Strengthening Rural Communities – Small & Vital

Projects funded must align with one or more of the following charitable outcomes:

• Bringing people and community organisations together to foster stronger, more resilient communities;
• Fostering and celebrating a sense of identity, diversity and cultural connection within the community;
• Supporting diverse groups within remote, rural and regional communities, including but not limited to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, those living with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ communities;
• Improving community health and social wellbeing;
• Enabling people to develop skills, knowledge and confidence to lead and contribute to the prosperity and renewal of their community
• Building a sustainable volunteer base and/or supporting the wellbeing of volunteers;
• Celebrating and resourcing volunteer-led efforts;
• Increasing access and inclusion for vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including remote communities;
• Enhancing places where communities gather;
• Promoting connection to place and enabling initiatives that champion a community’s social, cultural, or economic aspirations;
• Reducing the divide on access to digital technology and connectivity for remote, rural and regional communities;
• Enabling locally-led responses within rural, regional and remote communities endeavouring to reduce the impacts of the changing climate within their community.

Yes, SRC is a national program with funding available in remote, rural and regional regions in all States and Territories.

These grants are available thanks to the generous support of the donors listed at the bottom of this page.

This round, there are two tiers of funding available: grants up to $10,000; and grants up to $50,000. While all requests will be considered, priorities for funding are outlined below:

• Projects that support communities in remote, rural or regional Australia with fewer than 15,000 people;
• Projects initiated and delivered by local community groups and not-for-profits;
• Organisations that do not have DGR status.

A broad range of charitable projects are considered under this program, including:

• Delivering or providing activities, events, programs, and services;
• Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
• Community infrastructure projects;
• Organisational capacity building; and
• Community resource development.

Additional specific funding is available for:

• Projects to strengthen the digital skills, confidence and safety of adults enabling them to get online, build social connections, and access services, information, education, and employment through training, as well as acquiring the digital and connectivity infrastructure where needed;
• Projects that help alleviate poverty and/or disadvantage or build inclusion and equality;
• Indigenous Australians or health and wellbeing projects that support disadvantaged women and children nationally;
• Projects that improve physical health and local food security and sustainable local food systems nationally;
• Environmental sustainability initiatives in grain-growing LGAs in WA, VIC, NSW and SA;
• Projects benefitting older people in VIC;
• Community-led projects addressing health, education, housing, and employment challenges in VIC;
• Projects to support the education of children and young people in the Mitchell Shire, VIC;
• Social welfare and conservation projects in the Goulburn / Tarlo community in NSW;
• Projects to support ageing in Gilgandra and Warren in NSW; and
• Projects in the Wiluna and Leonora shires in WA.

There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.

• Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State or Local Governments;
• Ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
• The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation, and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law.
  Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefits to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
• Overseas travel and overseas projects;
• Prizes, gifts, trophies, or awards;
• Political lobbying;
• Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests; and
• Projects solely focused on animal welfare.

To apply, you must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure whether your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (e.g. if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company, or Trust), please contact FRRR;
• There are two streams of funding available within the Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) Program: Small and Vital and
  Prepare and Recover. Organisations may submit their application in one of these streams per SRC grant round, and any other applications in this round will be considered ineligible;
• Projects must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
• Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR endorsement are eligible;
• Organisations can submit one application per grant round; and
• Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural or regional Australia.

Please note, you will be considered ineligible if:

• Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, or private / commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
• Application is submitted by an organisation that is not a legal entity (i.e. a registered not-for-profit), without the written consent of the governing / partnering body that holds the ABN / Incorporation Certificate;
• Application is submitted without required financial information (see additional information on the second tab);
• Final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with their legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
• Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred / is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
• Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of application. FRRR is unlikely to follow up missing documentation after applications have been submitted.

Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR may still fund the project but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’ (with your organisation being the delivery organisation). This situation often occurs when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch. In this case, the CWA or YMCA would be the legal organisation.

Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the ‘legal organisation’s’ legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter from the legal entity, confirming they are willing to play this role, with a template available here for your convenience.

FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.

Applications from ACNC and/or unincorporated associations are required to submit their organisation’s Constitution.

Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect financial information is currently the most common reason why applications are not able to be considered. You must include the organisation’s:

• Annual income (total income in your financial year);
• Annual expenditure (total expenses in your financial year);
• Current assets (from your audited financials, or bank balance minus any debts).

Please note:

• Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
• If financial information is more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
• Please explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially.

Please contact us if you cannot provide the required financials or if you are unsure about what to provide.

You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds would be used for and that also shows all income and expenses related to your project.

Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.

Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $45 per hour.

For more info on costing volunteer labour, visit: https://explore.fundingcentre.com.au/help-sheets/valuing-volunteer-labour.

Helpful resources:

• How do I cost labour in my project?
• Preparing your budget

FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, evidence of permission from the property owner, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show broad community support and partnerships involved in the project. For more information on supporting documentation, watch this recording.

Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.

Helpful resources:

• Grantseeker Resources

Each application is assessed on its ability to address local priorities and benefit the broader community. A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.

Where possible, we encourage you to make it really clear that your organisation is ready and able to deliver the project and, if required, provide ongoing support for the initiative.

Helpful resources:

• Tips for great applications
• Project Planning Tool

We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:

1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing

We ask you to nominate one of those seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.