Community Foundation Accounts

FRRR has long been an advocate and support of Community Foundations. Our Community Foundation Accounts allow Community Foundations (CFs) to leverage FRRR’s unique tax status to attract funds from Private and Public Ancillary Funds and to provide grants to organisations in their communities that do not hold DGR1 status.

In addition, Community Foundations can establish several sub-accounts under the Community Foundation Account, each of which can be managed and reported on as a separate sub-account, if required.

This allows Community Foundations to fundraise for a wide range of purposes, such as endowments to their corpus, capacity building, subsidise or enhance general operations, improve or purchase infrastructure, buildings or IT, operate grant programs or scholarships, undertake disaster appeals, or other charitable activities or projects.

Community Foundation Accounts may enable CFs to:

  • Partner with FRRR to support organisations and projects that CF’s can’t support directly with tax-deductible money (such as granting to or fundraising for non-DGR entities for charitable projects using tax-deductible money);
  • Access donors or partners they may not otherwise be able to accept funds from (such as Item 2 DGR Donors, e.g. PaFs, PuAFs, Trusts and Foundations requiring Item 1 DGR status);
  • Partner with FRRR to engage with rural, regional or remote economic development as a charitable activity;
  • Operate more efficiently – FRRR can relieve the burden of administering a public fund, or receipting donations.

Each Account must have nominated geographic boundaries within rural, regional or remote Australia and be aligned with FRRR’s charitable purposes. It should also be noted that funds held in a Community Foundation Account are owned and managed by FRRR. FRRR will consider the Community Foundation’s preferences when deciding on grants to be issued through the Community Foundation Account. However, as all donations to FRRR are a gift, FRRR has the overall responsibility for final grant decisions. FRRR cannot issue grants retrospectively – activities supported must be yet to occur. 

All grants made through the Community Foundation Account must be assessed as charitable within FRRR’s purposes, as reviewed by FRRR.

Fees charged are modest – a one off 2.5% fee is deducted from each donation, capped at a maximum of $5,000 per donation. There is no minimum start up value or minimum of funds required for an Account. There are no requirements for funds to be invested longer term, although this can be accommodated. Other than the standard agreed fee per donation, there are no ongoing or annual partnership management fees. Fees are waived for sub-accounts established for the purpose of fundraising for disaster recovery for a limited period of time, and for BTS voucher fundraising. Accounts with funds over $100,000 for any month are credited interest quarterly.

Applying

The below diagram provides an overview of the process to set up an FRRR Community Foundation Account. Your first step is to contact FRRR’s Partnerships team to have a chat about your organisation and whether you might be eligible.

FRRR requires all Community Foundations wishing to establish a new Account or to vary approved purposes to complete a Community Foundation Account Application Form. These forms are available by contacting FRRR’s Partnerships team.

Community Foundation Account FAQs

Inspiration - Past Projects

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Amy Crawford

Amy Crawford has an extensive career in complex public policy and its intersection across government and communities.

Amy is the Chief Executive Officer at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), representing 537 councils across the nation. Amy holds over 20 years’ experience in the Australian Public Service. She has a deep understanding of federal government policies and structures, with over 10 years’ service in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and has worked for the federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. Amy has shaped a wide range of policies and programs including regional development, telecommunications, immigration, emergency management, social policy and pandemic preparation.

Amy is a Board Director of Austroads and represents ALGA on the Public Skills Australia Industry Advisory Group, and the Australia-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee. She is also a Board Director for the Canberra Youth Theatre which provides voice for Canberra’s youth through intelligent and challenging theatre.

Amy holds a Bachelor of Laws (honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Media and Communications) from the University of Queensland, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an alumnus of the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership. Amy was appointed to the FRRR Board in January 2025.

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Kylie Hansen

Kylie brings leadership and management experience from across academic, corporate, not-for-profit, social enterprise and impact investment sectors, having deep dived into a myriad of specialisations and systems. Her six tertiary qualifications are equally as diverse and complimentary, covering commerce, politics, international development, community development, project management and law. Her breadth and depth of experience enables her to draw on a number of disciplines and innovative ways of working and thinking, and she is well recognised as consistently delivering work and services of a high quality.

Kylie uses her strong background in sustainability, governance and impact measurement to support collaborative initiatives across sectors oriented at improving social outcomes, and to support socially conscientious businesses to articulate their social impact. As founder and director at Impact Seed she has been instrumental in developing the impact measurement, evaluation, learning and ESG practice which advises numerous corporates, and is passionate about supporting First Nations empowerment particularly in the context of regional economic development.

Kylie is also a Director of the WA Social Enterprise Council, a member of the B Council (B Lab Australia and New Zealand), and a Governor of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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Hon. John Anderson AC

The Hon. John Anderson AC is a sixth-generation farmer and grazier from NSW, who served in the Australian Parliament from 1989 to 2008.

He was a senior Cabinet minister in the government led by John Howard (1996 to 2005), including six years as Leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister.

In the latter role, Mr Anderson played in important role in FRRR’s history, working closely with Baillieu Myer AC and others on a proposal to establish a philanthropic organisation to benefit rural Australia. The concept was discussed at the National Regional Summit in 1999 and FRRR was established shortly thereafter.

Mr Anderson currently hosts a regular podcast, where he is in conversation with thought-leaders from around the world, and is a regular media commentator.

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Regina Cruickshank

Partnerships Specialist (WA)

Regina supports FRRR as the WA Partnerships Specialist. With over two decades of experience in partnerships and marketing, she has a deep understanding of Western Australia’s social impact landscape. She brings a strong passion for leveraging purpose-built networks to create positive change.

Regina previously worked with Playgroup WA and founded a Health Promotion Charity dedicated to supporting Social Emotional wellbeing for underserved communities. She’s excited about the opportunity to connect with partners and explore ways to make a meaningful difference in WA.

She lives in Perth with her family and enjoys mindful moments of connection to Country, whether on horseback, on foot or underwater.

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Anna Palmer

People and Culture Manager

Based in Central Victoria, Anna is a senior Human Resources, Organisation Development and Industrial Relations professional, with significant private and public sector experience across every facet of people and culture leadership.

Her most recent roles have been with Don KR in Castlemaine and Mount Alexander Shire Council. She has also held senior HR roles with Victoria Legal Aid and the TAC among many others.

From Mildura originally, Anna has postgraduate qualifications in Change Management and a Masters in Organisation Dynamics.

Anna is currently completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts to balance her creative pursuits and work as an HR professional.

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Philippa Twaddle

Management Accountant

Carolyn joined the FRRR team in March 2017, and is responsible for providing executive support to the CEO, effective coordination of the FRRR office and general administrative support to the management team. A key responsibility is supporting the administration of FRRR’s Donation Account Services.

She has over fifteen years’ experience working in local government in the Tourism and Arts Sector, Civic and Event Management and Community engagement.

Carolyn has a Bachelor of Arts in Librarianship, majoring in psychology, and grew up on farming communities in Cohuna and Echuca and currently lives in Bendigo.