
Key Criteria
We strive to support causes, organisations and projects that possess the following principles and/or criteria:
Innovation and proactivity:
We seek to support programs that respond to an identified area of need in the community that are presently not being addressed, or that take a new approach to problem solving. Ideally, such programs, if successful, should be able to be replicated in other locations or contexts.
Change not charity:
A focus on prevention is one of our main criteria. We endeavour to fund projects that address the causes of problems, rather than treat the symptoms. Longevity and sustainability - we support projects and programs that will continue to have an impact over the long term and beyond our period of support. We also encourage programs that are able to become financially self-sustaining.
Project-based and goal-orientated:
The programs that we choose to fund must have strong and identifiable outcomes and key performance indicators over both the short and long term.
Partnerships:
To maximise the impact of our grants, we look towards organisations that are able to combine our funding with other sources. The ability to leverage financial support from other trusts, foundations, governments, businesses and volunteers is seen as an important criteria. Administration - we look to make grants to organisations that have low administration costs and solid and proven administrative backing. Organisations with a strong volunteer program are also highly regarded.
Bennelong Foundation involvement:
We try to support organisations that have the capacity to allow our staff to become involved in their organisation/projects, should they choose.
Low government or institutional support:
Our preference is to assist organisations that receive little or no government funding and are not currently the benefactor of substantial philanthropic support.
Exclusions
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Programs with the main focus on disability, mental health, and healthcare (i.e. programs directly addressing illness and disease) are not current priority areas for the Bennelong Foundation.
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Programs outside of Australia (not relevant for the Bennelong Foundation UK).
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Areas considered a direct responsibility of governments.
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General fundraising projects or appeals.
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Travel, study or conferences (unless incidental to a project being funded).
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Individuals.
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Other foundations, trusts, and philanthropic organisations to fund their general objectives.
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General maintenance or overhead expenses (unless part of a specific project).
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Applications with a religious, political or sectarian purpose.
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Funding deficiencies.
Application Process
A two-step process has been initiated for the Bennelong Foundation's bi-annual open granting rounds. Step 1 is a submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI). Step 2 is an invited application for shortlisted submissions.
The Foundation is only able to accept applications from organisations which carry Deductible Gift Recipient Status, Item 1 of Section30-15 from Australian Taxation Office.
